FARMERS AND LABOR.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 June 1919, Page 5

FARMERS AND LABOR.

J&DDRESS BY MR. G-. Hi i BUCKERIDGE. | With a' view to placing before '3 Workers of New Plymouth the position! J of the farmer and his relation to labor' j and labor problems, a meeting was held' < In the Soldiers' Club last night, under? j the auspices of tire Taranaki Workers' «j Council, at which Mr. G. H. provincial organiser for the Tarawa Farmers' Union, gave an address, u? which, without speaking officially, he««t- t >i deavored to set forth a basis upon wljlcib j both sections of the community could j get into proper relationship with each 1 other. There was an attendance of aboflt | 60, several farmers being amongst til* ;ij audience. Mr. Buckeridge was given a :: tery attentive hearing, and the proceed* ' 1 tag throughout were marked by the i'i atmost good felling. 'J Mr. W. H. Fitzpatrick, who presided, : said he hoped the meeting would prove ' but the forerunner of other such meet* Ings, whereby all the workers would be - ' able to come to an amicable under-. standing on matters which affected then.-' all. There were changes coming all over ' the world, in some cases by meant of revolution, but he hoped the changes •} looked for in New Zealand Wfrald beV brought about by peaceable meant and ( that there would come a civilisation j < liased upon justice.

Mr. Buckeridge, who was very well' received, prefaced'his address by renaik* ;i Ing that his great hope was that (Mm 'j the meeting there would come a better .1 understanding between all parties. "A | good -understanding mado good friends,". i he said. He also expressed thanks for '-G the privilege of addressing the workers -ll of New Plymouth. He then proceeded 1 to substantiate his claim to address those i present as "fellow-workers" by a meftal " of many early personal experiences- ' not without their hardships—in the ! course of his struggle for Brittany, Many of these experiences were of days In the Hawera district 30 yean ago, when he worked with a survey party. J He had seen the hardships of the 1 blocks settlers, and was of opinion that | they were entitled to every penny they 4 got off their land. This brought him to ■ ft, consideration of what was referred to i as the unearned increment, and he confessed he could not see a solution for i what was regarded as an evil to (hit respect. He gave many instances of i tanners going into remote districts and : carving out homes for themselves ud ! their families, in the course of which process they made physical and material'' 1 sacrifices, to say nothing of the handi- - cap in regard to educational facilities for their children, and then asked should their farms be sold at a much enhanced value, who could say how much of the * Increased value was the property of the fanner and how much the State was entitled to?

Mr" Buckeridge dealt at some length With the evils arising from trafficking in land, as was practised by many men who had 110 thought of farming the land, but merely of "getting another kick out of It.' He cited cases, within his own knowledge, of farmers carrying aa many as nine mortgages, and characterised the system which permitted that sort of thing as a most dangerous que and one for which a remedy should be found with all possible speed and before it was too late.

Ruckeridge then touched OB the question of tenure in regard to land settlement. He said there was an inherent love of ownership in BritUberg, What he thought was the essential thing, in order for men to do the beat work and produce the most, was that they should be satisfied, and if by giving' men what they called the freehold of land they would be moro satisfied then he said 'Tor God's sake give them the freehold." The full productivity of the land would never be reached while 1 the men who worked it were dissatisfiedPassing from this Mr. Buckeridge proceeded to advocate the establishment of agricultural or co-operative banks as a means for assisting settlement, and quoted the experiences of settlers in countries much less favored than New Zealand in which such institutions had been created. He said that an Italian parish priest had given the opinion that the establishment of co-operative banks had done more for the uplift of the. people of his parish than the whole teaching of the Church. Recent experience in America also confirmed the usefulness of the co-operative banking system. Mr. Buckeridge then proceeded to develop co-operative theory 4n the direction of applying it to all work. In regard to farming in particular he advnen tort that the nrofits of the industry should be divisible between those who in any way handled or assisted in the marketing of the produce, as well M those who helped in the actual production. lie referred to the history of some of the co-operative concerns in New Zealand, and advocated a very much, wider application of the principle. He held that if it was possible to run farms , on co-operative lines it should also be possible to run manufactures on similat lines, because it was on the ability' of the manufacturer to make the goods marketable depended the price of the ■ product. The speaker concluded an interesting address with a reiteration of the hope that a better understanding would result from the discussion of the topics dealt with. lie said in the matter of differences there wore three of settlement: Firstly, by discussion and conciliation; secondly, by litigation; and thirdly, by force, livery sane person would prefer the first method. (Applause.)

A number of questions were asked, many of which wore aimed at determining the exact position of the man who was referred to as the "non-working farmer." 'Mr. Buckeridge answered all frankly anil to the best of his ability. He said he had vet to meet the "farmer'' who was not also a worker. If the qucg. tinners referred to mbn whom they called capitalists, who owned the farms which someone else worked for them, ho pointed out that in verv many cases the capital really represented tile "storedup" labor of the men, and lie li-.dd that they were entitled to, and must receive, some return upon it. i-l-e they could not live. He also pointed out that many workers took no financial re-n-::.i!itv and in the event of loss nr mis-fortune overtaking the farmer, while the worker might lose his work for the time beinjr, the other man lost both his labor and his capital. At the conclusion, votes of thanks to the speaker and to the chairman were carried with acclamation.