NZ FARMERS UNION

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10644, 27 May 1912, Page 6

NZ FARMERS UNION

i -» MEETtNG IN MASTERTON. AX ORGANISER APPOINTED. A. meeting <>. i: members of the Farmers' Union was hold hi 'the .rooms of , ithc Mastd.-ton A. and P. Association on i&itnrciav afternoon last. About thirty farmers were present, and the chair was occupied 'by Mr H. Morrison. The chairman .said the meeting had ibeeu ealaed to see if the Fanners' Union could bo| '.revived throughout itiho Wairarapa. In the whole of this fertile district there, were new only two small branches—Tiuui aiid Whakataki. The' whole of the other brain- : chrfi apmr.-cd. to be dead. A. movo- ? wont war, affoot *o revive the Union 'throughout New Zealand. This wr.r, : b -an'age or unionism. The Labor-:- Party \vii.-i organising. The commercial cksse-s had their Chambers of .Comim.crce'. 'lllo praes-stonal men were orlcran!i.ed. P-Ut the fan-mars wore; the jast to cre:a::i;:o k>v -their own bensht. .The probable rca~.au that tlis workars. wore ergatnseel and the farmers iv-cre not 'Wiis that thoi Us: raw •wore in a oration to command direct Ibencfits, a-nd the latter were not. lit had ibeevi thought .necessary to up-, point, .a -irad orgi'.nKcr for the whole district. Mir 1). Hchonton had been selected for tk.s .po'sctiou. Mr Hebenton had hud iv.i e:q)2r:enee at farming. He was ,a s'ueeossful canvasser, and ,ww ,afso ,a cn/oble' platform speaker. If anybody ccv.ld revive the Union in (the ißstricii, Mr Morrison thought Mr iHabonfoii ecat&L 'Hie : Farmers' Union had already done something for tiro ■district. It was .largely responsible

for the establishing of >tho Waingawa •freezing works. In fontaision, Mr J expressed ittoo opinion .that Uw KiTrmcire' Union should foe the strv/gest orjsnnizat'.ori of its kind in. -the Dominion. I* 'had ■been proposed !by the ,sub-commiittac that 'tlie annual ' subscription should be 10s "for those 'having properties of a capital value up to <£so{H> ,a.nd £1 for those having prope.rtiios above this vrlkic. ■Mr ILuroay J. H. Jackson expretced the opinion that the reason the Union had been a failure was that it- had (refused* to dismiss police?. They d::l mot .want pa-rty polilti.es but they .must have ipoliitios as they affected the Lfarmer. All ether Unions discussed •politids. The chairman agreed ithat polities (were osss-ntial to the Union, but .lie■did! not thin'k they should have party politics. It had hecn suggested that ' they .should have -one large branch' for die' wihele of the Wararapa, 'widi the headquarters at Mastertou. ■Mr 11. D. Molfonzie .considered that what .was lackir.g im New Zealand was patriotism. He did mot think they should engage in .party poWtios. He ■wouild like to see party 'politics, wiped out .entirely. He was not quite fav- , ouralble to the subscription as proposed, MrA. J. Percy moved that report of the sub-committee, aptpomtliwg Mi- Hehemton as icirganiser and fixing -the subscription at 10s ahd £l, be adopted. 'Mir D. J. Foreman seconded.

Mir D. Mc-G-rcgor, •jimv., was cf opinion tOiat t'ho subscription wms too low. They would never do imicili until ihey Qiacl a strong fin ansa?.. Ho would ,tlike to know wihat uv;as die special objective cf Itihe organiser. There was ho use going on as they had :been. He pointed to the fact that the Union had jdone good work tin the past, it .had jproduesdi a diireot benefit in the way of (insurance. Ho thought, the farmers should be interested an such matters 'as the Lociail Government Bill. They should; meet togetflier and discuss matters affecting theiir ivspeotive interests. •Mir J. C Cooper explained the reason for fixing the subscription at 10s. 'and £l'. He pointed out that a strong finance was absolutely necessary, lit cost .more to r».n the Earm«rs' Union than it did tlie Labour Unions. Mr Cooper .urged; the importance of icombinatio'ii'. He pointed out that every demand made upon freezing companies and others came back .upon the produc&rs. They bad accepted the position in .the past without deimu'r; 'but tlrare ware, ibigiger demands icoming, and unless the farmers were combined they 'would haw to pay the piper. It was absolutely essential t'hat theretshorikl be 'a strong 'branch of tlic Union in the Wairarapa. (Hear, lueair.) lir answer to a question, it was stated by the chairman tlhat the projposal was to .form a main brajirch in Masterton and have sub-branches in other centres. Mr iM. J. H. Jackson thought a niLstake had been 1 made in the first instance ini fixing the subscription too low. He was of opinion that the fairmiers''were in for ,a bad timfe unless they organised. The chairman stated that, the proposal for a Wairarapa organiser was 'a.ni entirely new one. Ho thought it

a business proposal, and that it would prove isucoeseful. Mr G. A. Bruce considered that the suggestion for headquarters at Mastsrton, with branches in other cen- 'i tres, was a good one-. What they re- I qu'irod wx> a good org:miser. Without ' this they must fail. He believed they I had the right uia.n in the right phi"*: i in Mr Hehonton. I. Mr W. Jj. Fafeonor commented upon It Iw> qualifications of the organiser. He ia.lso referred to the fact that while the poorest factory girl in. Engbuiti lecuilidi co.nfiri.b-uto fid a week to her Union, the farmer in New Zeal.u .1 {'oui.p>a::ied at having to pay ~Ui< per roar to bis Union. Mr Faioon-n----ithouigiit that Mastcrton should have one of the strongest- branches of the U'uion hit th? Deir.ie.'ion. The motion for the adoption of the [report of the s.nb-eenimitlx;> was then ■ p.ut and carried unanimously. o<:i the 'motion of Mr McGregor, seconded hy Mr Falconer, it was decided that the secretary ocrnmunicatc with the secretaries cf out'iide branch;.-, and , offer his services as organiser. [ ThoiseeiTtary stated that there were; ninety-four names en the iroll of i-ho Union hist yo:.r. Only eight of these J had paid 'their subscriptions.. He would like to know whether the subscriptions for last yea.r were to be baised on the new sca'ie cf .subscription £. It was. decided that last year's subscriptions ibe collected on last year's ( fccalp. ". • The followin.g officers were elected for the ensuing year:— President, Mr ST. Morrison ; Vice-Presidents, Mees/rs J. C. Cooper and A. J. Percy; Local Coninuittee, -Me-ssr-'s W. Perry, D. Mc■'Ciregcr juni':, W. L. .Falconer, It.. D. •McKcnzie, G. A. Bruce and D. W. 'Foreman : ; auditor,, Mr W. M. Cole. It was decided that the organiser, I'(Mr D. Hehenton) represent tbo 'branch at the Provin'ciaJl Conference at Palmerston ..Xorth on Tuesday.