NEW ZEALAND FARMERS UNION

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10681, 30 July 1912, Page 7

NEW ZEALAND FARMERS UNION

ELEVENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE.

THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS

The eleventh annual conference in connection with the X.Z. .Farmers' Union opens at Wellington to-day. Jn h : >s opening lul-Jrcr.i, the President (Mr J. ii. W:',...in > refers to the death of the South!-:nd. Secretary, the transfer of Mr J. W. Jones ""from Tarauaki to the Waikato, and the presentation <;1 a jnc;n..nt.o to .Mr McQueen, of Southland. Mr Wilson notes with pica Hire the Interest manifested in the dcm-gjS cf the Farmers' and Settkrs' Association in New South Wales, and the aivaknning to the ncccsoity for combination among the farmers in othor parts of the Commonwealth. He aJso refers to tlio (.stunting of the "Auckland Indent Association" in connection with the Uiuion, and bo t'ie operations of the Wellington Farmers' Distributing Company. Mr Wilson mentions the prosperity in the country, due to the high prices of produce, and- refers c«peeimlly to the dairying industry. He thinks it doubtful whether wheat-growi.-.g pays ilior the- trouble, risk, ain'd anxietj- expended upon it. The I President points out that the sousoji | has not, on the whole, been a bud one if or lamb-fatteners, although the expert of 'this v\am of frozen produce is m),Q(K) care;;cos less' than in the previous year. Meat-ion is inadet <tf the improve-mesit in the London dock facilities a;id to the .export of wed and mutton. Jn the latter connection \k- W'i.son .notcis with consternation. :he .fact that our exports are de~ crauuig. This, he says, is attribula.ble to til? Icu-d quantity of- produce rather than to u> fall in price. He urgers that New Zealand- is capable of great expansion in her exports, but tliis will! require united effort, and further lands must be brought under cultivation. Mr Wilson deals briefly with the necessity for a- proper system of educational education, and urges that the price of land 'should be fixed on a better basis than atpresent. Dealing with, political ch.nir ges, he says, " iwli- Maasey and his friends are now in power, and I am sure the Union is as dsslrouß as ever to work with the Government in power, wherever possible, in the interests cf the farming: community." in conclusion, the President deals with the immigration question, the question of ideals, n:::d with the pros-pe-ctc. for the future.