Farmers' Club at Waimate.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 143, 30 April 1901, Page 3

Farmers' Club at Waimate.

On Saturday afternooon, despite coldness of the weather, there was a gathering of about seventy ' farmers aod others in the Waimate Oounty CoaneU Chambers to. .--consider tiia advwa'bitity of forming 41 Farmers' Club in Waimate. MrJ.F. Baagias, jshairman of County Coaneil preyed' He read apologies from Mr A. Garland «and J. BL Miieom; who, though absent, wore ia fuJ4 sympathy with ; -ibe object 4» we.w. ; Mr Poaglag esplaineS at lesgth4he object of the maeting, aad the use a Farmers' Club a'ould be to4Jtxem all- He said the present •occasion was ah exempliieation of the aead of soma such institution. The day w&3 bitterly cold, and 4hey ware then in a warm room instead of being outside. Hotels 5f eca the only places they bad at .present, and tiiey were iao3.t upsuit<a'de for the transaction of- private, .•business. In the street agreements, i<almo9t made were oftep broken off .altogether. There weee also a*any who, while not prehibittapists,, to go into hotels. He need ? •x>nly instance the fact that sinoa tha A. and Jr\ Accociatioo held their ,«eeting9 in the Council Chambers the' attepdapee had been much: larger, to prove the truth of his hear.) The veijr few facta he had staled would in themselves be sufficient to show the far a JP&wora' due* but there were m%ny more. i& the ■ipast, fche fawn uad generally ►wished to do business single banded, but the times bad ehanged <tf late,: -iand it was imperative that they' *sbould combine ior their mutual and f° r the benefit of; *tbe district as a whole. i*ast year," <bnly mutton and lamb had enabled 4;he farmer sp exist at all, an(f had : they dejiepded ppon grain or woor Tfto pay their debts they woiiid ; have sbeen very mueb on the wrong side *of the ledger, to\& that ctheaale at Stpdholipe an. Friday proved that the bottom had dropped Jout of the sheep market, ind if that awe're so, -to what should t&eyiurn.? Afc the/ were being legislated for witbpui J&ek consent, #ittd to their detriment—(applause.)' werfcets ip .the towns were legislating for .them wholesale,, and jneatttcea were being drawn iy» by *vorkecs r unions apd sent to tbe. kegislatuje without iialf epougb Iponsiderajaop. The farmers of Zealand* M united, .could have vtbe same say, <{»not one of greater weight than the town workers." 'The Trades and Labour Coaneil in ;Dunedin passed such 4mpor(an,t following, these to toe urged on *fce Government as .necessary laws i-rsUtipg on up-. improved values to be gaade ..mandatary to prevent land Jjeiag Aeld foi: speottlativa <2) /that tpe Goveromejit should be 4jrgedtogive labour organisations OP Barbour Boards. jfNo mention was made -of their? jpAymgrflMiesfor this representation.) That4.be basis of representation jihoui4 be altered to allow the cities s«Btieh>morej:epE*wntatio» than the .country-; 4&) that the siee of joornsaoks should.'ba reduced to (6) that the agriepitara! apd. domestic see vasts should be inoladed in the, eight

minimum wages of all male workers should be 10s per day; (7) that the duties on the necessaries of life should be abolished and an increase made in the land tax. speaker wanton to say that tbajre WeWa-fiogt of others' bat he had mentioned,! enough to sbow> what legislation i the labour uniois wished passed*' The latter had found out- that if j they oontinnatfy repeated their, waste, they werej, bound to. aaooaed,' ip the "endl Hfe bad read tha ', me*»tih'g enough to show thai; it wiu io the best interests of farmers that tbey should unite and protect •themselves. He could assure them that the interests of the farming industry were: quite secondary considerations with the Government. They had not in the past united and asserted themselves, but the time for that was at hand. Thetowns had all the say, but if all the towns were swept away, the farming interests would not be killed. Bat blot out the farming industry and the whole country would be uninhabited. The exports, outside the products of the country,were a mere y«*t the producers of the latter were ignored. New bills are brought up in Parliament, whioh directly affect them, very often adversely, and* they ; knew nothing of them until they; have become law. U the club j proposed to be formed drafts o.fi proposed Bills would be procured, j and after discussion, the club could! recommend their adopting orj rejection. The bigger and, better] their club the greater weight would j attach to their reecommendaeiou.: Than again there was a great out-' cry at present about tbe shortage of trucks. He did not think it reasonable to expect accommodation for taking away ail the grain at one time, but if stacked at stations, the club could agitate for, and no doubt obtain, enough ; tarpaulins to protect it . tili trucks bad .-come; Railway freights too. and the 'representation of tho country on thebona'y councils and harbour board could ba looked after; by the club. It has been said that the elub would kill .the A. and P. Association, but tbey had no' lesire to da this. They rather wished to help the latter associa, tion on. The association could have the use of the club's rooms for meeting? and in other ways be assisted. . They had, without exaggeration, one of the best districts is New 2jSe>l&ad. (Applause). He could see no reason why ibey j should not have as fine an association as any in the colony, and this would make the district of. more importance tbau it is now.: As regards the financial side of the question under consideration, he hud come to the conclusion that if tbey were to build for themselves £1G&) would, hare to be: raised. He knew, however, of a .certain gem if man who was prepiped to build a suitaoie building, for the club, which would be let -at a reasonable rental for five or tieven years. By that tjuio they: would eapital to build for themselves. I'hey would require a larg-> meeting roota, a reaiiog room, and two private writing rooms,:; aid it would be a gri<at convenience to arrange for a ludios" room, ficLed with all cuuytfnien.ce.r3. >. Tbey required the reading room to have a good far ner's- reference library, and the latest agricuj uiv and veterinarian literature/ Thedab might secur • the s rviees of .the ' Government lecturers on poultry raisi>)g, etc., besides discussing any new prop wala inregard to farm method*. He said .WkuJ o.pon«U tue subject, and. probably after disonsaiou tbey, would find it to their interests ioi unite for each oners' benefit. There was a Fumes' Union io the North Island .vvitu a ipe'tibership of 5)08, and it was expected; jthat shortly 20,000 would be enrolled,. They might affiliate with this and who would t thm be able to say that a bination.of ?o f oßo faruaera would be able to be ignored or brushed; aside.

The speaker was loudly applauded at the conclusion pf tha apeeeh and Mr Beckett, president of the Waiipate A. and P. Aasociatiop, *pae to speak. Mr Beckett said he was guite .in aceord with fcrhat Mr Douglas had said, has he was rather doubtful as -to the effect the «lub would have on bis association. The lafctsr would ba ajiite prepared .to for amsetiiig-ropm what they had promised to the proposed town hall, £ls per year. An aHangemenfc naight be conje toby which they reduced the membership 'fee of both if a man joined both. Qpeibing was necessary at bncej ia regard tni the tajsatjop in the Titnaru Harbour district and that was the inclusion of Wainaate Borough in the distinct. The thorough gqt -raof* of its goods by way of I'imaru, and should pay its share of the maintenance of the harboHjr-

J Mr Bear, president of- the Wai--, Jjakahi Settlers' Association, was '(j.rite af the opipion that, properly conducted, the cl«ib would be of great benefit. Ait present the farmers were, to a eertaip extent, isolated, wbiie the trades uaione, working Jtpgether, .coald' back up their jdeaa. There was ho use ip their grumbling &t the government or aiiybne else t as their lack' of combination was Atone to blamg. They - must band .together apd-, having foupd out exactly what they .wanted, set themselves to get4t.; He would very much tike to 'see t club formed. As /m association «t Waikajkabi, tfceylw received.more attention and deference than thay bad done as, scattered' settlers. •They should rjQfc jnifce themselves to *y existing jßjfftfta.

The latter ootid help them, and. by working together could attain their objeots. Mr Beer, resumed his seat amidst applause. . v McK W. Ward, who bad soma, previous experience. with faiyners' Blabs, was'of-ogialon that a qlub in Waimate could not'- affect the: A. fcad P*, Aasociatioß. -A-great bulk of the ffirmers were new settlers, and quite, unable inareasing taxafldn. 'The 11 town, unions- wished jto get all taxation shifted 'from tbpii 'shoulders on to the land, and, while'everything: came from the land, they could not bear all the taxation. It was. very creditable to the unions who bad fought their battles so well, and it remained for the f&rmers)tb go and do likewise. As part of an organisation whioh would some day include the whole of farmers from Auckland to the-BluffV their influeuca would be what it should be. He had full sympathy with the movement. Mr Hertslett proposed— u That this meeting now decides to form a, Waimate County Farmers' Olub having its headquarters in Waij.njftte.". ..... ■■'■-! Mr Walker was.. v§?y -pleased/1° second the motion. , He knew the farmers occupied an isolated posi- j tion. A dozen energetic workers had been ■ influential in getting through Parliament measures of tbe greatest By reason Of tbair isolation, their voica was never heard in the iand. Some time ago oats were averaging Is 8d in New Zealand, - while in Cape-, town tbey fetched 6s. Why could not the farmers get a share of the balance ? These and many other matters sorely needed attention, aid tbe only way to deal with them was as a union. A ladies' room in the club was moat important. I Mr W, L. Scott asked that the ! name should b 3 altered to the Waimate Farmers' Club, so-as to allow of. townspeople joining, but the matter of a name w%3- thought of, ■ very-litfc'e-.impjrtance. The motion.waa put and carried unaoiuiou3ly. Mr C, Akburst was. appointed, secretary uroliem. The Chairman explained that the proposed building would cost about .£25 a year. It would k uselsses staating a club without a «iembersbi;j of 130, which he had no doubt wauld be easily obtained. At the end of five years they: would have enough funds accumulated to buiid for themselves.

\j[r W. M. Hamirton pointed out that if a man paid his high- subscription for four years and 4>ben droppel out of the club, he would nave given much more than the value he received. He was of opinion that a company should be formed to build the hall. They should not pay their money and provide a free hall for .posterity. After discussion as to the financial position of the proposed club, Mr Walker moved that a committee should be formed to consider the question of ways and means aud report to a meeting that day fortnight. He said -that was the most expeditious way of acting. Mr W. L. .'Scott seconded this, and it was carried. The .eomojittee Werp nominated as follows, no election bring taken, as tl?e hour was late:—Messrs J, F. Douglas. W. H.. Beckett,A. Walker, F. W. Ward, A. Carter. H. McGowan, B. Whitney, H Hertslett, li. G. Baxter, N. Francis, G. b,tudholme, W- L. Scott, \V. M. Hamilton, W. Hayman, H. Mayer and J. Manchester. . A vote of thanks to the chairman closed a very hearty meeting.

At the meeting a vote of thanks to Mr G. V. Cochrane', who had propared the room, obtained forms, &c, and had two good fires going, was inadvertently omitted. ■ This was pointed out to the chairman at an after meeting, when a unanimous and hearty vote of thanks was passed to Mr Cochrane for the trouble he had taken.