Farmers Union.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 149, 7 January 1902, Page 3

Farmers Union.

———o ■■ "> ADDRESS BY SIR J. G. WARD. Otatjtau, January 4. At the invitation of the Farmers' Union Sir J. 6. Ward addressed & largely attended meeting in Otautau I town Hall on- Saturday,, evening. ' The building was packed to .the doors. Mt A« Capples, phairinap pf the local .branch of the Won, pHjflea. VThO ta W.:& Wftfc

Gilfedder, M.H.R., were also on the pkViorm. Mr Gapples, in introducing the Minister, said that the Union did not want to oust the Government, but merely wanted to get fair play. He hoped the time was not far distant when the Governmentjwould retrieve a little of what they had done which had been- oppressive to farmers. (Applause.) He thought the Government should ireep down expenditure and assist the farmers, and create markets in other parts of the world.

Sir J. G. Ward proceeded to show how much the present administration had done for farmers. The taxation during the last two or three years had been reduced by £300,000 by remissions thcough the Customs, by the penny postage, and through reduction on the railways. la connection with the borrowing policy of the Government, Sir Joseph defended it on the same lines as in. his recent Gore speech, and 3aid that so long as the people demanded money for legitimate, progressive and present requirements, so long would the money have to be prudently and judicioj&ly borrowed. Touching on the Workers' Compensation for Accidents Act, ho said that it was the English Act, and that it had boon more misrepresented thf-n almost any other Act the-Govern-ment; has passed. .Gafore Sho Act was passed a fanner was liable under common law to bo sued for compensation tor an accident up to £SOO, whereas a farmur could now cover his entire risk from all direction;? for 5s per year on every £IOO of paid. In any case the farmer did not noed to insure, and could remain in the same position as he was before, and run the risk of actions for compensation. He advised farmers to hold on to their wool, and the market would soon right itself, and he believed that the reverses occasioned by the fall in wool and frozen meat values would be surmounted by the indomitable spirit which hadcharacterised the people theretofore in face of similar reverses. Sir Joseph spoke optimistically of the outlook, and urged farmers to face the situation hopefully, and they would find that the future would be even brighter than the past. A vote of thanks to Sir Joseph Ward was carried with great enthusiasm, only two dissenting voices being hoard. y