TAUERU.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3393, 23 December 1889, Page 2

TAUERU.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) There is very little news in our township just now. Wo have barf very strong heavy hot winds, and all feed is turning yery lirowir ::antf withering up, "and there is all ' the itppentaiico of our getting rather a hot dry summer. I notice our two local carriers are dging a big trade at present, They. Sro \yprki|ij{ all hours in daylight; apd o good many after. I think the bulk of \Yool is doiyn now,

There in very.littlo cropping in our diftriot, but what therq is;is taking splendid, TheWthoVimtp'croiw are likely to. be-a failure again this year if tlio weather continue!, I heard of one settler who broke up and sowed one hundred acres, they came up splendidly, and in two or three days the turnip fly had taken the whole crop. This is all the harder now and verjr discouraging,because every bit of ti-treo (jug tg .t;p;cut apd burnt, anil every bunch of : fern niiis], have a lighted hiiitclt put to it. ntid in'many cases the country for miles is 'frol to desiroy bistiiij- It leaves nothing, for sheep or any-other stock to live on tjirought tjie winter months. ' tjouie fifteen years agp,' be/itji'a tjjo.'fabbit made.his appearance, there was plenty of nativd grasa and: ti-tiee and brandling fcrnß j tho fern, sheltered, the grass pd tho tee-tree sholtered the slock, This firing tlje face qf the country to'distroy the rabbit has destroyed all shelter,for grans and stock and still. we have the rabbit left. . '

I am happy to' say. there are no Bwuggera ■on the road; It is a sight. to see one -now. ■'

• Mr 6. Rrijnjmorid passed through hero last Fi jday m'oruing wit|} s pb of splendid fat cattle, ,tlia fiijgt I hiive qecji for ipuny a day, and 1 whs told rljey tap (roi)l.tii6.]jiiqt,(JoMt. .. Farmers Co-operative Meeting. •' A meeting of about forty ' famous a.nd grain growers of fbe 'distriot, was: held, ih . the Club. Hotol on Saturday las},' Mr'.Carman was voted to ilie ch&ii ; end read the advertisement convening the meeting. Hij.said the lines laid down in the oii'cular were 'iiot-flecessarily to .he' adhered to, The main objeot of the meeting was to discuss au'v.. proposal submitted fo? their, mutual benefit. Although the, yield of tba ipps promised .to turn ;out well thb prospect as regards' prices -never looked so gloomy. The estimate ot the production of tbe district was

somothjng liko-.100,000 wlieat^|ia thought if petition. j/ereUtopped; consume Jlltljij grain ft thi 3i|rib| The question %as what going to do with this amtfiirit'of wheat,with outside competition. The could not buy all the wheat at a price that would pay the farmors. Mr„GL..Chamhurlaiu. said if,mill,era. could get the .wheat cheap enough, they would take all that was grown. The chairman said he liau drawn up af# ideas of" a"Basia upon "wliiolf they could .work,... . A ;coru exchange wonldjnot teguira a tyrge'capital and he thought theyiould.gtart ono in .a small way' and as the support ■inoroasei} the operations would grow larget.' : It would require 'the help of producers and consumers. His ideas were that they should form a farmers union with lisad quarters in Mastertoh, ' that'a Board of Directors,; should. bo; j formed ~to conduct it 3 affairs.'' That operationsthis year-Bliguld be confined,to wheat only, and an agreement be made with'the millers to pay the Wellington prices for wheat, ( with freight added,'-' f If' the millers declined to pay the prices agreed upon, they were to-, grist' tffe for Jlie -'growers, and tlie "di'rebto shall' sell' the proceeds .for-the ■benefit of the producers belonging to tlio Union. That 'aciount-sales'be reridereil nSonthly to members, with cheques for balanco, aft'ri deducting changes ! 'etc. ' H e hoped the matter would be thoroughly discussed, apd an-arrangement come (o for starting at'oiice. 'l'liey'ditfnot want any postponement of the question; i jjnt: should decide at (that uioeting whether to do anything to protect their mutual interests or not. Mr 6 Chamberlain asked what guarantee would they give the millers for gristing/'' Would / t'iey give five

guarantee if the millers handed them ovpr'tlw riglii hii sell the floiir. They, .bad been, to great expense in erecting' machinery and 1 providing plant, and should be protected. Tho Chairman said the proposal was only rfor ; a ; year,, They would not require" funds to form the Union, tbe,. wheat would represent their principal.• . uj !v) Mr Ronall asked what fund would the fatmers draw on agaiust their wheat; ' 5 The,. basis:' of. tho Un\on must be fchoWn.' .i ■' ' . The Cimirman said advances could be got from the banks on, the, wheat Mr T. ■ Chamberlain said capital would be required and the Union must be preparod to pay advances to . farmers for.thoir wheat. The, Assoqatiou'must havai.gauraotßof.tqn'or. fifteen thousands pounds to hopo for success. > How.;']many fprmers"bo askeiconld afford to lay out of their money." If tliey'were' not prepared to raise shares to that extent it would boa waste of time discussing tlia question, ( Mr W, W. McCardle siid Mr 'Carman's proposal was a very desirable ono, but not sufficiently matured. The farmers should unite sud consider the question in all its bearings, and when they had maturoda plan, call a general meeting. Ho thought a resolution might he carried that it was desirable to forma co-operative society, He'gave a description of tho Farmers Co-operar tive system'as earned on in Christchurch from which town lie just returned. * The Farmers Union' had largo co-operative stores' there employing twenty to thirty-hands, and'disposed of anything the farmers sent in for sale.; They bought. tho ' grain at' tt'prioeagreed upon,, and at intervals V balance was struck and the profit or loss was shared. Ma.n ; farmers placed capital in the, hands of.the Company ;o.n deposit at 5 per per' cent whilst advances ut ou. tho oth'er baud ivere charged 1%. If tbe fariners of "this district were prepared to begin on the same lines they could gaiii all. information,, by. writing to Mr William Henderson, one, of, tho, Directors, or. the Manager and Seoreiary, Mr Turnbull, . As iar as lie could seo they' could do nothing else anleaa couio one was. prepaid with a proposal. • Ho thought they sho'nl'd form a committee'ni the first place. (Applauso).'' , Mr Renall said there was a great ■'.deal of difference bettyeen.tiiomselves and the Christchurch people. The latter united and became merchants for.foroign sale, Here they wanted to unite-for homo competition,'aiid get a better price than they could by exporting their cereals.' Could they grow wheat at 2s (3d d bushel ? : "(No, No,) They coiiM grow enough ill the val|ey for (heir own wants, and the question to consider was, how to Berve the valley so as tho farmers got every shilling the consumers could afford; to giyu- ' Suppose, the farmers united and took over the mills and they "migh t got a. surplus He for one, would gladly give his mill (Laughter;) -This district entirely differed .from Christchurch, where they had a ( foreign niafket. Mr Hessey asked jf tha Company would bo able to grind cheaper thaii tl;e miller, farmers wanted was to keep foreign flour the other side of tho liimutaka, 1)6 quite agreed with co-operation. -Tho district was a thoroughly good ono for grain. Ho agreed with Mr MoCardle that if they formed a co-oparative Booiety they would gain many point's of advantage, He instanced his ojvn case last year, when he shipped grain at a cost of ono third of i!;c return.

If they Lad had a Society here the charges: would have bean 60 per cent les.s, They cjjujfl)]si) make a' great paying, in obarges 'iu scnd(np: "home I wool.. As'showing thalentfils' tlie

Society in Cliristclmrcli conferred on its'membera ho -instanced the case of a farmer there'who could ijot net more ilian id or.Sd foe bis butter. He was ftdyiscd at)d (golf gWos jniji'e. (joOperative Stores and 6ent bis butter there to be. sold and got a return of Od, IJo only cited that as one instauce out of many. If tSiey gat the whole Valley fo unite jn such an undertaking they, would. h'ave a good sljovy* <rf opposing Canterbury. 1 Ho was not' fayorable to the soheme,laid down by Mr Carman as lie understood it,

Tho Chairman said he was in favor of such a plan,- but would the Com-, niuniiy for'a" Cp-oporotive organisation.' Mt Hessey there yas a better ohan'ije 1 bf. raising.'nioiVey' lo; a Cpoperative store than of succeeding on anyoifeijip,- .Hp would not Me sips jn a Union but would bo prepared to take up shares iq a Gooperative Company to the 1 extent of | £SOO. (applause.) ' "' ; 'Mr E. Chamberlain thought tlie farmiug interestM boeo'yery w'ell ■protected; the millers should also ?be studied. They had to suffer-from bad debts and long'credit, as 'well as tho risk of a fluctuating market, • ■

•■ Mr Renall said -if .trade, co'ild* be Ponduoted on a cash basis things Vfliild be better 'all- round/' By'tho tinie. tlie Joonv $jj* realised "jiin'6 months 'credit Md .hoetf ,gifen,. and then they stood tp'jqso tiiri'ugli fjid, debts, when he imported wheat from Canterbury he had to pay cash,

That was the rule of the Cora Exchange to which ho belonged, Farmers and millers would both benefit by a cash trade. He thought they might form a Co-Operative Society with great benefit to tho community, and it neod not be confined to nats and wheat. The Chairman said his proposal ,wa3,.toje.strict..operittiQn.sJ.o.,jyheat i ..:-.. only this year, Ho supposed the mita would be satisfied to s griud so long as tliey nere 'paid ! "for'their gristing,"'" Mr; Kenall said he' thought the wheat'c|uld|)pgrjstedfor6d'olßd| There woufd'probablybenoohjeotibnon the part of the ■provided tho scheme was profer!) wdfkeiJ'oiit; 1 The difficulty was, thinners would want. to draw' oit their 'wheat, fail? / they must not lose sight of the fact of bank interest, insurance and charges, which would mount up to Hag no inconsiderable ijsri, ; (pt/lhe \fw meeting.Belect fivfc or' six persoris fii- f j'T .tevesled, as a Cotiiihittee, to propound ' • / ' A alichbme on the basis as suggested by Mr McUardle. They must provide somei fund to assist the farmers, The season''had'opened'witii the : ' | prospect of a .better, market but the *» •' confounded' thiiig"liad' v, gofte''We , " iJ ' y ' wrong ■wpy," i .(JLiaughtpr.V, At the ■price flour mi selling now 'farmiW '' ; : would not get 8s for their wheat.

Mr T. Chamberlain said tho only thing farmers could jlo was to. sell at a prico ;tl|at would klepj \ bury competition; 1 If they could •'hot'-' ; -v". do.rthat it was timo to knock off. HaW. asked what was the reason they not do so, ..Was it,because they paid higher wages - '•htii Vtliin. <:&outh? There were plenty of crops here avetaged 40 bushels to the acre and--;* they could not do bettor in Canterbury.; He -saw the labourers there ' were trying to get 9d per hour, whilst here tliuy paid Is. With that exception there was no reason apparent why this district should not compete witli South. Mr lienall pointed out that a joint stock' company if they found tho I capital would want a profit, and that ' would not help farmers, Mr Carman after- some further discussion moved that a farmers union be formed embracing all the

grain, growers within tbe district. He said it was being recognised throughout tbe world that "union is strength" and it was necessary for this district.

*1 Mr Gapper said lio ooiMuot sea « that the motion would lead to any good. Wlint they winted •was a v !•- .op operative Association not a Union. ir operative society of any £15,000 to } 8 £20,000 and formed' $ Uoard of Direo'r tori, they couldarrangetermswitbthe millers.and could advance.to farmers Id at once, say three-fourths of the 13 value delivered; : tbe members to take up shares and be liable for the If amount of their shares. As soon. A3 '}' the Society was registered tlioy could )' get a banking account and make • [ e advances at a proportion to be fixed t3 whon the seasons work was wound d. up, any surplus would bo divided r amongst the, member and;any f; lo88;.. 6 .wouldbe placed to" their debit'. If' '* tt ' the poorer formers could not be, a helped it was no use co oporating. £ This was a consuming district, not Q '• an- exporting one like Canterbury, =' and wanted all the proceeds of their d produce spent in their midst. A ' e .union would, iba of .no. use for tbis purpose, but a co-operative society ■' 3 would help them. ;; 10 Mr G, : Chamberlain' suggested'.' that tlioy might form a Joint Stock A d Company aridtaketbe millsover.i. .. Mr J. McGregor wanted to know 's whether the millers would, if they f refused to give the farmers their lfr .price, griet their wheat/ (;;:' < ; , : •'/Mr E. Chamberlain said"they did ' x not intend to gris.t fpr farmerar .to, let, , v d them como into tlio'market and'take ■9 from them ) their. beßtjCustomers by. underselling, aiid'leavjng .none but " 'd small men and. .those''who'Wanted* « long terms;for the miller's?/ **'* '8 Mr McGregor ?aid it.was'their duty', iV -' d iofiol! in the best market snd get the 1 ' '.' y quiokest returns. If Me'ssre Chamber 1 - / t lain and Bfltiall would upt bu/ front'.' ' them it was their duty to makefile' ■t best arrangements for themselves. ' a The producers were forced into an e awkward position... .. ..... „„ .. : , 18 Mr E. Chamberlain* '.the d millers could take ail the wheat but d tlio farmers say they, could rot hold , y but must sell. If tho millers bad to'^jji v buy and bold tbey conld not giva full . market rates,. -They, had to pay-in V >! three months and got their returns in W 1 nirio months.,;-.:.., ; ) Mr McGregor asked if the farmed ' t. were prepared to pay .for grinding 1 their wheat what right the millers ! had to refuse to do it.' ! Mr E. Chamberlain said they bad ' • overv right when the producers'sold to their customers. / !r " " Mr Ronallsaid ho believed Mr Mo--1 Gregor'undersold him; ' M r M cGregor explained that he bad only entered into a business arrqngeraont with ono man who took bis flour indolfeK : ~ ~ • Mr Guild said' ho thought the' circular inferred that the farmers had used tho millers badly.' (Mr Kenall, No I) Ho thought the.growers had to thank tlio niillts, who had always' tried to keep up prices. The quastion, tr farmers was whether' • they were going to compete against an" inferior article such as Canterbury's. -Should tbey continue to sell their good wheat at 10s, adyanco;ori;. Canterbury andexport tbe balance, or . sell all in the tjistrict/at a price to A exclude tho inferior article! If %y ( J had an association they could supply the local millers and export tho rest, They might lose ion <their exports, lju't that would' be covered by local; ?aieif and:propeeds bedividpfj. He .'moved that a circular bp ' bed,eft in tl|e hands of Iho'Clmiriyifti) that t1i036 willing to form a co-operft-tivo society jnigl)t6ig|i, After fiptiie fuller discussion, tlip two previous polutjons/ having r. fallen through, it was resolved that a committee be formed consisting of Messrs Blatchford, Carman, Hessey, Buick, Guild,, arid J., McGregor, to propound a s'chenii by' wllich tile prico of grain can be fairly regulated and report upon at a future meeting.

[ A, new nsa forthoeucaiypfrishaabeeft ! ~ flfjbprnta, Tfwporimenti. .. have boon n)aae i}i' Rome 6y 'Sbiiiiqi '' l • 1 0 >unt Luigi Torolii, wjio placed some nioSt In water with leaves of the eucaly'. ptiis globule!, and in another pan apiece of yea) m plain water. After H hours jt waj founj tfyat when tho veal had W beon merely jsoaked in wafer,, the? ipcajt had become putrid arid'decompoWd ffia water. Tho water in the pjn treated but was quite good, and the meat waj found iu»escbllenfc' l 'preiemtjo'ri; iI aiidA'J when'cooked waß eaten with much relish.

John Burns' tribute W tho pawnbroker qught ,t|ot to. be forgotten, !'.,sive pwiibrokerj olit ofiijt ijj tliV East Epd, pay? M'jtfjbp leader, . .".issued notice?'to W effept' 'lhey would phfirgc ijo interest op* articles pledged with th® dating tho strike,"