Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1895. THE MASTERTON PASTORAL ASSOCIATION.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 4967, 5 March 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1895. THE MASTERTON PASTORAL ASSOCIATION.

From the report of lust- Saturday's meeting of the Masterton Pastoral Association it might be thought- that it was at the point, of death, but this is by no means its condition. Its continued existence is guaranteed by the consideration that the balance of its assets over its liabilities is a sum of live hundred pounds, and it is not easy for a local institution to dio when it possesses resources to this extent. There is a general feeliug that a re-adjustment of its affairs is necessary to bring it into harmony with public sentiment, but there is-no real desire for it (o bo wound up or liquidated. The suggestion which has been made to alter i the date of its annual Show to the autumn is the solution of the difficulty which is most likely to meet with favour. An Autumn Show would not clash with the Carterton meeting or any other gathering of a similar character, and it would possess special advantages for the exhibition of fat stock which no spring show could command. Very many settlers refuse to take an interest in the Masterton Show because it clashes with the one held in Carterton, jvlpjt fias aijnrittedly the prior right to represent th,e district at the particular season of the year at which it has been accustomed to hold its meetings, The Carterton Show, too, has been worked up with more enterprise and energy than the one at Masterton, and the question j\s to which is the Shinvofthe spring seas,op is no longer open to argument We Ijowj /jlw'ays advocated the union oi iue' tyo associations and if Masterton fciiri.w 'ffie %tchet "with Cartertonby teifingjthp for its annual gathering, we nvp disposed to believe that an flnmlgamation will be easy of accomplishment, We are very much dissatisfied that of our leading stopk-otvaere

and exhibitors are devoting their wliolo energies to supporting the Hutt Show instcftd of standing by their own district. As loug us the district is divided in Show mutters there is some excuse for them. Therefore, we helieve that this unfortunate division sßbuld cease, and that the leading exhibitors of the district should have no pretext for turning their backs on their own Show-grounds At present their are three factions amongst the pastoralists and agriculturalists of the Wairarnpa. How is a district to prosper under such conditions ? We hold that the leading stockowners ought to assist in bringing about a better understanding, If they will not do so they have only themselves to blame if they lose the little prestige which they still retain, Of late years they have been playing straight into the hands of the democracy by dissociating themselves from local associations and institutions, and if they persist in this policy, they will in time be regarded as an alien and exclusive element in the population,