BELATED TOPICS 253 



before the House of Parliament, and on the working of 

 the present laws ; to protest against any measures deemed 

 injurious to farmers' interests; to secure proper repre- 

 sentation of farmers' interests in Parliament. To secure 

 this, members of the Union are advised to vote only for 

 those candidates who agree to the platform of the Union, 

 and to place the interests of the Union above those of 

 party." 



The general principle of such a Union is to be 

 commended. It shows that the farmers form an active 

 community, and are alive to their responsibilities. By 

 means of the Union the farmers throughout the country 

 are united and bound together by common interests, and 

 exchanges of opinion and ideas are likely to become very 

 valuable. The dominant note in such an organisation 

 is the interest of the farmer, a most important matter 

 for the Dominion as a whole. The platform of the 

 Union clearly shows this. It deals generally with the 

 questions of land settlement, advocating the freehold 

 as a general principle, Government grants for roads and 

 bridges, taxation of rural lands, customs duties, freedom 

 of contract and local franchise. To state that a Farmers' 

 Union is desirable is not to advocate the platform as laid 

 down at present. But in spite of the avowed tendency 

 to preserve purely class interests, the Union has already 

 achieved much which will be of permanent benefit to 

 the community. It has aroused public interest in the 

 rural industries at a time when there was a tendency 

 to regard urban occupations as more important. A 

 staunch advocate for agricultural and general education 

 it has assisted in improving the education system. The 

 frequent meetings have been beneficial to the farmers 

 themselves, and have developed a solidarity of interest. 

 Finally, the Union has frequently stood out against 

 commercial and trade monopolies, with no small degree 

 of success. 



But many of its activities have been somewhat narrow. 



