The Farmers' Union 



I have dealt elsewhere with problems that await 

 the farmer, with the coming campaign against 

 weeds, with the establishment of experimental 

 farms, etc., but one cloud looms darker than 

 others in the near future. If — as many think — 

 Protection is coming, we must indeed gird our 

 loins. Farmers too vaguely imagine that tariffs 

 will enrich them, but it should be understood that 

 only the best organized and most powerful com- 

 binations will benefit. Experience shows that those 

 alone profit who are strong enough to command 

 attention in the political world. 



The payment of Members of Parliament has 

 made easier our path, and we must see that there 

 are practical farmers in the next House of Com- 

 mons, irrespective of politics, who will agree not to 

 vote with either party on party questions, but sit 

 alone, or with the Labour members. Their influ- 

 ence would be felt, and their expert opinion de- 

 manded. Of course, we cannot expect to attain the 

 cohesion of the trade unions, because their inter- 

 ests are undivided: what affects one miner, one 

 bricklayer — affects all miners and bricklayers, but 

 the interests of farmers are immensely divergent. 

 One wants cheap feeding stuffs, another cheap 

 implements, another calls for a tariff on wheat 

 or hops or barley, whilst I have heard the same 

 man ask for a tariff on German potatoes one year, 



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