RELATED 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. 
