Sir John McKenzie and the origins and growth of the Department of Agriculture, 1891-1900 : thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History at Massey University

Abstract

Although two theses have examined John McKenzie's activities as Minister of Lands in a fairly detailed way, they have virtually ignored his actions as Minister of Agriculture. This one-sided concentration has meant that we know very little about McKenzie's achievements as Minister of Agriculture, even though they were of equal importance in the short term and have proven to be more important in the long term. Agricultural legislation passed by John McKenzie was as creative as his land laws and made up of many more statutes. This proliferation of laws relating to agricultural matters was largerly explained by the fact that major problems were covered by separate statutes, whereas McKenzie and acts and W.P. Reeves' labour laws were concentrated in one or two massive acts, which were extraordinarily comprehensive. Nevertheless, the agricultural laws passed by John McKenzie were on a similar scale to his land acts and to the labour legislation of Reeves, in terms of legislative output, legislative energy and powers created for the government. Furthermore, the administration of the Department of Agriculture affected nearly as many people as did the running of the Department of Lands and Survey. Today, much of the agricultural legislation introduced and passed by John McKenzie still has a direct effect on our lives, both in the city and on the farm. Town milk supply continues to be examined by employees of the Department of Agriculture; cowsheds are still regularly inspected by government officials; sheep are dipped within certain time limits, as they were in the 1890's; and slaughtering has been carried out in licensed abbatoirs under the supervision of government inspectors ever since 1900. On the other hand, lease in perpetuity is now obsolete and only of interest in school text books and learned journals. Obviously, than, a study of John McKenzie's actions as Minister Of Agriculture is long overdue. The urgent need for such an investigation and the stringent word limits placed upon the exercise, has meant that the thesis is almost exclusively concerned with John McKenzie as Minister of Agriculture. It only looks at his work as Minister of Lands in a general way an an attempt to explain the formulation of his agricultural policies and the development of his distinctive ministerial style. The thesis concentrates on the period 1891-1900 when John McKonzic held ministerial office, but research was begun from around 1878 when the first Sheep Act to be passed by the central government was introduced. This work on earlier developments has proven to be valuable, for it has clearly shown that John McKenzie was not an innovator but rather a consolidator. The thesis also moves into some tentative speculation after 1900, in an attempt to assess the political implications of John Mckenzie's agricultural policies. [From Preface