FARM LABOURERS' DISPUTE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 169, 16 July 1908, Page 7

FARM LABOURERS' DISPUTE.

*v> AITTNG FOB. THE VERDICT. CHRISTCHURCH, Wednesday. The long-standing farm labourers' dispute, which has been before the Conciliation Board and Arbitration Court for the past seven or eight months, came to an end to-day, when Mr. J. Thorn concluded his address on behalf of the union. Mr. Thorn said that the evidence he had' quoted as to ploughmen's wages was complete refutation of the statement that 20/ to 22/6 was the general wages paid in the country. The President: How many farm labourers are there in Canterbury? Mr. Thorn said that he could not say, but he had shown that Mr. Jones' estimate of 16,000 was excessive . Mr. Thorn contended that the evidence showed that the general rate was 25/. The President: Do you suggest that the Court should fix the minimum wage at 25/? Mr. Thorn: If 25/ were fixed, it would be a reasonable solution of the difficulty. The President stated that, taking the estimate of the chairman of the Conciliation Board, that the average wage is 22/6, and, assuming that there were 10,000 farm labourers, the fixing of the minimum at 22/6 would mean — 130,000. There must be some serious dispute before the Court would be justified in putting a tax of that amount on the fanning industry. There wae n-o question that the men were getting a living wage; ! the only men who were not were the day j labourers. There was very serious reI sponsibility in altering the wages of | farm labourers. Mr. Ackland, replying to the President, said that he estimated that there were between 2000 and 3000 men employed in sheep work in Canterbury. The Court then rose.