BOYS SATISFIED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 266, 9 November 1932, Page 8

BOYS SATISFIED.

CONDITIONS ON FARMS.

TESTIMONY IN XETTERS,

GRATITUDE EXPRESSED.

There etill appears to bo belief in some quarters that conditions on farms for boj'e are far from satisfactory. Although this may be true in some cases, the majority of farmers are realising today that they cannot get youths to work on their farms, and keep them, unless the hours and conditions are reasonable. The policy of the Auckland Boys' Employment Committee, which has done valuable work in placing unemployed boys on farms, is to ensure that boys placed by them in the country shall work under the best conditions, as to hours, accommodation, amusements, holidays, etc. The committee will not send a youth on to a farm unless it is assured that a farmer is practically prepared to give his youthful employee a "home away from home." Moreover, the committee makes arrangements to keep continually in touch with the boys placed, with the result that the great majority of them are liking farm life. The committee is continually receiving letters from boys, who praise the conditions under which they live and work, and seldom fail to express their gratitude for the assistance given them by the committee. ; The best testimony is that which comes from the boys themselves, and the following are brief extracts from letters received from boys who are satisfied. "Really Enjoying It." "Since taking up farm life, I have come in contact with lots of things hitherto unknown to me. At one time, if anyone had told me that in the near future I would be milking cows, I would have laughed; but now I am "doing it every day and really enjoying it. I have been farming now for over five months, and I think that it is a great healthy life for those who take a liking to it. I can milk very well, both by hand and with the machines. I have had quite a bit of experience at topdressing, post-

splitting, fencing, draining, and clearing rough ground of tea-tree and ! birch stumps, ploughing ... .1 am with very good homely people, who treat me as one of themselves. I get five meals a day and all my washing and mending done. I am not sorry Itook up farming for a livelihood, and I would like to thank you for taking such an interest in my welfare . . . We have dances once a fortnight down here." "I am writing'to let you know that you have given me a very good job, with ja considerate boss, whose , wife is a mother to me. This is my eeventh week here and I have no trouble yet." _ "Well, I must admit I had a hard fight to keep from eadly thinking of my home life, which I badly missed for the first few weeks, but I think that time has passed, and I am reaping the benefit of outdoor life." "Never Felt So Fit." "I am in receipt of your letter inquiring as to my welfare, and hereby express my thanks. I eeem to have overcome most of , my difficulties, and have forgotten the days when I used to 101 l about lazily at home or riding the streets in search of employment. . . . I know now that I have never felt so fit in my life . . . I !get three good meals a day and a bedroom to myself . . I have no complaints to make, for I am treated as one of the family." "In answer to your letter, I beg to inform you that I am in the best of health and happiness, and that farm life is a very wonderful life. One could not get a better employer than Mr. . He is absolutely fair in every way, and I am treated the same as if I was at my own home . . . I am extremely grateful to you for getting me the job . . . I am quite satisfied with the place and the people, and am treated as one of the family. In fact, it is just like home." The Boys' Future. Most of the positions got for the boys by the Employment Committee are permanent, but the committee finds vacancies for boys displaced. The most frequently asked question by the parents of boye is: "What future Ims my boy got by going on to a farm ?" The policy of the committee is to assist the boys whom they have placed ultimately to secure farms for themselves, providing they are reasonably thrifty. Farm life is not a blind alley, in so far as the activities of the Auckland Boys' Employment Committee is concerned.

The committee comprise some of (Auckland's most prominent, business men, educationists and clergy, every one of whom has hie heart set on doing..something tangible to solve boy- unemployment. All are of the opinion that the metropolitan population of this country, which is 52 per cent, is too great_ for & young land, that when positions in the I city are almost impossible to secure, the only reasonable way out seems to; be the land, and that the whole matter resolves itself into whether parents wish-to see their eons idle and becoming demoralised at home, or whether they prefer™ give them a chance to make good in toe country. The feeling of loneliness, in » boy exchanging city life for country I» e is soon dispelled under good condition 8 , which the committee takes the trouble to ensure that its boye get.