CAN THE BOARDS BE MANNED ?

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14583, 6 February 1913, Page 8

CAN THE BOARDS BE MANNED ?

A COUNTRYMAN'S 'OPINION.

The first essential point in regard to the resumption of ivork at the freezing works is the adequate manning of'the killing boards. As the ordinary slaughtermen are not available for this work the companies had three courses open to them, .firstly, to grant the men's demands, secondly, to make an offer to free labour, or finally, to close down definitely .and absolutely. The second course was the one chosen, and it ivas with reference to the possibility of obtaining a supply of labour for carrying on the work of slaughtering that a-reporter bad a conversation with a gentleman who has a wido knowledge of country conditions. "Do you think," he was asked, "that thero are sufficient men in the country that could be spared to man the boards; and would many of those who could go to the works be likely to be reasonably expert slaughtermen?" "From what I know of tho farmer and tho ordinary farmhand,'' was the reply, "I should say that comparatively few would be good butchers. What possible chance has the ordinary farm hand of getting enough ■ practice to make him even a reasonably good slaughtermen ? I daresay that on most of the farms in Canterbury, if you took an average, there is not much more than one sheep a week killed. Of course if tho family is a large one and any number of hands aro employed, more mutton would be needed, but this is counterbalanced by the fact that many small farmers patronise the local butcher and buy practically all their meat. On stations tho killing is heavier because there are usualy many more hands to be supplied, as well as dogs, and I think more meat per man is eaten on a station. A farmer can generally manage to provide a fair amount of vegetables for his men, and this would naturally assist in keeping down tho meat consumption. There should be a good many station hands who have had a fair amount of practice in killing, but compared with the slaughtermen at the freezing works, they are pretty rough butchers. Also 1 havo noticed that the killing on stations usually fells to the lot of the rouseabout, who, as often as not, is an elde ly man. I think it very unlikely that such men could stand the work on the boards, even if they were inclined to take it on. On the other hand, I little doubt that there are many young, strong men, who, with some practice and—more important still — some sound tuition, ivould soon develop into excellent slaughtermen. I havo heard it said that it would take three months to teach a man how to bo a slaughterman, but I think it could bo dono in less time than that. 1 don't say that the would be fast, but if ho took any interest in tho work at all, ho should be ablo to learn tho proper manner to kill a sheep or lamb for export in undor a month. Speed would then come with practice, and I think that at the end of three months most of the men would bo able to kill their thirty or forty head a oay, in a way that would not cause tho foreman butcher to tear his hair. I admit that this is slow work enough, but it would be better than nothing, and would serve to relievo the pressure. ' Say that there were full boards of free labour at each of tho works, then the output would be about onethird tho normal, or a total of about SCGO head per day for tho two local works—not bad at all. Another point that I thought of wa6, how is tho tuition going to be. given to these volunteers? Tho foreman butcher at each of tho works would no doubt be perfectly competent to teach anyone, bin it would be a bit of a job for him to teach and also superintend t'.o work of a full boa.d of men. However, among the applicants for work at tho works thero would almost certainly be somo export butchers, and these men would have to act in the capacity of teachers for a little while. Summed up, I think the question of manning the boards presents numerous difficulties,, bub it should not be an impossibility by any means." ANOTHER OPINION. A Kaikoura fe.rmer, who happened to be in Ciiristchurch ycste.day, wa3 asked what ho thought of the position, and he said at once that he had little confidence in the scheme of manning the boards with labour off the farms and stations. "'The average farmer," he remarked, "is an individual who is keenly on the lookout for number one. I am afraid that he li not a very patriotic person —that is to say, that he would be one of the last persons to put himself to any incouvenience, just because the farming community would benefit as a whole from his efforts. I am a farmer myself, and it may seem a queer thing for me to run doivn my own class, but if you ivant a candid opinion, that is it. I havo had considerable experience on the committees of .Agricultural and Pastoral Associations, Farmers' Unions, and bodies of this character, and I have been cont.nually struck with the average farmer's attitude of supineness when anything in the nature of combined action and co-operation is .concerned. My, opinion is that when the slaughtermen find the financial shoo pinching them there will be suffic.ent pressure brought to bear ou. the more rabid members of the Union, to make it accede to the terms offered by the freezing companies. 1 know that there are heaps of really decent, reasonable men among tho slaughtermen, and I think that the married men who have homes of thir own and other pressing responsibilities, would be very willing

to accept the companies' proposals. After all, the employers have met the men half way and mado a fair offer. The single men will be able to fend for themselves all right, and doubtless they will be able to find work to keep them going, but in many cases it will be the j women and children who will ultimately j suffer the most, and this fact should have some weight with those slaughtermen who have wives and families." THE HARVEST QUESTION. Another farmer, well known in the Ellesmere district, said that apparently ; many of the butchers that had gono out were relying on the harvest to keep them going during tho time the works were closed. So far as his own district was concerned—and he behoved what he said was correct of other localities as well—he thought that these men would find that there was not half as much work going as they thought. The area of crop was much smaller, and the crops were considerably lighter, making tho handling of them an easier matter. In his own case a paddock of oats that had taken one whole day to stook last year, was stooked a few days ago by a similar number of men ; in'two or three hours. The yield of j grain in both cases had been good, but j the straw this year was very much less, ! and the crop could be handled in a third of the'time. He had not heard ; of much scarcity of labour round tho j Ellesmere district, and all the farmers j seemed to have the harvest help they j needed. If the present weather held, j he considered that practically the ; whole of the crops in Canterbury would j be in in a fortnight or three weeks, j and then thero would be plenty of , labour available without any slaughter- i men. Feed was still plentiful, although thintrs wore a bit dry on the plains, and ho did not think that there would be any difficulty about tho holding of , stock. Personally, ho hoped the com- | panics would stick to their guns, al- j though he happened to be one of tho alleged unfortunates who had been "landed" with forward delivery of storo lambs. THOSE HANDS. A fourth farmer seen said that he was astonished that the law regarding tho unions was of such an elastic ; nature, that it could bo evaded as easily as it had been. Ho was sure that the intention of its framcrs ivas not that a union could cancel its registration so as to avoid strike penalties, and then register again to prevent tho formation of a similar union by another body of men, whose opinions might be more reasonable. Tho situation was rather farcical, and the sooner some amendment was made the better. Ho had noticed that tho slaughtermen j seemed to be depending on the harvest work to tide them over their troubles, but, as all was fair in war, he thought that farmers would be considering their own interests if they gave the preference to men who were not slaughtermen, when any applications for jobs wero made, or refused to employ exbutchers at all. He admitted that it might not be particularly easy to detect a slaughterman when he saw one, but he added, "The secretary of the union has said a good deal about the terrible state of their hands, naillc-.ss I and badly cut, etc., so this may bo a | guide to the employers."