THRESHING MILL HANDS.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17941, 8 December 1923, Page 17

THRESHING MILL HANDS.

P[y AND CONDITIONS. §|s#t & Hagger, Commissioner, Mftfover, 8 sitting of the Conciliyesterday to discuss con|pMiii»tiYe to threshing mill HiiittMaon were: —Mill Owners' iridksa, Messrs 0. Sheat, E. Macliell and H. E. ?eryMill Workers' Union, Idwin, A. Stewart and M he believed and he Id come to an agreeifflculty. If they; did, 9 a reflection on their [the Mill Owners' AaJike to have gone to Sked'fot a drastic cat [< view of a recent anthe cost of living was rather than to recede, it such a move would lent. They, therefore, lie present, scale of main in existence for hat the future of the lustry held was more wuer* and more than [ tell. There was less aund in New Zealand 100 acres, or one-third, ground was in a bad e drought, and he was hat it was likely there rtago in the people's the other side did not iterations and higher, ild soon come to an e owners' assessors lie "position as Henry be waj selling a man a can have it any colt it must be black." i give the wbrkers' asas they wanted, as not ask for any more. \of work clause was Difference rpressed regarding the » employed, the w.orkn extra man should be mill for times of emouth Canterbury. This over. mamMjt -sked that the hourly ?sss& be'fixed at a flat rate'of SHP» Wtf instead of Is 6d plus a !Se said that the bonus »t of the men to be a gratuity, instead of t that the owners could B saw Mr Baldwin's I not advise his Asso- > W an increase in the »dy farmers said that J were robbing them. You don't take them oner said that if a flat were agreed to, reducL be made by order of be mill-owners arc the imstanoet New Zea-! to compote with the! », ,and if they don't I go to the wall. , Mr i % for a basic wage of tints. If wc agree, we the future of the indusThat is plain colonial safeguard ■' the industry the wages of the worked an hour as soon as

possible, so that the producers can compete with, the world 'b market. Either that, or %e wheat farmers go out of business; and if they do, the workers will want a job, and there will have to be soup kitchens. Mr Baldwin: You predicted soupkitchens years ago. They are not here yet. Mr Sheat: Canterbury farmers head the list of bankruptcies, and there will be more yet. Mr Baldwin: Those people are not farmers; they are speculators. There is no chance of wages being reduced. They are more likely to be increased, according to latest statistics. Mr Sheat: If we don't fight you in the Court, the Farmers' Union will. The men are getting the full 2s lid now. Is not that enough? Mr Baldwin: Make it wages straight out. Mr Sheat: We won't That is straight. Mr Peryman said it looked as if they would not reach an agreement, and as if they were only wasting time. He had another engagement that he must attend. Mr Sheat said that if the case went to the Court he would put up a better fight than Mr Baldwin. Mr Baldwin: Could youf i Mr Sheat: Anyway the season will be next thing to finished before the Court can take the case. The employers agreed to increase .the minimum wages for cooks from £.3 a week to £4, and, having gained this i concession, the workers' representatives accepted the other clauses of the old award. They stated that they realised it was an extraordinary year and they were willing to fall into line for that reason in the meantime. WOOD-BORER PESTS FROM AUSTRALIA. * (FUSS association tzlzqbah.) WELLINGTON. December 7. The 'Public Works Department has issued two circulars to its engineers and to local bodies drawing attention to the possible risk to New Zealand by the introduction cf Australian wood borer pests> through the medium of hard wood timber imported into the country. The methods by which the presence of these destructive insects may be detected are set out. The careful and instant destruction of all bark removed from hardwood timber is being urged upon local bodies' and other engineers by the Public Works Department, especially when the bark shows signs of being affected by pests. Certain larvae found in hardwood timber delivered in the Dominion have proved to belong to the family Xyloryctidae. This larvae bore in the trunks and branches of trees and bushes and do a groat deal of harm: quite a number cause damage to hardwood, and several species have become serious orchard pests in parts of Australia. Another "undesirable immigrant" arriving on Australian hardwoods has been identified as belonging to the genus lihinotermes, the worker caste of one of the larger white ants of Australia. Engineers are asked to issue definite and stringent instructions regarding the immediate removal and destruction of bark showing signs of this pest.