SHEEP STATION LIFE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 124, 18 February 1908, Page 5

SHEEP STATION LIFE.

conciliation' board. SOME SATISFIED MEN AND THEIR Somcv-interesting: evidence. :was ;given i.beforo -Hhe|'rGonciliatipn];B6ard t atCulycrden, North- Canterbury/..'rogardiiig -conditioris 'of • labour on the big stations in the Amuri. ■ . j ."Archibald- 30 : years 'of 'ago; married, . hoadi shepherd at Leslio-Hills station, stated that he started work in .-the; district on St. Helens-station,in 1902,-and was engaged at: mustormg by the-week. ' The wages for nms* termg on back country . were-30s. per . week and. 65.: for Sundays 1n:1903,,th0y .were i.toi 355. a week' and os. for Sundays.' The food on St. Holens was fairly. good. They, got bread, meat, onions, and sometimes other vegetables, -also butter - and jam. It took thenv all 'their time to averago eight hours' work per,: day. -On, rainy days ; they did ,>•' no -•work, 'fThey -wero- not asked to^;mend : V-vharness, : ; 1 aiidi-'.-'-'fsjpeiit- x their-' time carving,walkiiig-sticks. 'r Ho mustered on GlenAVye station for-the seasons of 1904-5-6, and-,got £2 per week; but nothing extra for work- on Sundays.. In June ho -would have been two jears at Leslie Hills. as a yearly, hanjl. He got t £P5 por annum, ana .was found in two cows,, a horse, horse teed for 1 twohorses, a ■ tour-roomed liouso rent - free, use 0f,.15: acres, ot; land, free - firewood' and . meat, aud occasionally fruit.-/,'flo':worked no . :hour3, ; ijbnt'; started 'at this/tiriie of the year at :8-a.m. \At muster-' : ing and- shearing, he. started- earlier. 'He got'all .the .holidays he . asked 'for.; In .1906; from January, 1 to June. 18, ho had, twenty-seven days otf, |,not•.including Sundays!:,. During the .period he worked on eleven, Sundays. . Tho total number,of, days, oltj: including: Sundays, was forty. . Mustering,' even, on/back: conn-' try, was 'not .extremely' arduous ,' wbrk.; So far. as ,ho had seen, ! the, .packman's job was not-a :.heavy, ono. ~ He'had saved ±1100 in

twelve - months "while engaged in mustering; ■'' . In.reply to tlio Farm.Labourers' Union re-. Eresentative; ho-said he was nevcr < better in oalth than; wheiij lie. was-, mustoring:. ',It . made him more tared to walk on tho'fiat than on the hills.' The, Union's demand regarding musterors',, wages—£3 per ; week and . too- high 'for the '■work done. He' would rather work for u V. straight-out weekly >ago: that for a wage providing extra.payfor work done on Sundays. ; Ho was 'satisfied'with'the' wages • lie was at present getting for' taking care of 20,000 sheep. • The majority of tho mustcrers that, they had. got lately, at Leslie Hills were not'competent.men. By fixing.a minimum • wage no opportunity l was givqn a man to rise, and overy man would bo placed on tho same level.: Ho did riot think that his employer, would,-if the minimum was fixed-: at /• £80, reduce his wages to that amount. His employer considered at present that lie was worth £95'; as a weeldy hand. He got a fortnight's ; holiday during tho year, also Christmas Day, the two days of the local races, tho show day, and any other days he asked for, all without any: reduction of . wages. Mon who were sick were paid during the timo they were laid up; Joseph Stephens, undcr-stiopherd' at St. Leonards,. .42., years of age, married, stated that he received £86'por annum,', besides a freo house,! two cows, a garden, and plot of ground to grow : potatoes; • He was charged 2d. per lb for 241b. of mutton per month, whether'or. not ho had moro than that'quantity. Ho'wa'svlietter off than if ho was in the city,at a higher,rate of wages. A weekly half-holiday would bo of little value to men ■ on back-country stations. ', John Leach, 49 years of ago, rabbiter and mustercr on Mount Palm station, 1 stated' that ho had beeri : 17 years on the station, arid received £88 per annum. He got a fr.ee hcuso, two cows', and a sheep.pqrweok. .'ln addition he : reoeivcd.,l4d; por. dozen for rabbitskins.. He know of no dissatisfaction- amongst' tho men generally. Ho could get a holiday any time ho wanted it. He worked pretty well what hours he. liked. . When rabbiting ronktimes his/receipts from'rabbitskins would run into £1 per month. .His .employer supplied, liim..with- ammunition; arid also bought . the'fabbit .skins- ' •