CHARGES REFUTED.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1137, 26 May 1911, Page 4

CHARGES REFUTED.

FARMERS AS EMPLOYERS. (By Telcffraph.—Sdccibl Correspondent.! Auckland, May 25. Charges against farmers as employers of labour were challenged warmly bj' delegates at the Provincial Farmers' Union Conference. Tho following remit forwarded by tho Waorcnga branch, was adopted unanimously.— That this conference emphatically denies the charges made against tho farmers' community ro farm labour, and records its sound conviction that ■ the conditions of tho agricultural labourers are at least equal to any of the large industries of tho Dominion, and as regards the prospects for capable and energetic men are infinitely better. Mr. Alex Eos;, speaking on behalf of the Waerenga branch, taitl that industries were now faced with a coming scarcity of labour. Tho farming industry being progressive would feel tho pinch more than others. To make things worse, men who ought to know better went about the country stating that anyone who worked for farmers was in for a bad time. "The farmer,' , said Mr. Ross, "is charged with three cardinal sins—(l) that he gives his men poor accommodation, (2) that ho pays small wages, and (3) that he works his men long hours." The accommodation provided on farms, said Mr. Boss, was just as good, and very often much better, than that provided in the towns. As a general rule, men had not to work long hours on farms. Their hours were regulated just as those of men in tho town .vere. He also denied the charge in regard to low wages on farms. Workmen in the towns, on the other hand, kept up the old cry that they were only able to run on and make things mpet.