The Daily Telegraph. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1891.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 6294, 2 November 1891, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1891.

Wk have received from Mr Whiteley King, the secretary of the Pastoralists , Federal Council of Australia, a copy of the official statement of the facts and history of the recent shearing difficulty in Australia, which was compiled for presentation to the Royal Commission on Labor, eittiDg in London. The Pastoralufs" Federal Council of Australia represents the organised sheep und cattle farmers of Australia, and embraces the Ptintoralists , Unions of New South Wales, Victoria. South Australia, and Queensland. The Amalgamated Sh oarers' Union represents the organised shearers in the above named colonies. When it ia stated that the operations of the Pastoraliats' Federal Council extend over an area of over one million square miles of pastoral country, some idea of the importance of the pastoral industry in Australia, and the magnitudes of the interests threatened by recent labor developments in these colonies, may bu obtained. In the whole of Australia it is estimated that there are 95,000,000 sheep and 11,500,000 cattle depasturing; the value of a season's wool clip may ba estimated at something over £20,000,000 sterling, and the amount of capital invested in the pastoral industry in Australia det down at £300,000,000. The actual number of persons employed in ordinary pastoral labor (as distinguished from the work of shearing) in Auetralia is roughly estimated at 50,000. During the shearing season it may be estimated that fully another 50,000 persons are employed at the woolaheds as shearers and general laborers. The earnings of these men vary—for shearers, from £i to £5 10s per week; and for general laborers, from £1 to £1 10s (with rations found, as per agreement), according to circumstances. It may be claimed that as the pastoral industry ie the main source of permanent wealth and employment in Australia, fully three-fourths of the whole of the population obtain their livelihood directly ani indirectly in the production of the staple of the continent. The Shearerfe' Unions were established between four and five years ago for perfectly legitimate objects. For some time after the establishment of these unions comparative harmony prevailed ; the majority of sheepowners accepted the rules and agreements of the Shearers' Unions, and carried out thidr work under them. A majority of the men employed in pastoral work are members of labor unions.It was with the objeot of protecting the men engaged in this industry from unwarrantable interference in the management of their properties by labor bodies that the organisations above mentioned, and represented by the Pastoralists' Federal Council, were established. The difficulty began by a declaration of the Australian Labor Federation of the intention of the waterside unions to block the shipment of wool shorn by nonunionists at Jondaryan station, Darling Downs, Queensland, and the unionist Bhearers demanded that only unionists should be employed by Queensland pastoralists. There was at this time considerable friction all over Australia between pastoralists and their employe's, in consequence of the increasingly aggressive attitude of the representatives of the men who sought to establish a tribunal to determine how the work of shearing should be conducted at individual stations. A few days after the announcement of the boycott of non-union ehorn wool, a Conference was held in Brisbane between representatives of "The Darling Downs Sheep-ownera' Association," a district organisation, and representatives of " The Australian Labor Federation," the result of which gave victory to the men. The employers, only partially organised, and powerless to maintain their position in the middle of a shearing season, were compelled to agree to the demand of the men that only Union shearers should be employed. The result of the Brisbane Conference, coupled with the now arrogantly offensive tone of certain labor leaders who, flushed with victory, completely lost their heads, spurred the pastora lists of Australia to take decided aotion in their own defence, and in all the colonies almost simultaneous meetings were held, which resulted in the establishment of the pastoralists' organisations above -named. What followed is too well known to need further reference.