THE CALL OF THE LAND

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 62, 10 September 1921, Page 6

THE CALL OF THE LAND

MR. SHAILER WESTON EXPLAINS

Mr. T. Shailer Weston, president oi the Employers' Association, when s?en by The Post to-day with reference to' remarks made' at the unemployed deputation to Sir Francis Bell yesterday, said:—"Mr. Mack, of the Alliance of Labour, has apparently missed the point of what I said to The Post the other day re unemployment in New Zealand. When times are prosperous in the colonies, the population tends to drift into the towns, and we find an excessive proportion there; when bad times come, to judge from past experience, the remedy is for this tendency to be reversed. New Zealand, owing to its isolated geographical position, is essentially an agricultural and pastoral country. Manufactures can only be subsidiary to these main industries.. Consequently the economical position is soundest when the bulk of our population is engaged in these pursuits. At the present time, owing to the sudden dislocation of industry, there is a certain amount of unemployments—in my opinion, marvellously small compared with what 'we might have expected. To remedy this on logical lines—and many labour leaders are always saying that we should use our brains and think j logically—we must arrange to transfer I labour not required in languishing industries to where it is urgently required. SHORTAGE OF FARM LABOUR. "In the Auckland Weekly News of Bth September,' 1 Mr. Weston continued, "Mr. W. Huey, the provincial secretary to the Farmers' Union, said the shortage of farm labour was likely to affect production considerably. . There were a large number of men offering for work, but they were not suitable. There was no immediate prospect of the acute .position being relieved. Last year at this season he placed over 300 immigrants with farmers* and within the last ten days he had received no fewer than fifty requests from fanners for assistants, in view of the approaching busy season. Mr. Huey said there were approximately 15,000 farmers in the Auckland province, and the majority of these could well do with a man or two in addition to the members of their family, who, of course, assisted with the farm work. A START ON TffE DAIRY FARM. "The information Mr. Huey has given is borne out by what has come to my personal knowledge' as chairman of the Wellington District Repatriation Board. Numbers ]oi returned soldiers who have . diesired to obtain farming experience have found no' difficulty whatever in getting employment with dlairy farmers, at £1 per week and their keep. This has been supplemented by the Government by another £1 for a limited period. These pupils have quickly acquired, experience, and provedl their worth, and at the end of six or twelve months their employers have been 'glad ■to give them; higher wages. There is no doubt there is a big future before the dairy industry in this colony. Any man, therefore, who is, prepared to work hard, and is honest, thrifty, and sober, would not ultimately regret leaving the town to qualify as a dairy farmer. Even if he had no capital; he could, by means of share-milidng, gradually acquire enough to obtain land of his own. , ' THE INDEPENDENT WORKER. "Many a man who entered into such. & contract in Tarauaki in the* years gone by is now prosperous and owner of his own freehold. The., thoroughly-reliable worker is one of the most independent men in society. He can always find an j employer glad to give him a job, and in I this country he can alwuys go ahead. . It is true there are no Crown lands now vacant, compared with the position in 1886, but it is also clear that the dany farm of the future will be one of much smaller area than at present. With improved herds and better methods of tilling, a man with fifty acres will do better than the man with one hundred acres at, present. Subdivision of present areas will subsequently follow. Consequently,, just as in 1886, many a young fellow, who was driven reluctantly to come North amdi go into the.bush, has reason now to bless the mischance that drove hiln from town employment into his present prosperity; so the steady young fellow who now.itakes his fate in his hands, , and endeavours to acquire fairm experience, even at a temporary low wage, will probably be in a much bettor position^ ten years hence than the man who sticks to the town. IN FACE OF ECONOMIC FACTS. "Personally, I nor do the Employers' Federation as a whole believe, in badly paid men. . At the same time, as your leader put it the other night, there is only so much in a pint pot and any man who has an intimate inside knowledgeof the wholesale trades, the retail trades, &nd the sheep firming industry, is blind to economic-facts if he hopes to pay permanently the high wages of i,he last two years. Another thing I would like' to emphasise with regard to immigration. Labour is of no value unless it is suitable for the jobs that are vacant. - Many of the immigrants now coming into the country have taken jobs which men here were either unable or indisposed to fill. In spite of the bad times, certain branches of our agricultural industries are ex-. panding enormously, and their demands for labour must be met." "Of course every man with human feelings—and employers have these, in spite of what extremists often say—must sympathise with many of the men, especially, sailors and other married men with young families. I feel sure that employers generally will endeavour to cooperate with the City Council and Civic League in their efforts to alleviate cases of distress. If, Labour leaders will recognise that: employers also have, their troubles, and that the present is a common difficulty, riot affecting them alone, then they will be'better able to take the joint action necessary to deal with theiproblem and to successfully solve it."