WZZAT PRICES

Evening Star, Issue 16352, 19 February 1917, Page 7

WZZAT PRICES

DISCUSSED BY CANTERBURY

FARMERS.

[Special to the 'Star.']

TiMARU, Febru-rv 19

The fixing of wheat prices was a fruitful subject of diseus'non on Saturday at tho meeting o£ the South Canterbury executive of the Farmers' Union.

Tha Chairman (Mr John Talbot) spoke of the conditions under which harvesting had he-en going on, and described tho yield as a. poor one so far as oats was "concerned. Ho said the crop was a total failure, and ho was afraid the estimate of 24{ bushels of wheat for Canterbury was too sanguine. lie would be surprised if tho total yield for the Dominion exceeded 5,000,000 bushels. The prices fixed by the Government would not in many cases rifpay the cost of growing the crop, since very low farmers would get an a vera go yield of 20 bushels, and very many would not nearly reach Lhat amount. Farmer's were accepting the fixed prices with tho best grace possible, but tlicie were some small troubles to be met and adjustments to be made. The maximum price for wheat could be obtained only for such quantities as tho millers rere prepared to buy directly from tho farmers, so that only a limited number would obtain the full price and quickly convert their wheat into cash. It wa3 not to be expected that millers would satisfy their year's requirements at once, and the probability was that prices would fall. This would mean thai, millers who had stocked heavily would be at a disadvantage. Someone nvuet hold wheat to bo spread over the next 12 montlis, end tho prices should be increased each month sufficiently to cover the cost of storage and a fair rate of interest. Li regard to tho differentiation between varieties in wheat, it was Laid down that all except velvet and red chaff were to be treated as Tuscan. There were several varieties that should rank aa ecpial to red chaff, if not to velvet, and thaw varieties ought to bo paid far on their merits In order to encourage- the growing of new kinds. lie was not prepared to venturo an opinion as to tho j effect of th« guarantee of 5s 5d for nest (year's wheat. Labor, not prico, would be thfl controlling factor, and ho expected that tho area sown would be smaller than before. It wouM be desirable, however, to find out whether tho Government meant to tako all tho wheat at tho guaranteed price and pay for it cm delivery. If this were not aone t&e grower might get not more than 6a od, and perhaps a great deal less. A guaranteed minimum price would be a stinmhiß to extra effort. It was only fair that if tho consumer were guaranteed against too high a price tho producer should bo assured against too low a price. Mr C. N. Orbell said that it was impossible to grow wheat at the price offered. He had lost £SOO last year throudi wheatgrowing. Tho Government shoufl guarantee a payable price, but they were only shuffling. ' Mr A. G. Hart said that the Government had promised a scheme which would take charge of tho wheat on its passage from the producer to the consumer, and eliminate tho speculator. This Irad not been done. The principal tronblo under the present scheme was that tho farmer have to hold his wheat.

Mr F. Foitfcereon suggested that the.v slwukl ask tho Government to take all tho wheat «it the fixed pries. Ho warned farmers against gambling on tho present high prices of sfcoclc, predicting a slump aitoi- tho war. Ho urged that wheatj growing should bo continued. I The meet-in-- finally resolved that tho Government should bo asked to take- ever all the wheat at the fixed prices, or to pay something moro to meet the cost o.f holding and storing, and to give definite information as to the tr.«uiiiig of tho £ua,ra.'i-

! WO

.GES

ENGINEERS" AWARD

An opinion was delivered in the .Supreme Court at Auckland on Saturday in a case sent from tha Magistrate's Court, in which the Inspector of. Awards proceeded against the Auckland Gas Company to recover £lO as a. penalty for an alleged breach of the Northern" District engineers' award.

The case was that the company, during a period between August 21 and November 11, employed an engineer and failed to pay a war bonus of Id per hour, in addition to the wages provided by clause la and b of tho award. It was admitted that, both before and after June 50, 1915, when the company were made parties to the award, an ordinary week's work consisted of 47 hours, the worker being credited with having worked 48 hours, for which he received £3 6s. After the order of tho Court came into operation, in August, 1916, tho company paid tho worker for the actual hours worked at the rate of Is 4£d per hour, plus a war bonus of Id per hour, which resulted in his receiving £3 8s 7d, including the bonus for 47 hours worked.

Evidonoo was given for the company that it has been the custom for years to pay for the 47 hours actually "worked, and to give tho equivalent of "the extra hour's work as a bonus. When the award was made it was found that there was no increase in the. maximum rate of pav Is 4£d per hour for 47 hours. The company decided, therefore, still to give the equivalent of the extra hour as a gratuity. The Inspector contended that tho winbonus should have been paid in addition to wages paid as in August, 1916, and that the action of the company had resulted in the workers receiving Is 4d less per week of 47 hours than they were entitled to.

Tho opinion of the Court was that, for tho purposes of the award, the wanes paid prior to August, 1216, must "be deemed to have been £3 6s per woek of 47 hours. The man was really paid \va«es at the rate of nearly Is sd" per hour for the time actually worked. In the absence of proof that tho worker had acknowledged that the payment for tho hour not actually worked was a bonus or gratuity, the amount paid for such hour, in accordance with a lOng-estabiished custom, would reasonably be regarded as part of the wages. The Court was of opinion that the contention of the inspector was correct.

GENERAL LABORERS' AWARD

The Arbitration Court has issued an award in tho general laborers' case, which eamu before it at Christchurch recently. 'lhe case attracted considerable attention, because of tho elaborate details placed before the Court by the union, tho wives of members going into the witness bos and giving de-tails regarding their household expenditure, their husbands' earning?, and information as to tho extent to which debts were contracted, these points raised with -the purpose of showing the Court that the existing wage was in> sufficient- to enable them to pay their way. Thy union asked for Is 4£d per hour for general laborers in lieu of the Is 2d being paid. The amounts awarded by the Court are as follow :—Tunnel men, at rock tunnelling work or sinking shafts over 101' i, Is 6d per hour; tunnti men, at clay tunnelling work, and men in charge of' derricks or scaffolding, Is 3d per hour; all other clarses of labor. Is 2d per hour. The award also provides that 20 long as theEmpire remains at war and for three months afterwards a war- bonus of 10 per cent, shall be paid in addition to tlwse rates, and it is further provided that tho war bonus may at any time during the currency of the award be continued wholly or partially, or may be increased or terminated, as the Court- may determine. Mr dissented, as he did not think the. addition of the war bonus sat isSid the reasonable demands of the workers.

{Special to the ' Star.']

_ CHRISTCHURCH. February 19. In itse. memorandum to the general Laborers' award the Arbitration Court says the only question submitted to the Court was as to the minimum rate of wages for general laborers. Tho chief argument us-ed in support of the claim was the. decreased purchasing power of the sovereign since 1913. as evidenced bv the tables issued by the Government Statistician. It has, however, been repeatedly pointed out, both, hero and in Australia, that tho purchasing power of the sovereign, as shown in such, table.;?, is not- an accurate guide as to the actual rise or fall in tho cost of living, ecpeciallv in the case of a particular" class of the community, the tables being based upon the supposed requirements of «11 classes. Speaking of similar tables prepared bv hiiaself, the Australian Statistician say's whoever abnormal conditions arise—for example, through drought, war, or other extraordinary circumstances—which involve corresponding changes in the ordinary usages of a community, the assumption that the price indexed and cost of living move together proportionately is more or less invalidated. Obviously they cannot do so, because all sensible 'people eliange their regime according to the newconditions arising. It may also be noted that in abnormal times the change in the regimen compelled by the abnormal conditions will probably" vary even from one locality to another; hence at such times although the price indexes show the variation in the value of money based upon the normal composite unit, they are not quite satisfactory for the purpose of showing the measure of adjustment necessary on a reasonable basis to equate the value of wages or other payments with those of the former period. The memorandum proceeds: It has also to be remembered that the increased cost of living, so far as it ig caused bv the war, b & burden which lias to lw "borne by the whole community, and to relieve one class of its proper proportion of thatburden simply means adding that proportion to the burden already beiuc borne by tho other classes of the conSnuiiity. The lowest-paid worker, however, is tho least able to bear such harden, and should be relieved to some extent, if it is reasonably possible. Having regard to these considerations, the majority of tho Court are of opinion that they "would not be justified in permanently increasing tho existing rate of wages "for laborers, and that the most they can properly do is to add to the wages payable under "the award a war bonus of 10 per cent., and tho award iR made accordingly. It may bo noted that in New South Wales, where t-ho cost of living is much higher 'than in New Zealand, two Judges, after an exhaustive inquiry, decided in August last that the minimum wapa should ho Is 1-Jd per hour, or 9s 3d per dav, or £2 15s 6d per week. Mr M'Cullough desires to record his dissent from this decision. He. thinis that the addition of the war bonus docs not satisfy the reasonable demands of the worker, and there should also have been an increase in tho rate of tho minimum wage. '

The Court's decision has an important bearing on wages generally, as general laborers' wages are to a considerable extont regarded as a standard of convoari-

LABOR CONGRESS IX .JULY.

[SPECIAL- TO THE ' Ehiß.*]

CHBISTCHUECH, February 17. The United Federation of Labor have sent the following circular letter to all trade- unions in New Zealand, in accordance . wish the decision of the open congrass of trades unions and the United Federation of Labor Congress of 1915, that an open congress of trades unions bo held biennially:—" I desire to draw ycur union's attention to the matter, and urge it to give consideration to the question of representation at the open congress, which will be held at Wellington on Tuesday, July 3, 1917. and tho annual conference of the United Federation of Labor, which will bo held immediately after the conclusion of the open congress. Your union are invited also to send forward their remits and select their delegates for the annual conference of the United Federation