King Country Chronicle Saturday, November 8, 1913 FARMERS AND THE STRIKE.

King Country Chronicle, 8 November 1913, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Saturday, November 8, 1913 FARMERS AND THE STRIKE.

A considerable amount of bitterness is evidently being evinced by the strikers in the different centres towards the countrymen who have volunteerd for service in maintaining order, and assisting to ship the produce of the country to market. Only a little calm consideration is necessary in order to realise that the men from the country have a great deal more at stake than is commonly understood by the workers. The usual industrial disagreement is something with which the farmer has nothing to do, and the origin of the present 'strike is as far removed from the farmers' influence as the poleß are asunder. As the industrial dispute develops, however, it is seen that the farmers is the greatest sufferer of all, and with financial ruin confronting him it is not to be wondered at that he is anxious to take the most direct methods of helping himself. He has no part in the dispute; was not concerned in its origination, nor is he likely to take a hand in the settlement of the original trouble. He is greatly concerned, however, in seeing that his produce gets to market, and in the present instance be is prepared to do his utmost to that end until the matter at issue is decided between the interested parties. The farmer's action is merely an indication that he objects to be ground between the upper and nether millstones of alien industriei without making some effort in his own behalf. If he happens to come into conflict with some of the methods employed by the ramifications of industrial organisation which have been created without any consideration for the farmer, and with which under ordinary circumstances he has no desire to conflict, that is hardly the fault of the farmer. A favourite method of syndicalist organisation lies in obtaining control of the meanß of transport, and the power of paralysing the business and industries of the whole country. The exercising of such a powerful weapon to achieve the settlement on its own terms of a sectional dispute naturally appeals to the extremists among the labour advocates. The transport labour ot the country bears a very important relation to the farming industry, and the irresponsible control of that labour when exercised in a manner altogether indifferent to the farming interests constitutes a menace to every man on the land in the Dominion. The far mers have been Blow to realise their intimate connection with workers' disputes, but the Farmers' Union is now advancing its claim for condideration in framing any agreement which may be'arrived at between the transporters and the employers. It is significant to remember that the employers of tranpsort labour are in most caßes merely the middlemen, and it may lead to better understanding if the real employers in the shape of the farming community take a hand in the framing of any future ageement.