CORRESPONDENCE.

Marlborough Express, Volume LIII, Issue 222, 19 September 1919, Page 2

CORRESPONDENCE.

TDE WAITOHI DAIRY COMPANY

[TO '£HB EDITOR.J

Sir,—l thought that wlrm I leftthe "Waitohi Dairy Company's employ I had finished with it, but it seems as though Mr Botham is not content to let sleeping dogs lie. He cannot let the opportunity of giving mo a few malicious digs slip. In his i-eply to Mr Stace, which appeared in your issue of Wednesday evening, he makes two misstatements. In the first place, he states Hint during the time I was manager of the Waitohi Factory T did not belong to the- N.Z. Dairy Factory Managers' Association. If Mi Botham had taken the trouble to write to Mr A. M. Stirling, Otorohanga, secretary

of that body, he would have found out that I had belonged to the Association for several years before I went to Tua Marina, and, am still a subscribing member. He also states that I asked for an increase of salary, and being refused I resigned. This is quite contrary to facts. The first intimation; that Mr Botham, or any of the other directors, had of my leading was when I handed in my resignation. In this I stated that I thought the Company had not treated me fairly. I was engaged as manager on Aug. Ist, 1917, at a salary of £200 per year and allowances, the same as the previous manager. The output of cheese for the season, before I went to Tua Marina was 110 tons. The first season I was there the output was 147 tons—an increase of over 33 per cent. Th? manager the previous season was able to get all the milk into two vats, equipped with agita-? tors, whereas I had to work in three vats for about two months, and handstir one, which entailed a. lot of extra work. Besides this I had the two youngest assistants tha& had ever been in the factory. The first assistant, 17^ years of age, had had a few months' experience, and the second assistant, 15$ year,* of age, possessed no previous experience. The milk being in three vats I should have had three assistants. The wages of the two assistants were £2 15s and £2 per week respectively, which was about £1 pe-r week lower than the rate of wages for a three-vat factory at that time. Before engaging the second assistant, Mr Botham, the chairman of directors, told me not to offer him more than £2 per week, a magnificent wage for between 60 and 70 hours' work per week! Now, if Mr Botham thought the £.£sistants were worth £1 per week each less than other companies were paying, who did he think was going to do the extra £2 worth of work, without taking into consideration being one; assistant' sh6rt ? One would not think so much of it if the company was new and struggling to get.a start, but for an old' concern like the Waitolu Co., such stinginess is unbelievable. ; I ,naturally thought that the Company would recognise 'he great amount of extra work -that I had to do as compared with the previous manager, as they were able to pay out more for butter-fat than any other cheese company in the district. When the meeting, came off in September, 1918, there was nothing said. about anything extra to the manager, although the assistants' wages were raised, the first assistant then receiving about Is per day less than I was, with no responsibility or worry, and lessjiours of work. In addition to this the managers' scal~ of wages had been revised, the first time since the war,, started. Under the new scale I should! have received £225 per year, but I'started the new season under •the old scale, i although practically e-iery factory in N.Z. had adopted the new scale wherever it applied. One cannot help admiring the solicitude displayed by Mr Botham in the interests of the suppliers, in waiting to see what the output was going to be in, order to assess the salary. Naturally I lost all lierrt in my work, and I decided to get out of it as soon as possible. When leaving, two of the director's asked why I 'had not asked for- an increase, and I told them that a man should not have to go down on his.knees; and aslc for what .lie considered he, was entitled to. " ■'• ■ ■ -' •

In regard to Mr Bdtliam's remark about selling cheese' for half-price to Mr Stace, I fail to see what'he is hinting at, unless he means a few medium cheese made from milk two days old at the beginning of the season, which should have been rejected. I might mention in passing that I had complaints from;. several shops about this particular iline of cheese, but in spite of this, Mr Botham cannot deny that the monthly local sales were quite up to the average at the time I left,' regardless of the extra price to retailers. Notwithstanding the difficulties I worked under compared with other managers, my average grade, for the first season was 91.40, which had been beaten only once in, the 24 years the factory hadi been running, and that was during the last year my predecessor was at Tua Marina, when he secured the highest average grade at the port of Wellington. Taking the average grade for Wellington, from April Isfc^ 1918, to March 31st, 1919, Waitohi choose cam© fourth out of 112 factories grading at that port. Out of thirty-five shipments going fei ward during iJiat period, twentyfive, were .of my make, and the remainder my successor's, and I do not urderstand Mr Botham's insinuations that things were not as they should be at the factory when I was there. Perhaps he is of the same opinion as I am about the factory, which is obsolete, inconvenient, and when I was there infested with rats.

In regard to the house, and Mr Botham saying that Mr Stace would not live in it, therefore it would not do to ask the manager to do so, did Mr Botham display any concern about my living there? Did he. make any anoiogies about the condition of the house when I went to Tua Marina? Why this sudden burst of generosity on the part of. the Company in erecting a new rasidence for the manager? Mr Botham knows as well o.s T know and everyone else knows tliat the present manager refused to live in the , old hou.se, and the Company had no choice, but called tenders straight away for the erection; of a modern dwelling. Why did the Company have the old house painted two winters ago if it.was not habitable? I did not intend entering into this discussion'until Mr Botham made the remarks he did about my resigning.

I might say in conclusion that the Company alter my resignation grave 77ie £18 odd extra for the season 1917-18, '-"id also raised the salary to £225 ocr:i'cling to scale from Aug. Ist, 1918, to Dec. 28th, the date I left, but it puzzles me why a man should have to take the extreme measures of resigning his position before he can get fair play.—l am, etc., G. B. CURNOW, Manager, Koromiko Dairy Co. Koromiko, Sept. 17, 1919.