A Gathering of Rooks

Maoriland Worker, Volume 12, Issue 294, 18 October 1922, Page 3

A Gathering of Rooks

At v the last meeting of the North Canterbury Farniei-s' Union Executive Mr. Mulholland, the president, reported; on a joint meeting in Ashburton between the threshing mill-owners and_thb members of North and MidCanterbury Executives of the Farmers' Union. This meeting was held to consider-action to reduce the wages of threshing mill workers and the chai'ges for threshing demanded from the farmers .by the mill owners.

Mr. iMulholland said that the legal position had been discussed, and it was' understood that the committee wbiild make a further pronouncement regarding the coat of living bonuses at fin early date. After that pronouncement was made the mill-own-ers would have an opportunity of going to the Court AND ASKING- FOR A LARGER REDUCTION THAN THAT CONTAINED IN THE PRONOUNCEMENT. He had 'been informed that morning that the farmers were receiving 20 per cent, more for the produce at present than they were receiving- in 3.914, but that,wages lia.l gone up SO per cent. He had been unable to verify those figures, but believed they would prove to be pretty near the mark. The other resolution -carried at the conference was that 4id. net per bushel for threshing .wheat out of stacks was the highest that farmers could afford to pay at present. THE MILL-OWNERS DID NOT VOTE ON THAT RESOLUTION. It was suggested that the „ owners should reduce their profit to £3 a thousand bushels, but that was not accepted.

Now, we reckon this to be a bit rich. Here we. see the mill-owners plotting with the cookies to force down the workers' wages, while at the same time they refuse to reduce their prices to th-e fanners, and do not vote on a proposition fixing a maximum rate per bushel for threshing. To each the worker, is fair game, but the one will take down the other in the true profiteering. spirit. When threshing rates for farmers were discussed the confab must have been a bear-gar-den. :