RELEASE FOR FARMS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 29 April 1942, Page 3

RELEASE FOR FARMS

REQUIREMENT OF MEN IN CAMP PAY OI E 8 10s AND !' IN K-DAY 1 WEEK Oil mare. April 24. j The announcement by an Army re I i j presentative that men to be released j | from mobilisation camps for work on • j farms required £3 10* and “found'' lor I , a five-day week, with overtime at 2s tid I an hour, met with a hostile reception | at. a well -attended meeting in Oa'vn uj of North Otago wncalgrowers, at which. \ I'm ','iinis‘er for Supply (Mr 1». L Sullivan) was speaking in suppo t <f| the eampaign lor an in t eased aci e.m • j in wheat .rcpoi ‘ The Press.” After an v .r.anee by Hi mm.dc' on the avail iluiiiv of nun t.a.v; tli camps the v\ a r.nan (Yr J. l>. Jl< T.e • j > . said he was parti mlarly pleased t«> note the presence u‘ Captain Andm • n, -s ■ an Army rept esentative The whieat growr-.- of North Otago had received anything but. co-operation from the • ! Arm. . and is one .nstntico. Mr Mcl.i- d de l the cas • V no mmi who was still in camp, althc igh his release (nr tv." months had '. eon by ihe M.?npower Committee on rd March. Thai man, he said, had boon home on leave on at. least two occiosjen.-, but. hod te ceived no notii’ioation whatever from | the Army authorities. Captain G. Anders m tsp”:r.ging to j his feet): I wan: the name < f that m&n! j The. chairman You rosy obtain all particulars from the secretary of lite j Production Council. Captain Anderson, i Staling it was indeed pleasing to have] the Minister's assurance that s" man;. ' men were to be uvadable lrom llio j mobilisation canifjr. includum. he ■ understood, tractor < rivers, Mr Me . Leod -said the meeting would lik? to know what wages ’he men would i expe« i. Captain An 1 n said ihil Ihe 1 ‘hoys” had had a t it-ctu.g among thetnselves, and it was decided that they would go out to the farms for £3 10s a week and ’ found.” They would work five clays of nine h mrs, with overtime at the rate of 2s Gd an hour. “This might appear to you to bo a bit ‘steep’.” explained Captain Andeti son, “but I must say the 'hoys’ are extremely happy in camp, they are having a good time, and they receive £2 ; 9s a week and their keep. I can tell j you they take a lot of attracting away I from the camps. At any rate, they j stipulate an additional £1 a week, and j there’s nothing we can do about it.” j The chairman (drily); And that's their war effort. A voice: The Army must have j changed since I was there. (Laughter), j Captain Anderson: I would point out j that most of them are just boys. The chairman: There is a war on. j Are we justified in working a five-day | week? i There were cries' of "No” from all parts of the room, and when the up ! roar subsided one man remarked: 'T've j never heard of such nonsense, especial- j * The chairman said that under the ( arrangement announced by Captain! I Anderson Saturday work would hav e . to be paid for at the rate of 2s 6d an hour, while such overtime would be really at the discretion of the employee. Captain Anderson: We are not in a position to force men out of camp, ou far about 260 are prepared to go ou . With reference to the delay in the i releasing of men from the camps. Cap- ] tain Anderson said the Army wasn't . going to take all the blame. The fanners themselves were “just as much to i blame,” and he cited the case of one ! man who had asked for a "John Mo- : Kenzie.” There were no fewer than ' 25 “John McKenzies” in that particu- j Jar camp. However, the Army authori- | ties had had "a' stab at it and followed j that man right through." In the future there wtmld net be a delay of any j more than three days. The chairman said that while all j were thoroughly appreciative of the] Minister’s desire to co-operate, the lack j of co-operation between the Army and the manpower committees had been i most discouraging to farmers, and, n 1 the circumstances, there had been litilo!

incentive to grow wheat. The Minister assured Mr McLeod 1 there would be no difficulty n the ■ future regarding the release of men j from camp, and he sincerely hoped the j farmers of North Otago would give ; tHe Government then wholehearted | support in growing of wheat.