FARM LABOURERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13778, 17 June 1908, Page 8

FARM LABOURERS.

STATEMENT BY MR. MoNAiJ. demand <;[{i;atki: than sitpi.v. "Vahm. labourers are required in eveiv pall of Now Zealand." said the Minister for Lands to d prosx representative* in Ciuistchurch. "Canterbury, which cannot secure the labour it, needs for'work on 111-/ land, occupies no exceptional position. From ono end of the Dominion to this other tho men on the land arc asking for labour, and offering good wage*', but, they cannot ho supplied. A few men hanging* round bho towns ate calling themselves 'unemployed,' but it is a matter of choice with them— the. work and the wages are ivadv. ' Xho farmers www not asking for skilled labour, continued the Minister. They wanted able-bodied men who were willing to work, and the wages offered for such men wen; .-is high as ii/-* 6d a week, with food and lodgings found. That was equal to M least £2 l(Js in the. towns, and, moreover, the man in the country way not required to spend mi clothing and in other directions nearly as much as was tho man in the town. "Promotion amongst- the farm labourer* in mole rapid Mia.n in any other grade of tlw .service in' New Zealand," said the Minister. "That is one of tho causes of the trouble. A good man passes very quickly from the. ranks of the farm labourer to those of the Hindi fanner, and from there the prospect*! are unlimited, 'i'he proportion of employed, who have men to the. ranks of the- employers, in the farming industry Is enormously greater than in any other industry, in New Zealand. 'the shoitage of labour in the country is likely to be more sev«*rw in the future .-veil than ii is at present, because hugo'aiea-f of land will be opened in. the North Island, and will not only demand a »real deal of farm labour, but will lift many <>( the prest-m. iVnu labourers to tin' ranks of.the hum-is or employers. If th« working men in the cities only realised Ik advantages that the country ha* to otter them, 1 am sure thai many would go out of the cities. The remedy ior the existing difficulty certainly lies in inducing same, of the casual labour at present found in t-liu cities and towns to get out into the, country and live there. "the Government Labour Bureau ;>,nd the other labour agencies," he added, "try to supply the needs of the farmers-, but tie lawk become-! very difficult when the men who could do the work are in the centres. It a man is resident in the country, say m one of tile many little townships surrounded by farms, he can be sent for whenever there is a jot. in the neighbourhood, and I can say. from my own experience, that, such a. man is neve; out of work. The farmers generally have considerable difficulty in gelting him, because of tie demand for hi* service:-." [Hi* TELEGI'.AI'H —O-.VN' cOKUMrOS DKNT.] .i.i.im.'j'iis. Tuesday. .A fa;so labnuiei in search of employ but. from experience not .sanguine of obtaining it, called at the Dominion office yesterday, ajier reading the Hon. It. Mi Nab' breezy assurance to a Southern iiit--iviev.ee that '" luini labourers arc i.-qmred in every pait of New '/.l aland." ' This man had been searching ha three days to find a place where one faun labotiui was required, and his quest had been unsuccessful. The man was young, strongly prepossessing in appearance, experienced m every branch of farm life, and could turn his hand to many things beside. U- had gone from one farm billet to another, covering a district within a radius of some «0 miles during the la*t six months, and with a little difficulty had always been able to find employment, lu* now he declared the season for most farm work was at an end. and there was. absolutely no opening for farm labourers. flu--vesting, ploughing, harrowing, and gra.-.->-seeding were all over, mere was not inn ii fencing to be done, and not much dau-vuig owing to the shortage of mass. Nothing was doing in the sheep line, and bush fell im; in the winter required .-, stronger frame than lie possessed. lie had been to the La bom" Department, and the only employment vcould offer him was on the Hutt railway duplication works or drain laying mi tii9 Main Trunk railway route. lie drain* •laying required expert skill, ami at- a last ! resource he would hi willing to fall back on | the duplication w.i!