SHORTAGE OF LABOUR

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15252, 15 March 1913, Page 8

SHORTAGE OF LABOUR

CAUSES AND EFFECTS. SYSTEMATIC IMMIGRATION ADVOCATED. TRAINING THE NEWCOMERS. Giving evidence before the Empire Trade Commission yesterday, Mr. Edwin Hall, secretary of the Associated Agricultural Societies of New Zealand, dealt at length with the shortage of farm labour. To cope with the difficulty he advised the adoption of a scientific immigration scheme and the establishing of a Government receiving and training farm for newcomers. Mr. Hall was fully convinoed'that there was a very serious shortage of farm labour, a fact which was restricting the output of agricultural produce, and was preventing the purchasing power of many New Zealand buyers of British goods from increasing as quickly as it might do. He knew of several settlers who had sold their farms owing to the difficulty of securing suitable labour, while others had stated that their farms were not producing half of what they might do if more labour wore available. Hundreds of acres of crops were going to waste owing to lack of labour, and consequently farmers were giving up cropping. In this connection he stated that the annual average amount of wheat produced had decreased from 8,000,000 bushels during the eighties to an average of 6,700,000 bushels during the first seven years of this century, and this in spite of increased holdings. It was sometimes asserted that this falling-off was due to the farmers turning their attention to dairying, but although this was probably so to a certain extent, there could be no question that the dairying and fruitgrowing industries would have increased more rapidly had labour been more plentiful. Not only were labouring men scarce, but female domestic labour and boy labour was almost unprocurable. Causes Of The Shortage. One cause frequently assigned for the shortage of labour was the fact that steady, thrifty men could soon save enough money to buy a farm of their own. Instances of good returns from small farms were not wanting, and he quoted the case of a man who, from a farm of 45 acres carrying 33 cows and seven other animals, secured £502 13s lid in a year. Ultimately he sold his farm for £65 an acre. That was an exceptional case, but it served to show what could be done by a small holder. Other causes of the shortage he gave were the . difficulties married country workers meet with, the high rate of wages in towns, and the increasing demand for labour in towns for handling primary pro* ducts. Continuing,' he enlarged upon the chances farm labourers had in New Zealand as compared with their chances at Home, and stated that in New Zealand competent and industrious farm hands could earn double the amount paid to similar men at Home. He gave figures showing that large tracts of New Zealand land were lying idle, and, making a low estimate, said that under modern farming methods these areas were capable of'returning over £10,000,000 per annum. Scientific Immigration System. Some plan should be evolved to bring numbers of English labourers in touch with the healthful plenty of the Dominion. He detailed all that had been done by, the farmers with a view to encouraging immigration. They now intended to go thoroughly into Lord Islington's proposal that agricultural, societies ' should take steps to further the creation of a scientific immigration system, with agents working in co-operation both in England and New Zealand to provide suitable agriculturalists. # It was thought that what was required was some better means of intercommunication . between ' the various societies working in the interests of the unemployed in England and the various public bodies interested # in the matter in this country. Information would be given freely and help afforded to new arrivals in New Zealand if some plan of directing them to public bodies was devised. The question of improved transport facilities to enable settlers to more fully utilise undeveloped lands, was one of the most urgent problems of the day, and if legislation to enable local bodies or private companies to construct light branch railways were passed there was good reason to believe that it would materially develop the country's resources, greatly increase the agricultural output, and be a boon to all sections of the community. Government Receiving Farm. Finally he urged the need for a Government receiving and training farm, where town-bred persons might go on arrival in the Dominion, and stay for a short time for training purposes. It would be a fine thing for the immigrants themselves to be met on board ship by an officer of the farm, and taken straight to the receiving depot. As it was now, no one met the immigrants. By the proposed system all this would be changed. The "Supply" of Land. A statement by Mr. Hall that hundreds of applicants entered for ballots for Crown lands was discussed at some length by Sir Rider Haggard. He expressed great surprise that in a country of such size, with a population no greater than that of Norfolk, there should be any lack of land for all who required it. Reviewing Mr. Hall's evidence regarding the difficulty of obtaining farm labour, Sir Rider Haggard said he was forced to the conclusion that settlement of the land in New Zealand must be by families, who would.be able to cultivate their farms independently of hired assistance. There were not many farm hands in England, and most of the immigrants would have to be drawn from the cities. He asked whether it would be possible to establish a scheme of settlement by families removed from the English cities, and trained in agriculture. Mr. Hall replied that an obstacle against the carrying out of such a scheme was that there were no large areas of " land available which the Crown would be willing to sell for social settlements. His opinion was that any proposal to • alienate large blocks of land in this way would be met with considerable opposition from the leasehold party in Parliament, and from colonial-born farmers' sons, who were lookfor land for themselves. When General , Booth was in New Zealand he made inquiries of a similar character, and met with very little encouragement, and left the country without securing anv land. Mr. Hall added that men who obtained colonial experience, would have little difficulty in buying farms individually.