WORK AND WAGES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22538, 1 October 1936, Page 15

WORK AND WAGES

Sir, —Having read "Contented's" letter in your publication last week about the generosity of Mr. Semple, I am afraid that 1 canuot write in the same strain about the Minister of Lands and the departments he controls. The Crown Lands Department had a small fencing job in the northern suburbs of the city. It was an old fence that was to be converted into a brand new one. The department asked the tenant to recommend an experienced man who could make a decent job at a reasonable price. The tenant nominated me, and I was interviewed by a Crown Lands officer. To make a decent job I told the official that I could not erect the fence under 8s per chain, this being a standard price for a new fence when wages were 14s a day. The officer stated he could get men to erect a fence for 5s a chain, a price which would return a fair man nine to ten shillings a day on this class of land. The result was he got others at a lower price, but it seems certain they are not dependent on fencing to make their living, and as. a side line they could cut the price. But I am not sore over losing the job, but I am disgusted with the Government sidestepping its own legislation, which offers fencers 17s 6d a day and taking advantage of the bad position of the country to lower the standard price by a system of cheap contracts. Discontented.