IN THE COUNTRY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7111, 25 April 1910, Page 9

IN THE COUNTRY.

CHEERFUL TIMES. AHEAD. GOOD DEMAND FOE FARM WORKERS. (By Our Travelling Reporter.) HAWERA, April 21. Last winter when tlie country was ■suffering from a depression in trade—the reaction of the land Loom —labour became disorganised. Work of any description either iu town or country was almost unobtainable. Country workers Hocked into the cities and Hooded the labour markets, competition for what little work thew was becameintensified, and the cry of the unemployed re-echoed through the laid. Relief works were started, soup Kitchens were advocated by a. lew hysterical persons who also predicted ruin, chaos, and the crumbling' of tlie whole labile of trado and commerce. That there was some genuine distress among the workers goes without saying, but for the most part such cries as "starving workviu," ••population llceing tho oountry," etc., K'.'o Che ffioutnuigs of ceriaia. individuals who seized upon thu occasion to j advance ulterior oojeots, political and otherwise. , .

A slackness or slump in trade is mainly attributed u> over-p,oduct-on, Gut uvorproduotion seldom,''a ever, occurs iu agricultural industries unless bred o-f extraordinary circumstances. In an agricultural country like .New Zealand depressions shouid be unknown. But iSew Zealand lias no agricultural workers in tho truest sense of tno torm; there is no organised system of employment practis.eu )jy farmers; men are en-

gaged for tho time uemg—for the iiusa season only—and are turned adrift when the winter approaches and work of any description is hard to iind. The depression of "last winter taught employers and employees a severe lesson, the value of 'which cannot be estimated in pounds, shillings or pence. Business men learnt that bade cannot advance for ever along boom l.nes, that there is a limit to s-peculation and bu&hie&g expansion. A.ud to tho workers it was loreibly driven home that they must not only live witnin their iceaus but must in Hush seasons make provision against unemployment and trade depressions, from wnicn workers have the most to fear.

Although barely a year lias elapsed since it was predicted that the bociom would fall out of the country, trade has fully recovered ana is again on a solid foundation, labour is more evenly distributed, ■ and matters are moving along on an even keel. Labour prospects are exceptionally bright in tho country districts, and the ovinias winter from a worker's standpoint promises to be a good one indeed.

Farm work is plentiful in the Wairarapa and should-tins ■winter, turn-out to be a mild one all local labour will be fully employed. , The building and allied traaes, though, are somewhat slack,buc the position wdl improve when ins work of erecting the Wamgawa freezingworks is a bit further advanced to permit of carpenters being put on. .. Not for many' years has th? labour outlook been-so brignt in Hawke's Bay. Tho ilaxnuUs at Xta'man liurusi-uo, near Takapau, are working steadily and with every prtepeet of continuing r gut through tho winter; There is a keen demand for farm 'and' station hands which ia somewhat reniaikable ' for

Ilawko's Bay, where agricultural work, especially of a labour, employing nature, has hitherto been left severely alone. Tho steady advance of settlement whicli is eating up the largo estates, ia playing sad havoo with the sacred traditions of the squatter's province and creating a demand - lor farm workers, which at present cannot ba fulfilled. The building' trado is very brisk, asbrisk atnioot as it was during tlie boom of live years ago, and it is safo to cay that there are mora houses going up in Hastings than in Wellington ai the present time. Work for unskilled labourers—pick and shovel men —will be plentiful .as soon as Napier and Hasting.l! get their municipal works under way, in which a sum to the tune of two hundred pounds is to be spent.

In "the King Country the slackness of work,. which threatened carl er in the year has been relieved, by a, revival m the timber industry. -: All the frawiniilfi are working full time and though the output exceeds the demand there is not much likelihood of manyi of the mills closing down for seme months at least. Single men may be discharged so as to smooth the way for those with families dependent upon • them, but as there is an enormous amount of stumping and fencing be done in the district good bushnien will have no difficulty in getting employment.. The flasmilling industry governs the labour market in the Manawatu Valley. A large army of workers look to that industry for sustenance, and, though dairying is carried on to a great extent, flaxmilling is and will be for some years to come the chief source of employment in that district. All the mills are working at present and will, - with the probable exceptions of the Motua mills at Foxton, and providing. the weather isfavourable, continue through - to the spring. Present indications go. to show that labour in the Manawatu and Palmerston districts has nothing to fear from the coming winter. If there is one province in New. Zealand that is making for solid prosperity, where the outlook for all classes o£ the community is blight and cheery, that, province is Taranaki. Record prices for all farm produce has cemented trade and made work plentiful. Business men and settlers are extending their enterprise and creating work lor all classes. The labour market—the true barometer of trade —is buoyant throughout the district. Everywhere work is plentiful and promises to continue so, and the coming! winter relieved of the hardships of dc-1 pression will put trade upon a eolid I basis.