NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2151, 16 May 1895, Page 7

NOTES ON RURAL TOPICS.

It cannot be gainsaid, I suppose, that thd amount of work available in a couuiry at any time, and ales the value of that work, is regulated by the supply and demand ruling at the time. When trade and agriculture are prosperiog and money is plentiful, labour is in good demand and employers are in a position to pay well for it, but when businesi falls away through a depressed state of the market for the products of the soil there is necessarily a lessened demand for labour and also a reduction in the me*ns of the employer to pay for labour. Anybody having the loasb knowledge of the rudiments of political economy must be well aware that this ia the case, and yet I see that an JIH.R, speaking at » recent conference of labour delegates in South Canterbury, said that wastes were on the down grade, and actually went on to say that this was entirely owing to the want of syatematic combination among the wage-earners themselves. By this I suppose he meant to say that if it were possible by means of unionism and combination to keep the rate of wages at the present time up to the level of more prosperous times the men are perfectly justified in doing so, and in taking uo notice of the faofc that it is imposfeible for the general run of employers to pay high wages and yet b&lance the profit and loss account oS their business. It would eeem from the sentiments expressed by the delegates at the afore* said conference that labour should bo self* seeking and grasping, aud oblivions of all other cousiilcrations bub that of maintaining high wages in spite of everything aud everybody. I venture to say, however, that notwithstanding the tall talking done at the labour conferences, there are numbers of reasonablyminded labouring men and artisans who rtcognisa the fact that labour must ba subject to the laws of supply and demand just us any other commodity is, and if thfl supply is great aud the demand weak the value of labour must be decreased.

An Illustration.

To illustrate the present state of affairs as between employer and labourer from an agricultural point; of view I might put a cue as follows :— A farmer having interest on borrowed money to pay, fluds that tbo low prices of stock and grain are causing him the greatest trouble and anxiety about making both enda meet. Hoping for a retnrn of better prices, he endeavours to keep going, and procetcb with the usual operations of the farm. Ho keeps two or three teams goiDg aud employs labour— perhaps has been paying men £1 por week and board. Single mon getting that pay can, if they like, save £30 to £40 per annum, and put it in fche savings bank at iuterest. While they can do this their employer has to adopt a very different course. Probably he has to get an overdraft from his banker at a high rate of interest in order to pay his men the money they are saving. The labourer ia worthy of his hire, but no employer can continue to pay & rate that leaves him & loss at the end of the year, and therefore he is justified in telling his men th*t they must Bhare the bad times with him and be content with lower wages. One of the largest farmers in this island called all his hands together a week or two ago and told them that he was reluctantly compelled to reduce their wages 12£ per cent, until titnea improved. Some years ago when grain was high and farming a flourishing bu»iness this same employer raised the wages o? hia men, and therefore they took the news of the reduotion in good part, like just and reasonable beings, and so far from grumbling, or leaving the farmer they gave him a hearty cheer ac a good employer and a kind master. This is not according to the taachiog of unionism, but according to the dictates of common sense and justice. The reduction ia thin case of 12£ per cent, means 2s 6d in the pound, so that £1 a week man would get 17s 6d and men at 16s per week would gefc 14s at the reduced rate. It is quite certain that there has been, a reduction of more than 12^ per cent, in the prices of grain aud stock in the last year or two. Many a struggling farmer is toiling hard and thinking himself lucky if he can mako tucker and clothes for his family aud save his bit of land fiom the clutches of the money lender, while hired men with no harassing carts to bother them can whistle and sing over fcbeir work while thinking of the nice bit of cash they are putting by. Small blame to them I say, and it is a pity that more of the hardearned saviugs are not banked instead of being fooled away. But whether wages are hoarded or squandered labourers should meet employers half way when hard times come upon them and compel them to curtail expenses in all directions. If farmers conliuue to employ the same number of men that they have ia the past, it ia certain that, injustice to themselves, they must reduce wages ; otherwise they musfc reduce the number of men employed.

The Meat Trade.

The frozen meat trade has hang fire. For a goodly nambar of yoars now ifc has been one of crar staples of export ; but one c*usa and another has brought it down to bedrock. English prejudice count* for much, and the dishonesty of English retail dealers for m • re. Both have conspired to kill the colonial frcz-sn meat trade. The meat when thawed unfortunately has not the mo3t inviting appearance, aad the retail butchera are not slow to take advantage of that, by selling the most discoloured meat for New Zealand mutton, while the best is sold at a high pi-ice for beat English or Scotch. The very people who should purchase our meat because of its cheapness are the class in whom prejudice is the most pronounced. To the uninitiated it appears impossible that meat killed in New Zealand, conveyed acro3B the ocean, and retailed in England three months afterwards, can be fit for human food. The discoloration due to thawing gives lorc9 to this prejudice, and so the poorer classes will have none of ifc. English prejudice are hard to lire down, and a trade that was a few years ago big with promise has been well nigb. killed by prejudice and dishonesty combined. But to aujons who is watching the signs of the times ifc is only too apparent that the fashion of the meat export trade is changing. The trial »hipments ef live cattle and sheep have shown that there lies a wide field to exploit m that direction. That live stock could bj conveyed across such an expanse of oceau was well enough known, but it was not known that the animals would actually fattaa on the voyage if properly fed. Ytt such is tha case, and if only large enough steamera are employed in the trade there is a good margin for profit left for both sheep and cattle when landed in good condition in England. It is too soon yet to make any certain pronouncement on the live meat txport trade, but at all events it is certain to be a good adjunct to the frozen meat trade, and its progress will be watched wifctt eagerness. The landing upon the Londou market of chilled meat is another experiment that will be carefully watched. If it is equally successful with the live meat export tradtt there is hope ahead for the coloiaal taxwmgi

Work mid Wages.