BRITISH HARVESTERS

Southland Times, Issue 20586, 10 September 1928, Page 7

BRITISH HARVESTERS

CONDITIONS IN CANADA. (Rec. 5.5 p.m.) Winnipeg, September 8. The Immigration Department and the Dominion police are investigating a report that an attempt on the part of Communists to discredit the movement of harvesters from Great Britain exists. The police believe that the originator of the movement is a Communist from Motherwell, Scotland. A meeting of harvesters in sympathy with the object in view is reported to have been held in the Communist Hall here on Tuesday. The Department of Immigration and Colonization has issued a statement to the effect that 328 British harvesters who left Winnipeg on Wednesday will return. Some are not returning because of the lack of employment but because they are organized opposition to accept employment at four dollars per day and some of them are unfitted for harvest work. Their return is in accordance with the understanding between the Canadian and British Government’s in connection with the transfer to Canada recently of several thousand Britishers for harvest work. A message from Edmonton, Alberta, states that a complete categorical denial has been given to the charges made by the Catholic Herald, London, that British miners sent out as harvesters were being used for strike breaking in Canada and that one committed suicide as the result of the activities cabled to that newspaper by David Kirkwood, the Scottish member of Parliament after a thorough investigation. The Parliamentary Association arrived at Edmonton to-day en route for Vancouver. Viscount Peel declared that as far as he could learn the great majority of harvesters were securing work for fair wages and were satisfied with their experience thus far. It must be expected that there should be some misfits and consequently it was inevitable that there should be some who were dissatisfied. The movement of British harvesters to Canada has been in the nature of an experiment.—Australian Press Association.