THE FARMER PAYS.

Southland Times, Issue 21657, 19 March 1932, Page 7

THE FARMER PAYS.

To the Editor,

Sir, —Recently the freezing company invited the farmers to inspect its works and the officials very courteously showed them round and provided afternoon tea. All very nice, but did the farmers realize where they came in, farmers who with their wives and families, are working for nothing and struggling with the hopeless task of trying to carry on producing at 50 per cent, less than cost, hear of the huge salaries and wages that were being paid at their expense? They saw departmemts where youths were earning £6 a week, another where men earned 35/- a day, and still another, and the most outstanding, where they were told men earned £l2 and £l4 a week, at a department known as “pie pickers.” Certainly it is the worst job in the works; but what is this job? It appeared to us that it consisted merely of pulling scraps of wool from the scalps and trimmings of the pelts. Now, Sir, it would appear that with wool value at 3d per lb they would only collect a few shillings’ worth of wool in a whole-

week. Who is making up the rest? Would it not be better to throw these scraps into a heap out in a corner of a paddock? Still the farmers try to go on producing lambs at 10/- or 12/- and other classes of fat sheep at a big loss in order that this sort of thing can go on. They heard and saw all this: Numerous directors at up towards a couple of thousand pounds per annum, managers and under officials in abundance at figures not far behind. What is wanted is for farmers everywhere to cease to produce any lambs for a couple of years and it will probably soon come to that, for they cannot possibly keep on against such overwhelming odds. The afternoon tea was very nice, but did the farmers realize that they were contributing thousands of pounds towards its cost? If what I have written does not contain a large amount of facts and truth, will someone deny the substance and tell us through your columns that it is all imaginary and there is no truth in these state-ments?-—I am, etc., ‘TACTS.”