The Stratford Evening Post With which is Incorporated "THE EGMONT SETTLER" (Established 1890) MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 1936. FAMILY LABOUR.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume IV, Issue 222, 31 August 1936, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post With which is Incorporated "THE EGMONT SETTLER" (Established 1890) MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 1936. FAMILY LABOUR.

One undesirable effect of the Government's legislation affecting hours and wages in commerce and secondary industry has been, as is now officially admitted, to give an undesirable stimulus to the demand for juvenile labour. It seems likely that the Agricultural Workers Bill, now being discussed in the House of Representatives, will have much the same result. The dairy industry in New Zealand is organised largely on the basis of family labour; and unfortunately much of this family labour is done by children.

According to the census of 1926 (there are no later figures available), about 29,000 persons were then employed in the dairy industry. Of these, fewer than 8000 were workers in receipt of wages; the rest were either employers or "relatives assisting, but not in receipt of wages." Those provisions in the Agricultural Workers Bill which are designed to raise the wages and improve the working conditions of hired labour must inevitably increase the amount of family labour. Moreover, it should be noted that the definition of "dairy farm" which has been adopted is "a farm on which not less than 10 cows are ordinarily kept." According to the report of the Dairy Industry*Commission' of 1934, 44; pier cent, of the dairy farms in New Zealand have fewer than 1 0 cows and will consequently be outside the provisions of the Bill.

It is possible, therefore, that a further result of the Bill, and a most undesirable result, will be the encouragement of small production units in dairy farming. The investigations of the Dairy Industry Commission go to show that the efficiency of production diminishes with the size of the unit. These may be the considerations which the Minister of Labour had in his mind when he confessed, in so many words, that the Bill was experimental and might have to be repealed. Its effects should certainly be watched with great care, and school inspectors and medical officers should be instructed to watch for signs of increased child labour on farms.