FARM LABOUR.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume IV, Issue 963, 13 March 1917, Page 10

FARM LABOUR.

O 1 SHORTAGE OF HANDS. (Special to The Sun.! 1 WELLINGTON, March 12. The .statement made by the chairman of the First Canterbury' Military Service BoardJ that "it was all humbug for fanners to say labour could not be obtained," is being read with indignation by farmers throughout the Wellington and Hawko'a Bay dnstrict, where the terms of employment are at least as fh~vourable as thev arc in the South Is land. Some farmers have had to modify their whole year's operations on account of the scarcity of suitable labour, and others, in still worse plight,-have been compelled to. sell stock at an inopportune time on their sons going into camp. Most of these men have made the sacrifice cheerfully enough, in the conviction that it is being made in a good cause, but they are protesting against the assumption that they arc attempting to humbug the country. The officials of the A. and P. Union declare that the demand for farm labour is becoming more urgent every day, and, unless employers are prepared to take inexperienced men, they sec no way of satisfying it.