LOT OF FARM WORKERS

Taranaki Daily News, 14 November 1930, Page 8

LOT OF FARM WORKERS

PROPOSALS FOR IMPROVEMENT DEFINITE POLICY REQUIRED. Having in mind the new work of the Associated Chambers' of Commerce aS authorised at the recent conference, Mr. J. B. Richards, president of the Stratford Chamber and formerly a member of the executive of the parent body, has written the following letter to Mi. C. P. Aagar, Christchurch:— It seems to me that a policy must be formulated and approved, that a definite line of action shall be decided upon. One plank which in my* opinion is essential is the restoration of economic conditions in favour of farm workers. 'By this latter term I would include all those people who expend their efforts in farm management or other work connected therewith. It is perhaps desirable to recall that •25 or 30 years ago the type of men who worked in the country in New Zealand were distinctly superior, as I think, to other types and certainly vastly superior to the type of. worker who is now available for farm work. The reason for this is not far to seek. At the time of which I speak work _ in. the country offered by comparison With other vocations better prospects than weie offered elsewhere, and it. appears to me to be a fact that at that time the very best men in New Zealand • could be found engaged in country pursuite, developing virgin land, improving partially improved country and generally engaging themselves in the progressive industry of the advancement of the country generally. . . The economic conditions which have since that period been built up seem o me to favour every class except tae unfortunate farm worker. To make this point clear let me point out that the average small farmer or farm wage earner does not receive more for his labour than say Is per hour. Thus we have the spectacle of the person whose labour results in the raising of sheep receiving Is an hour while the who kills them gets 6s an hour. This example could be multiplied almost to ' infinity, but I am sure the one instance that I give will be sufficient to make this point clear. The inevitable result is and must be that the more intelligent and, indeed, better type of people avoid the ill-paid vocation and engage in other pursuits, and .it seems to me that if present conditions are maintained or aggravated in the very near future there will be available for farm labour only the dregs of the population. This is a dreadful prospect for a country which is almost absolutely dependent for its prosperity upon primary production. The reverse is what is desirable. We do indeed require to attract to primary production the best brains and the best brawn the country produces. We “burble” ineffectively some pious hopes that the youth should be told by their schoolmasters and such other persons who are supposed to have other influence withithem to go on the land; but is it likely that the intelligent youth is going, to give heed to such pious hopes when the relative prospects forbid his taking to the lam 1 ? It is obvious that the world competition to which our primary producers are subject will not permit of a Higher scale of wages than obtain at present. Anyone who has knowledge of farming conditions will sustain this, but if those workers who are getting what seems too much were to get a little less the primary worker could be given a little more.

The trite reply to the foregoing by th© trade unionist is that the .and is too dear, but a little consideratiu will quickly dispose of that, for it is « fact that millions of acres of farming land in New Zealand could be bought to-day below what the improvements cost under trade union regulations and official supervision. The present economic conditions do, in effect, constitute a sort of confiscation of the value of the efforts of those who engage in improving land.

Aly suggestion to you, which I hope you will bring before the executive, is that information be collected whi'h will show th© rate of pay received by all vocations, particularly those which are the subject of arbitration awards, and then a comparison made with the wages earned by the small farmer and the farm labourer. We cannot, in my opinion, continue successfully under existing conditions; there must be a readjustment of wages in favour of the man on the land. If the executive will undertake an investigation of this description I could undertake to contribute cither through my chamber or otherwise such a sum as would appear reasonable when the small interests of Stratford are weighed against those ponderous interests of the cities.