FARM LABOURERS' CLAIMS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13462, 7 December 1907, Page 7

FARM LABOURERS' CLAIMS.

. * THE TIMARU CASE.

The Farm Labour Conciliation Board resumed in Llie Courthouse at- 9.30 a.m. yesterday. Bernard) Barr, ploughman .native of T-emuka, age 35, called by Mr Thorn, stated that- he had been accustomed to get up at half-past- five. Got breakfas at 7; set out''7.3o to 8; or earlier, if far from home; turned out horses at 7.30 to 8 in summer, 6.30 to 7 in winter. Got 22s od a, week, and £5 bonus in harvest (miaking 45s aj week) when longer hours were worked. Worked four or cnx horses ; there was certainly more work with i:ix than with four, and 27s 6d was not too much for working four horses, or 2s 6d each extra' horse. Did his washing on .Saturday night and Sunday morning. Was inclined" to go to church, and did not like to be washing when others, were going to church. Would like a- little time off on Saturday. A half-holiday would do no harm to "the. employer except in sowing time and harvest time. Had had for holidays each year Christmas, Boxing, New Year, and Whow Days, and half a day on Easter Monday. Last year had a fortnight off; t'his year did not ask for it. There would be. no difficulty in giving two weeks in the year, in clack times. These would vary with the weather.

To Mr Kennedy : The average distance he had to go was about a mile. At present was working two miles away. The average on all farms could not be more than half a mile.

To Mr Jones: Had been summoned to appear. Never heard of any strong measures being used to compel men to join the union. Had attended only one meeting of the Union, when Mr Thorn, was there. Had a very good place with Mr Guild, but there were others. Generally a fanner was satisfied if a man worked tilie hours. There were differences in the amount- of work donei by different men, even with the same team and conditions, from their different knowledge of horsels and work. He had never seen men so different that one would do half an acre a day more than another with the same team. Believed his employer could work under the schedule. There was always something for the horses to do, whatever th® weather, except it rained ' heavily. A month and weekly half-holiday on full pay was too much to ask for. But a, man) should have a right to certain holidays and then he would know that lie: could have them. Believed in preference 'to. unionists ; the non-union man had hob done anything to improve matters. To Mr Acland : Had saved some money (not £500) most of it on public workup That was harder work than ploughing, bub one got tired of ploughing. To ilr Evans: Believed that wages should be higher and holidays settled ; these were his points; and an hour or two on Saturdays 1 . Did not know that the demands included 20 days besides the half holidays. - A discussion took place between Mr Evans and) the chairman, as to whether the statutory holidays applied to farming. Mr Evans said 'they did not, and the trades to which they did apply do not pay for them. Witness : If they had far to go, say two miles, they would not get to work before 8.30: took an hour and a half, from stop to start, for dinner. At the long distances had to knock off at 5, or get into a row with the cook. Oo.uld not very well work present hours under the rules proposed. Witness was pressed about loss of time through wet weather, and he declined to accept Mr Evans' suggtGiions as to what this amounted to. He repeated that.ravages and holidays were his grounds cf dissatisfaction.

To Mr Thorn-: Always found sometlung to do, except it rained. 'Would prefer * a -set wage for harvest time to the bonus. - Som.e-.- othetf' employers had" not paid him for holidays asked for. Knew no other trade that worked such long hours, therefore, ploughmen should have soma liberal; concessions." To .Mr Kennedy : There were regular hours worked, and those asked for were practically those now worked. It was the custom now for a man to buy liis own soap, and that wais right. To. Mi; Sheut : Had not heard of ainy dissatisfaction till the union came. Had never had any friction with his 'employer about tlie way he put in his time, spelling hore.es, or the like. . To .Mr Rusbridge: Perhaps there had been no expression of dissatisfaction because there was no medium for it. It was desirable that there should ba Lome means of settling differences, and some lules to guide both employer and employed, and save friction. ■ ■ Mr Thorn said this closed.his case. Donald Grant, farmer, Winchester, 33, called Mr Jones, employed four men constantly, and three of them married. They were- satisfied; none of them had! joined the Union, had refused to do eo. They .said t-liey were satisfied. Farmed 900 acies of wheat growing land, valued at £24 an acre. Thi.s year had- only 83 acres, in wheat; last' year had 200 acres. Reduced the axea and took off a team, becatise he could not get. reliable men, and' because of the unsettled state of the labour market. When things .settled d'own might increase the wheat area, probably by contract. Gave his men a holiday ,when they asked for one. Hjs men had! not shown any desire for a. weekly, halfholiday. There was no n&eti to fix holidays, and a week in May would not do—the busy sowing season. The men paid' by tha hour in harvest would be glatf to. wpik at night without extra pay if vliey had! been unable to work during the day through wind. (Witness was a ; sked ; lo correct soma evidence from Martin Durin, on tlia first day regarding his employment us married couple, and it turned'out that .there, was some confusion of employers in that witness's evidence). Mr Grant gave full particulars about "Dunn's terms of employment. The wages in that p&sition ■had increased £ls a year in the last six years. None of his men were dissatisfied. To; Mr Ac'andi: His farther started as a shepherd with Mr Tripp. A great many of the prosperous men m Souch Canterbury" started with no capital but brains and muscle-

To Mr Thorn : There -were greater faculties for men getting on land easily now, but- one could not get freehold' so easily as formerly. Had spoken of being " harassed" by Union agitators. v This referred to men coming intp his paddocks and talking to liis men in his (the employers; time, r I3y growing wheat by contract meant giving so much an acre for working the teams. Would not object- to paying overtime in harvest, after a day's work had been done. Did not think it necessary to supervise his arjen; believed in having reliable men. The hourly men in harvest did not 'loaf,. or they would not be there. It would nob bs possible ta fix a set of conditions suitable to all the South 'lsland'. Two of his men were dead againsb Unionism. If the Union got a rise of wages for all hands, no doubt they would;take it-. If all were Unionists perhaps it would not make any difference to hint.

To Mr Kennedy: Gave his unmarried ploughman 25s and £lO bonus. Had a married couple at the homestead'; would have to pay more for a man and a girl, but probably .would not keep that inap permanently. Had paid! Is 3d and Is 6d to tw'o stackers, and one was worth 6d more than the other, for the amount and quality of his work. Did not give him

the 6d • difference, because the other got too much. Under .strict mice, men could not, as now. work ten minutes extra and finish ft bit of drilling, without being liable to be, fined for it. if overtime .were allowed it would cause more trouble in keeping two time accounts. His men preferred five horses to four, so that they e'ou'ld give one a spell; gave 110 extra pay for the. extra horse. Gave the men the usual holidays, New Year, Boxing Day and 9th November, and a week off if they -wanted it, usually in Augus- or November. To the chairman : August and November suited him, but would not suit everybody. To Mr Kennedy : Thought a fortnight off too much -to ask for. Had paid youths of 17 and 18 los and 16s a week, for milking cows and doing odd jobs. Had done some wet drainage by contract, and the men ma-ate 8s and 2s a day 011 the average. Did not know how long they worked. Believed that, men worked harder, at contract work than day work. It was not unreasonable that the employer shoul.i supply soap and candles. To Mr Smith : The married men have the keep of a cow, and that must be worth at least 4s a week, £ll or £l2 a year, to the men for the butter, to say nothing of the milk. They had potatoes and fuel free, too. To Mr Thorn: The cow belonged to the man. The grazing of a; cow would be worth 2s 6d to 3s ,a week: To Mr Jones: Men preferred 'contract for turnip thinning, gorse cutting and draining; at turnip- thinning on© would make 12c; a day, another only 6s 6d. Mr Sheat brought up a conflict of fact between the former witness, Dunn, and the present, witness regarding, the pay of a, certain employee, and Mr i Thorn . sjaid D'unii wished to make an explanation about that next week. He had -spoken of a married) couple at another place as if they were at Mr Grant's. Another long discussion took place a few minutes later, on the sara?- subject, and the chairman ruled that the witness had made a slip of the tongue. .To Mr Rusbridge: Beiieved 1 there were better chances for a labouring ,man to rise into the ranks' of the wealthy to-day than in the past. Had found sheep growing ' more'' piofitable than grain growing. Grain growing was more difficult to-day because it was difficult to get good men. When he began farming good men were chasing farmers for employment. To Mr" Whiting: Had one man less, this year than last. Had leas crop this year partly because of labour, and' partly because sheep were -paying well. Mr Whiting asked a number of questions regarding the; terms of engagement of witness's married couples. , To Mr Slieat: Workers were paid more now than 85 years ago; the man in Dunn's place was getting £ls less eight years ago. The witness was finished at 12.20 and the chairman said it was too late to take another. Mr Jones suggested that there was time to clear up a doubt as to the effect of .MrKennedy's " admission". regarding potato digging by contract, as if cleared' up in one way it would save calling a lot of in the potato country. Mr Thorn said it had been explained time anu time again that Mr Kennedy meant .to say that contracting for machine-digging would .iot be objected to, not that all digging coal.l. ' be done by contract.. Mr Evans uiesired to tie the Board down to the evidence taken wMch he said made no distinction between machine ahd : fork digging. The chairman finally' said the question must be held over. 1 At 12,30 the Board adjourned '...1 1 p.m. on Tuesday next. SCRAPS FROM THE HEARING. ' Chairman to Union leader: "You have several times used the expression to witnenses : 'I mant to make if perfectly clear to the Board' 'I want- the Board to under'stand this point.' J think you may give the' Board .credit for the possession of ordinary intelligence, and that we can grasp- the meaning of question and answer fairly well as the inquiry goes on.' ! . Witness to Mr Thorn: ' "A good thing for you if the Union gets .all it asks for. It will make a lot of billcto for people." Mr Thorn: '' There's- nothing in that. You may have my place when I'm through 'with this." ■ i. 'Worker witness : " A mail saved £IOOO out" of his wages before lie was thirty! He must'have been pretty' mean." Employer witness: Never advertised " Wanted married couple without encumbrance." "l am not a.married man myself and I don't know anything about it." Cross-examiner: Mr Jones lias suggested that of two men, wbrking the same team, with the same amount of feed, ploughing the same ground, under the same conditions, one will plough. half an acre a day -less than the other, and have his horses in worse'condition. How could he manage that?— Witness : He could do it by wasting time -and' the horses' temper by knocking them about. There are some men j a few, who do that. Mr Jones, to ploughmiui: ;" Do think it would 1 be reasonable to stop all the farm horses in Canterbury for half a day, to let their; drivers jlo their washing' on a Saturday afternoon ?" Then he spoiled the effect of this after the witness had answered, No, by "CouMn't you get your washing done in Temuka?" And of course the witness said 'lie would require more wages if he had to pay for; washing.