STOOK THRESHING.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 14004, 13 September 1909, Page 7

STOOK THRESHING.

A VIGOROUS PROTEST. : - '•"•' .';■', ■'■ V- '•: ; v .■■.*v-l ■'-.•-.---r-t .-.-■-..-i:- •■• ;--..•■ - "- -■ On Saturday aternooii 170 farmers • met in.the Assembly Kooms for 'the purpose of. entering' a' protest, .against the action of the South Canterbury - Threshing Millowners' Association and tho Waimate Labourers' Union in arriving at an:agreement with the Conciliation Commissioner that in the new award governing threshing, it should _ ot be permissible for farmers to thresh out of the stook. Mr John Talbot'was voted ta the chair, i ~ - .?:" The chairman said he was. pleased to see such a large" and representative* gathering, as it showed that a' considr erablc amount of interest was;taken *' in the matter of the new threslungmOlowncrs award, or rather that clause in it, -which ~ practically prohibited threshing from the stook. That .was L the only clause with which tho farmers had any occasion to find fanlt, for .the rest of the award referred to matters which, were purely the. mill-owners' and en^ployees , business. It-seemed an extraordinary thing to 'him that ah industry, which was merely subsidiary to and dependant upon the farmers should have the-power to enact such drastic and important alterations to tho established order of things,, and which.-, would without donbfc affect, the farming indostrv most adversely. Tho .-ractice of stook threshing, whether good had, had grown up with the "gram-" Crowing indostrv, and when h»,mentioned that between 25 to 30 per cf nt. > «if the grain in South Canterbury was threshed from the stook they woiild realise how widespread the custom was; and for the threshing jttfllowners /to. meet, propose, and.carry-Buch a measure as their antHstookthreshing clause, would mean a tremendous upset to the - now 'firmly established custom. Tbe* plea put forward in defenco ot the clause- was'that stook threshing was a" bad practice; but assuming that to be-; the-case for the sake of augment, sure-, Iv it did. not concern the millowners. but only the farmers. If it was practice-wbich. he did not admit-*t was the fanner who would suffer, not the tliresbiiw people,so what did.they want id;botter about it f or ? He .was, » convinced thsfcstopk-threshing, so far from fcefiura osd-practicei was a good one? <l£ak«Kear). 'U it was »otponr veiuenHuSfc profitable tho farmers woSd sooAW it out the »rsctioe— they were not fools, no wAuVSTthat somo S was sent away in. bad condition, becauseit wasthreshn • e?ouVori& stook, but A was iixesbefchehn it was reaay it was not the that was to S^. would tefl *h«£ TS?Le^n^S^^»^^ iSttoStosudL a«eul»t.on, in^S --»!:-- The auestion was: Is tms grain would tave le« , a delay ot a* l ™~. x ""i torter time, and , it was a »H a of- AVgpod in ' (Hsbictpufc Xv lost four »seasou rfgf Sey be? weeks, wW *<ra u - remaFkably erery prospect «* c ?«* whcat was %> good one; tho area .m wnc . ho could say that the, . - the oats woukl not be sa\eu at *k?ZT Xln IS had So some great ? OS t l u Tnere was nothing to NorUi hnrV comine down when they were SgfSe, and tafciug ( tho work here The farmer* did not * taoK merelv to save the cost of stackto save time and to safe the grain.. H> was only possible the same gang of men ft was possible to put through four timTs thTamouufc by threshmg.out. nf <<took Tho saving of time was hUlTSnportant, for thcir "¥'!' " ! on the Home markets m time to- get the advantage of the best selling times must be shipped in-April or May. The opinion and hndmg ot tho largo meet'mg there that day wonld have considerable weight and would givo a good idea of what the farming community of South Cahterbory thought of the clause. Threshing from the stook was a necessity: it had cvolTcdJiko alt other industrial meUiods/atid must he coutiuued. If

they allowed themselves to be dictated to hi tins manner, tney would soon' be hudiug regulations pa&sed js -to iiow and where tney had to build then stacks* lie would leave it to iumc que to propose.a resolution and would like to near their opinions .on the subject, lie hoped soiuc of" *tlj_« miHo\viiers were iirescut thiifc aftcruoou, and' that they would recognise their nustaKo and rectify, it as- cjuicKly as possible. /He could ' hardly" uViieve that they would wilfully throw obstacles in the way of the farming cornr munity upon •wiiomtliey'were'dependent lor work. (Applause.) r -- :'•-'. • .Mr U. I/. I'iveiityniau pn>i>oscd the following:—" That this meeting of farmers- or South; Canterbury most empiiaticaily',. protests againpp an industrial agreement being arrived at respecting conditions governing threshing, operations'.seeing t'nat they art the parties' most seriously-affected by sucli agreinent, and seeing that the | .decision to suspend all threshing from the-stook must seriously delay harvesting and ' threshing operations thus compelling large areas. of grain crops -to remain exposed to the mercy of the elements for a longer term than necessary, causing loss to .farmers first, and to the country, generally. This meeting will take every legitimate step to reverse or nulilication of. such an agreement and suggests that a committee.bo appointed to take action to,'accomplish tin's abject." Mr Twciityman sn.id every farmer would' agree that it was not desirable to stop threshing froiii the stook If it were stopped and all grain was' stackedi farmers would simply be tumbling over ono another to get a niill and they had not too many mills in the district now. Ho threshed out of stook and found that it paid lum to do so. life could seo no objection td it. Grass seed was, Jio believed, ulwuys tnresheu of stoofc without detriment to it, and it that could be done, ,wliat possible objection could there be to threslung gram* out of stook. Anyhow iio strongly objected to the prohibition without iarmors even being consulted on the matter. (Applause.; Mr 8.- "Wright said that it stook threshing were stopped halt the gram threshing would have to stand over until spring and in the meantime they could not tell what might'happen to cause the farmer to lose hither a good price or a part or the whole 'or. the grajfa. He bad much pleasure in seconding- the motion. v, Mr" ,5.. ; Cain -said he understood' that some of the tlireshmg millowners had nothing to do -with tlie framing of this prohibitory condition, and that they knew nothing about it. These null-owners who were in this position, took up the stand that it was not for them to fight agauisc it, but the farmers who were interested parties. He did not himself thresh out of stook, but he did not believe in debarring others from doing so. The chairman said that the farmers had been kiveu no notice of the arrangement ~nd they were no parties to it. They had not been consulted iin any way. Ho-thought that a commit,teo should be set up to meet the millowners and reconsider the whole matr. tier. Ho could say nothing about the legal aspect ot the affair, but hoped that both the % roill-OW'iiers and the men Would recognise'that aTmistako bad been made, and that they would rectify it- * . Mr Cain' said it seemed a piece of impudence for tlux labour men not to consult those whoMiave to pay them. (Laughter md hear hoar.) It was necessary that a certain amount of grain should be threshed early in the season, otherwiso they would never get tlirough with the stack threshing.

jlr john uitzgerakl said that he had been growing grain for the last 40 years in South ; Canterbury, and sev-enty-five per cent, of his gram had been threshed out of etooK, yet he had never had a bag rejected, it was nocessary that some grain should be threshed out of stook as otherwiso they would often not be able to get on with their ploughing in time. Grain would often be m better condition in the stook than it would be four weeks later in the stack, if the rain had got at any of it and tho men would not go and thatch their stacks for them. Mr John Chisholm spoke against the principle of the thing, which he isaid •was had. It. was a case of Tom and Dick met together and sentenced Harrv, although thp latter had had no opportunity of making any defence. They flattered themselves that they were nuito up-to-date and that we could show the ancients a thing or two, hut this latest phase of justice by the mill workers must surely have come down from many ages ago. It was a case <>f first hang your man and then try him. That the parties most immediately- interested—the farmers—had never been consulted was absurd. Mr Andrew Cleland said he did not thresh much out of stook, but (here were occasions when farmers were forced to do so, as for instance, when there was long grass growing with the crop ,and the butts of the sJuaves there so full of it that it would 1m unsafe to slack them. Farmers must

lie at liberty to deal as they thought best, with their crops. How. many would have lost very heavily, if everyone had bepu compelled to slack last year when the disastrous gale came along? A considerable proportion of the stuff would have been blown away. It would be a very .serious, thins for the farmers if 1 hey were to lie hampered in this way. .Mr Driiinau, speaking as a fanner and also as one who owned a threshing mill, said that lie had been growing grain for the past 2o years, and he bad never in any one year, stacked all his grain. If the grain were all stacked they wotdd never get through their work. leather than accept this position, he woidd be prepared to pay for his threshing, by the hour. There were not enough mills in South Canterbury to do the threshing, if it all had to be done from the stack, and stacking would delay the threshing by at least four weeks. Voices: . They would never get through at all. Pay them by the year. (Laughter.) 3lr .1. Withell thought that those who had made the new conditions would have attended the meeting ami given their reasons for making them. Ho took it that one of t.lic reasons why the stacking of all grain was 'demanded was that the mill hands lost more time in wet weather if they were threshing from the stook than they would do. if they were threshing from the stack. He though the men should be given some consideration in this respect, though lie did not hold with the abolition, of stook threshing. It would bo a. very serious thing if they were debarred from threshing out of stook. It seemed that they liad to i do what the men told them nowadays, not what they'(the farmers) wished to do.' . I

x Somc one sugestcd tliiit the chairman should call upon the millown'e'rs present to state their case, but Mr Talbot said no. lie would not do that as they might not care to show their hand. The meeting was an open one, and lie would bo very pleased if they would speak, but he- would not tall upon them to do so. Mr "VV. Hayniau, of Waimate said that- he was a inillowher and a farmer, but lie knew nothing whatever about this matter. fJe had not been consulted any more than any farmer in the mom. The prohibitory clause had been made by half a dozen men in Wairoate. Lost year lie .threshed nearly rj,(KK) out of .stool;, and the mill hands made better money than liis own men made by. the hour.- It, was a sore point with.the mill hands, if the farmers' hands, who were on by the hour, made-more than they did'by the bushel, and this did happen when the stiilf was not good. And in case of wet weather, the farmers' hands were paid and fed, while the mill hands were not paid for the time they lost. Mr Hayman said ho would eouxinun to thresh, out of. stook in. spite of them. It was :casier than threshing, from the stack. If the mill hands said that they wanted extra pay for stook threshing, their demand might be considered, but to simply refuse to thresh from the stook was absurd. The •whole, trouble Lad been .originated.-by one .roan in WaimateY^.. '•■,'- Mr Drinnan said that-if they defied the law they would be taken before the Court.Thor chairman said it was hardly worth while discussing the legal aspect of the matter; they wanted to try and arrive at an amicable settlement" of the trouble.

Mr Hayman said they could get out of it by putting ux> a. stack on one side of the null ana pulling it down on the other, feeding it into the maclune as they pulled it down. Talbot said yes, he had stated thatj'in liis oijening remarks. That would, comply' with tho letter of the law, hut not with the spirit of it. It would ho a. useless kind of thing to do, ia-ud-would simply be. putting iarmers to liiiiiecessary exjiensc, The motion was carsied unanimously. i\ir CJleland further . moved : that Messrs J. Talbot, J. Hay, A. \V.. I3arnett, G. L. Twejityman, and thoviiiover, tie a coiuihitteb;' to - take tho necessary steps to prevent the proposal iroin becoming law. In moving tliis motion, Mr Clelandmade a vigorous appeal to farmers generally, to join the I< armers' Union and t*>?kcep h'i'o branches throughout- South. Canterbury, so that by presenting a united front they could guard their interests, and when legislation ;.ofposed they could scnd'delegatcs to AVcl-' lington to M.P's. and Ministers; and'demand its repeal. Under present conditions they had troubles 'to fight H-car'after year, but if they/ banded together. and made their: A iu-' fluence felt in the land, they would not havoi'thesQ perpetual troubles to contend withl ' -■[ ■ Mr'Clusholm seconded the motion and endorsed Mr' Cleland's i>lea for tho formation of a'strong union. There had been a South Canterbury Farmers' Union, but the: Pleasant Point branch was now all that;was left' of' it. Ho remembered tho'lato Mr Dunqau McLaren saying ou.'; ono occasion; that "farmers only wanted another turn of the screw and then the beggars would kick." They had been given that other turn?and ! ;if they did not kick now, he could only conclude that they hadn't a kick in them., . (Laughter.) farmers ■;>' had J. as; 'mucli / 4 iutelli genec as * any' other class of tho community, yet they allowe<l thonkclves to be made the butt of any union that choso te hand together. He" could not understand such .apathy..at alLbut was liriuly of opinion that another attempt should be made to band tho farmers together so that when anything detrimental to their interests was proposed, steps could be taken to counteract it. (Applause.) Mr Saunders, millowner, of Pleasant Point, mado it plain that ho had had nothing to do with the grievance under i review. It had been agreed to by about half a dozen men in,the Threshing Millowners' Association. Ho suggested that to any conference that might" bo.held, every millowner in tho district should bo invited. A good many millowners who had nothing to do with it were blamed for objectionable clause. •'.'.>' Mr Cleland said he understood that the agreement embodying the. obnoxious clause was to be confirmed on Friday next, so that! there w;as very little time for calling the millowners together. Tho chairman said the first step would bo to meet the president of the union and ask. him to call a meeting inviting all millowners to be present. The committee would go into what'was best to he done. Ho hoped that every millowner would attend the conference. The motion setting a-) the committee was carried unanimously. . After tho chairman - had thanked, farmers for attending a motion of thanks to Mr Talbot for presiding, closed the meeting.

MOVEMENT AT AVAIMATE. At the meeting of the committee of the Waimato Agricultural and Pastoral Association, on. Saturday, some- discussion, took place on the thrcfcbiiijj mill award. Mr E. C. Studholme thought the matter of threshing from stock should go to a meeting of farmers. It was nob right that inillowiicrs and the workers unions should regulate- farmers' business. The matter was.absurd and would lead to great inconvenience and loss. Had the farmers been consulted there might have been some reason shown. Tho threshing millowners did not care one way or ..mother* He

moved that 3. public meeting bo called to consider the mater. Mr J. Bitchcner seconded the, motion. The unions might, as well say when tho farmer should sell and at what price. If they could not get the early market it many times meant that they cotdd not get the. best market. He had threshed out of the stook to distinct advantage and the inillowners should certainly t;nc conferred with the farmers before agreeing to puck an award. His experience was that there was niii'di nn : e work done when thrclshing from the stook and he had paid a farthing per bushel extra for this to be done. He could not see any reason for legislation on this question. The president understood the matter was practically settled; how could they remedy the ...injustice. He. thought legal advice should he taken, and a sub-committee appointed to act with the Timaru committee, and if possible lodge readies against tho final signing of the award. He. questioned whether the award would not cover grass seed. A member said it would snoil the early market for barlev. The motion that the president call a miblic meeting to be held on the ground" at the ploughing match next Thursday was carried.