UNDESIRABLE AT PRESENT

Timaru Herald, Volume CLI, Issue 22215, 7 March 1942, Page 4

UNDESIRABLE AT PRESENT

Declaration Of Farming As Essential (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Mar. 6. A decision that at present it was undesirable and impractical to declare farming an essential industry under the National Service Emergency Regulations was made at a conference of representatives of interested parties and the Government. This was revealed to-day by the Dominion secretary of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union’ Mr A. P. O’Shea. At the conference were the Associate Minister of National Service (Hon. D. L. Wilson, M.L.C.), the Minister of Agriculture (Hon. J G. Barclay) and representatives of the New Zealand Workers’ Union. Sheepowners’ Federation and Farmers’ Union. It was fully agreed, said Mr O’Shea, that farming was an essential industry from the national point of view and labour must be made available for it, but there were numerous difficulties in the way of declaring the industry essential under the regulations, difficulties that did not exist in the case of secondary industries. Seasonal workers, who made up a considerable proportion of farm labour and were not continuously employed on any one farm were the real difficulty. It was also stated that if a man wanted to leave a farm any attempt to retain him by force could only bring unsatisfactory results. For one thing the relationship between employer and worker was much more personal on a farm than in a factory. For another, a dissatisfied worker could not well be left to handle animals. The meeting was assured that the Government would do all it could to help to solve the problems facing farmers.