"A NICE METHODIST BOY”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19786, 9 March 1927, Page 9

"A NICE METHODIST BOY”

DISGRACEFUL TREATMENT ALLEGATIONS AGAINST FARMERS • (Special to “Chronicle.”) AUCKLAND, March 8. Outspoken criticism of the disgraceful treatment received by an immigrant lad in tho North Auckland district was made by Rev. L. B. Dalby, of Pitt Street Church, at the New Zealand Methodist Conference to-day. He said he had befriended one lad of 16 years who came to him practically starving and he fed him. For a week tho boy was alive with vermin, and had been treated very shabbily. He had been obliged to sleep in a shed that was scarcely fit for a dog, yet this lad is a fine stamp of a boy, a “nice Methodist boy,” Mr Dalby said. This lad had been sent out from the Old Land as an experienced milker, yet he did not know one end of the cow from the other, never having been on a farm. Mr Dalby said he knew of other cases where boys from England, had been treated shockingly. Two or three men who had been miners accustomed to the discomfort of the wet mines of the Old Country, had complained of harsh treatment on New Zealand farms where they bad worked from 4 a.m. till 8 p.m. Surely something should be done to see that young fellows who come out here were treated in a proper manner. A Poor Return. He wished to protest as an Englishman against such treatment being meted out to lads from the Old Country. During the war New Zealand sent its finest sons to defend the Empire and they were kindly received. Indeed, they received exceptionally good treatment at Homo. We expect our sons to be treated decently in New Zealand, and not as slaves,” continued Mr Dalby, who vehemently protested against the lad “being put to sleep in a place where his father would not keep fowls.” “We’ve had hard times in England,” added the speaker, “but we’re not dead yet, and don’t you forget it.” Mr P. W. Sharpe (Canterbury) complained that conditions were, disgraceful in the third-class cabins on ships. He had recently spent 15 months in England, where 6,000,000 were on the verge of starvation. He believed that if tho Old Country would wake up and work their land the same as was done in Denmark, there would be no unemployment in England. - Allegations Resented. The remarks of Mr Dalby were strongly resented by Mr G. W. Horn, a Te Aorha farmer, who defended New Zealand from the charges. He admitted that the hours of labour were long. He and his own sons had to work from 4 o’clock in tho morning till 8 in the evening in order to make the farm pay, and he doubted the statement that lads from the Old Land were generally not well treated. The discussion was continued by the Rev. E. S. Emmett, a recent arrival from England, who endorsed what Mr Dalby said as to the shocking treatment of some of the boys on farms. Tho Conference carried a resolution which stated that whilst recognising the fact that the Government is slowing down its immigration activities in consequence of unemployment in New Zealand, it was of opinion that so long as immigration was continued the Methodist Church might be greatly strengthened by securing the nomination of suitable Methodist immigrants. In order to encourage such immigrants the Conference urged tho quarterly meetings to appoint a representative to canIvass the possibilities of employment among business men and employers with a view to the nomination of Methodists from the Old Land to fill vacancies.