THE FARM LABOUR PROBLEM

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 261, 22 January 1941, Page 4

THE FARM LABOUR PROBLEM

LOYALTY to the nation's war effort cannot be doubted for one moment as far as the farmers of this Dominion are concerned. That is the reason why so little has been heard of the true position obtaining on hundreds of farms in this and adjoining districts* Recently the BEACON has published several articles dealing with the: labour problem on Rangitaiki farms, and as a result several further cases of acute hardship have been brought to our notice. We trust in giving this matter the ventilation it warrants we will not be misjudged for were it not for the growing importance of our primary industries and the close link between them and the successful prosecution of the war, it would scarcely become us as a local organ reflecting public opinion to< throw fresh difficulties in the way of an already harrassed authority. The. position however is growing so. a,cute that

spite of the sympathy of the Manpower Committee, the assistance of Placement Officers and the co-operation of the various Farmers' Production Councils, it has become necessary for women and children and retired men to take their placie in the sheds once more in order to carry out the industry's objectives and comply with the cry for greater production. This state of affairs would even be tolerated if urgency demanded that it should,, but as many farmers complain, while they are toiling fourteen and fifteen, hours a day, there are still thousands walking the streets of the cities and in many instances demanding the protection of Social Security rather than take their share of the country's burden and go on to the land. Others again demand an 8-hour day, and if this is not forthcoming make no secret of their intention to leave if the concession is not granted. In the words of one farmer, the position to-day is that "the worst type of farm hand has it all his own way while the more willing and conscientious of his fellows are doing their duty overseas." He maintains that the average man from the cities who applies for farm work has no intention of remaining on any one property for more than a month or two and for this reason, takes no real or lasting interest in his work and experiences no qualms of conscience when giving notice on the most trivial pretext. In the general run, farmer-employers seem to have had this experience, but those who are unfortunate enough even to obtain this type of casual assistance are simply forced to enlist the services of their womenfolk and their children. In one instance it was cited that children of eight and nine years rose at 4.30 a.m. assisted with the milking, went to school, and returned in time to take their places in the shed again in the evening. Is this a fair state of affairs when we hear of cases of farmhands leaving at a moment's notice,, refusing to get up.when it rains, or deserting short-handed farmers in .prder to bury themselves in the city and then apply rfor relief. As one desparate farmer put it, the times are drastic enough to introduce concentration camps in the country, from-which the manpower of this country could be drawn by compulsibn, in order to save the farmer from cutting down production and thusi crippling the nation's war effort.'