Nobody Working As Hard As They Used To

Chronicle (Levin), 13 February 1948, Page 3

Nobody Working As Hard As They Used To

WELLINGTON, Feb. 12. An an.iwer to the negative altitude of eritici&ing other Avorkers.for alleged defleiencies has been given by Mr.' W. I \V. Mulholland, immediate past- ' president of Federated Farmers, who is at present in Wellington for conferences of the organisation. "We have all adopted the habit of saying, ' Look at the watersider,' " Mr. Mulholland stated. "If we are going to stand on that — 'unless the other i'ellow does it, we won 't either' — then we are all going to starve. If we go on saying such things as that concerning other sections, we are going to cut down. our own efl'ort according to that outlook. " Mr. Mulholland said the big fact behind the shortages of the world and New Zealand 's own shortages, was that people were not prepared to work as hard as they used to do. While it was correet that a farm machine which broke down 011 Friday eould not be repaired until Monday, the far'mer had been infeeted with the virus which he mentioned. The reason for the low acreage of wlieat was partly that growers asked why they should go to the bother.' There was a more than sufficient acreage on which wheat couid be grown at 8s a bushel to show a good profit but the big factor was the general problem of dropping back to a minimurn of exertion. "We have got to get our fellows to look at what they can do, not at what the ot,her f ellow is doing or not doing, ' ' ^ontinued Mr. Mulholland. "I suggest that we should all use our influence to get others to see the seriousness of the aituation, and to get them to adopt the, positive attitude of 'doing'." Mr. Mulholland 's comments, which referred to the campaign tq. grow more wheat, are given prominence in the official publication of Federated Farmers. In a discussion of the aid to Britain campaign, the journal remarks editorially that men in fertiliser factories have worked longer hours, that freezing Avorkers have established an all-tiine record for killings, and that there has been an improvement in the rate of work oh the waterfront at many of the ports.