THE FARM LABOURERS' LOT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1438, 13 May 1912, Page 8

THE FARM LABOURERS' LOT.

A NEW SUGGESTION. A new suggestion, having for its object tho promotion of the welfare of tho farm labourer, was made by Mr. C. H. Elisor at the last meeting of the General Committee of tho Canterbury A. and P. Association. Mr. Ensor said lie wished to bring up tho question of farm labourers. Ho did not think the association would be going out of their sphere by discussing that question, which was quite a non-political one. Tho Government spent large sums in building homes for tho people in the cities, and thus encouraging concentration, which was not a good tiling for tho country. Tho population should be encouraged to spread out to the country. The farmers were subject to a penal tax called tho graduated laud tax, and that tax amounted to considerably over £300,000. His-suggestion was that that monev should be used for building homes for the married workers in tho country, on the land where they were going to work. Tie believed that that would alleviate the difficulty to a large extent. He *u"gested that a remit should be sent to tho Canterbury Agricultural Conference that tho graduated land tax should bo lifted to the extent of .£3OOO capital value of tho land tax for every family on the land burdened with the tax. The president, Mr. J. 1). Hall, said the question was one of the greatest importance. If the farm workers had the benefit of good accommodation it would do a great deal of good in the direction of solving the farm labour question. He would, however, suggest that Mr. Ensor should give notice of motion to have the question discussed as a notice of motion at the next meeting. _ Mr. Ensor agreed to this course.