EMPIRE TRADE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1696, 12 March 1913, Page 10

EMPIRE TRADE.

THE DOMINIONS COMMISSION. THE GRADE CERTIFICATE. FROZEN MEAT IN LONDON. LABOUR FOR THE LAND. WOMEN IMMIGRANTS: WHERE \ THEY GO. Tlie Trade of Empire Commission con- 1 eluded' its .sittings in Wellington yesterday. Sir Elixir Vincent presuied. ill'. E. Clifton, director of experimental farms under tlie Agricultural Department, was further examined, lie stated in .reply to the i lininnan that tlie whole tiuestiou of the grading of produce was under review. It was impossible to expect that grain should be delivered in London in the same condition as it was placed un board ill Kcw Zealand, owing to dampness and other agencies. It was only reasonable to expect a certain number of complaints from London. One source of complaint in London was the fixation .of standards for grain in New Zealand. Ihe standard of oats, ior instance, might be different in diiferent years. It was lixed every year bv the Chambers of Commerce. To Sir. Campbell: There lr.ight be an ircliiialion on tlie part of Chambers of Commerce, wlio represented the buying interests to iix tlie standards in favour of the buyers, rather than in the general interest, The grade certificate for grain was not so satisfactory as ior some other products. At present the Department had no means of following up the grain either here or in London. When it left the grade it was out of the Department's coutrol. .. , To Sir Alfred Baloman: The grading of dairy produce was by far the most important. The only reasoiv lie could oiler tor tho higher price ol' Danish butter 111 London was that the English buyers were more familiar with the Danish product. Sir Alfred Datenian: We all like the New Zealand butter we have had here so much—l like it better than the Danish I get in London-that we are curious to know why tho Danish brings las. a hundredweight more in London. Mr. Clil'toa: Pcrhops the Danes have learned how to market their product better. .. . To Mr. Tatlow: It was sometimes said that the higher obtainable for Danish butter was due to the regularity or tho Danish supply, but he personally did not believe this was so.

Housing for Farm Workers. Mr. .T, G. Wilson, president of the New Zealand Farmers' Union, made a statement to the Commission, lie referred again to the question of immigration, excusing himself for stressing it further on the ground of its extreme importance lo the tanning community. A considerable number of fanners were giving up cropping becaust of the difficulty of securing labour. He could understand tho unwillingness of English and Scotch people to send their best hands out of the Old Country, but lie also thought that the farm hands there were hardly the sort ot men to be of the best use here. Less expert workers were required here, and at present the demand was mainly for active young men. Farmers certainly were recognising that they must in their own interest provide adequate housing for then men. lo encourage thorn to marry and bring up their families in the country, and more would be done by farmers in this regard in. future. He had no. hesitation in saving that, the Sedgwick scheme had been a success iu'New Zealand. Some of Ihe bevs had not turned out so well as others, but generally tin: scheme had sin.reeded. It was of very great advantage, to farmers to have boys on a term of ap-iirciitie-shri. as rimy wore held under the Sedgifick method. In New Zealand, (he luw would not allow fanners to apprentice boys. Discussing tho producingciipncit'y of land, ho said that the best sheep country, low hills, worth from .£l2 lo i;l. r > per acre, would" return about J:l per acre. The still better flat land, worth about .EHU per aero would return, say, £2, as grazing land. Dairying hud done more to disturb the value of land in New Zealand than anything else, for from the verv best land in New Zealand as much as .£lO per acre per annum could be taken, and more and more land was being used for dairying every year. Those amounts were net, after deducting working expenses, but not rent or interest. A few years ago .£lO per cow was accounted a big annual return, and now the general return was about .£15,. while a man could make as much as .£25 per cow if ho went in for pure-bred stock, and disposed of his animals advantageously. Fruit-growing also had raised the value of land enormouslv in some districts, where tho land was practically valueless fir any other purpose. Laud which had been worth 10s. an ncro was now selling for from *£10 to .£2(l per acre, and a return of as much as .EIOO per aero could be obtained from it by tho expenditure of a lot of labour. Trouble at London.

He understood that our butter was not as good in London as it was in New Zealand. Ho thought, however, that our frozen produce was carried very v.ell on tho steamers, and that we did our work very well at this end. The moment it readied London the trouble commenced. Bin- shippers did their work very well, but the smaller lots were delayed, and there was 110 suitable storage available, It was geuerhlly admitted that the docks in London were behind the times, anil interior in accommodation to other d 1 cks at other ports in the United Kingdom. I-t was possible to land frozen meat at Smithtield move cheaply and probably ill better condition by landing it at Bristol than at Lcndon. Kcw Zealand producers would have liked to obtain one dock for all New Zealand produce, but this had been found impossible. 'J,'o Kir Alfred Bateman: 'J.he present conditions at the London Hocks were very discouraging to the small men. The merchants of London were not specially anxious to alter tilings at all. To Mr. Sinclair:. He had 110 special ol>. jecl-on to the barging system, properly conducted. - ■ To Mr. Tatlo-v: There was a very great need for workers' cottages in the country, and perhaps Government ussistance was lieee.-siirv. Personally he.would like 1o see the farmers build the cottages without Government assistance at all, but it Government assistance were to be given, it •diould be bv wav of loans to the farmers. To llr. Campbell: It was not fair to bring out a family of immigrants and land I hem in a town to lend for themselves. There should be a rest home at which Ihev could remain until work was found lor'them. The Home Government did not assist the colonial Government in getting immigrants. Before the Unemployed Committee would send a man out he had to be unemployed, and unemployed were generally not the people the colonies, wauled. There were a great many unemployable in Unpaid, and the Dominion <lid not want that class if other workers could be obtained. A scheme was at present under consideration in K«\v Zealand for the formation of a large co-operative concern who-* business it would be to look alter llio distribution of frozen produce at Home. Alreadv there was adiquute cold slora"e at Bristol, and it was hoped that pressure might be brought lo bear on the I'ort of London Authority.

More About Farm Workers. Mr. G. li. Marshall. of the "Wellington Provincial Farmers' Union, said thai the census returns showed that the numlv'i oi persons employed in Ihe agricultural industry was decreasing, while the nuinjw r of "men i-ngajwl in j:«stnral pnrsui\s was increasing. The plough was never put into land until it was necessnr.v, «iul no crops were ever nut in which required intense cultivation. And a great deal of 1-ind bush lan:l or otherwise, was owaitir.g development'. .Men simply could not l.e procured to undertake such work as bushfoliiii" H nil the bush country available had been fellid and grassed, this island alone would be carrying 300.00!) more sheep. It wos found that the must suitabl° ' immigrants were young men; old men had fixed Ways of llirir own, and they could nut quickly loam New Zealand ways. Alio the

prospects of a you hit man here wove vastly uilVereiu ironi* those ut :i young mull in England. At certain work, such ns shearing, harvesting, ami bushfelling, they could save, if tlu-y liked, a good ileal of money sulliciunt to enable, them by ami by to' go on the land themselves. Jio had known several men who had saved money, ami gone on the land, who were now well-to-do. ll' labour were available to develop the land the country would carry . l j,(iljt),OUO more sheep, and our exports would Ire vastly increased, i To llr. Sinclair: The Otfmiml was for workers, and not for workers at reduced wages.

A Flaxmiller's Complaint. Mr. Hubert Gardner (rave evidence on the flax industry. The wages paid lo workers at flux-mills were very high—from Jt2 18s. lid. to ,i'G 7s. (id. at one of his own mills. 13ut unfortunalely the men made very bad use of their high wages. In all his experience he htstl known only two men who had risen above their position by saving their money. They wasted their earnings on race gambling and other ways, lie did not know why lias-mill employees were worse than oilier workers in this respect, but he would like to see the class of men offering improved very much, and better use made of the money earned. To Mr. Sinclair: lie had in view the reduction of wages by increased competition among workers. He thought that the wages paid to llax-mill workers wore really unreasonably high. Where the Girls Go. Mr. E. J. Carey, secretary of tho Hotel and Kestaurant Employees' Union, said ho wished to/give evidence, on the question raised the previous day: "Where-do the girls go?" His answer was that they went straight into work in hotels and restaurants where conditions were fixed and regulated cither by statute, union effort, or by award •of tho Arbitration Court. There were' in Wellington S(i restaurants and 48 hotels. Employed in the restaurants were 235 girls ami S"> men, and in hotels 2M men and 2GI females, making a total of -109 females and 323 men —a grand total of 828. In the last six years the union of which he was secretary had enrolled 1!)19 men and.792 women. This meant that roughly, once in three years, tho hotel and restaurant staff was renewed by recruits from tho union ranks alone. The union, however, only got a percentage of the workers employed, for there was no preference to unionists in tho industry. His estimate was that at hast once a year the whole of the S2B workers employed in the hotel and restaurant, industry in' Wellington wero renewed. At least 80 per cent, of the new labour was recruited from the Home boats, tho men from the passage-workers and stewards paid-olf, and tlio girls from the domestics brought out on assisted passages. There was never a shortage of labour in Hie hotel and. restaurant industry. They had always men'and women out of woik. Another indication as to what became of the girls was given by the registry office figures for this city. Most of the hotel and restaurant workers were ' engaged through the registry offices, and he estimated at least half of the business of the registry offices was in the supplying of girls and men to the industry. There were seven registry offices in Wellington, and for the year ending March, 1912, they made 3492 engagements for 330G workers, lie added that girls usually went to hotels for six or seven months, and ihcu they married.

Labour and Immigration, Labour was not against immigration, but it urged'that it should be properly regulated, in short, labour asked that the breakfast table should be ready belore the guest was invited. He did not btliove in men coming out under contract but t(iey should have some guarantee of employment before they were brought out. Nor did ho think they should be required to remain in employment guaranteed to them lor tiny specified time. The employer wished to improve' the supply of labour, and if u risk was to be taken lie would prefer.that it should-b« taken by the employer rather I Ivan that the. worker should run the risk of underemployment. i, Tor ,Ur. Tatlow :.>\A percentage.-of™ the, girls came to him on arrival in order, as -they said, "to dedgo t.b?" Government prople." Others went to the registry offices and found employment there. Mostly they went finally lo restaurants and hotels, where the hours were regulated. Ho did not think the present method of bringing in girls assisted the people it. was meant to benefit—the struggling mother of two or three children. Any who Went into domestic service wont to the homes of wealthy people who could afford to pav the passage money, of the girls themselves.. He strongly approved tho idea that a hostel should be provided to which girls should go while they were seeking suitable employment. The End. At Ihe conclusion of tho sittings, Sir Alfred liatcman, who had presided for the last half-hour in the absence of the chairman, expressed tho gratification of niemibers of the Commission at the evidence that had been submitted lo them in Wellington. At no other place in New Zenland hud such good evidence been tendered, and tliey were very pleased to have had so much help in their inquiry in Wellington. Vestevday morning (sir' Rider Haggard, Mr. K liowring, Mr. T. Ciarnett, and Mr. A. Lorimer left for Taranaki, where they propose to look over the oilfields mid the ironsund deposits, and also to view some of the dairying country. They , will not return to Wellington, but will go on from New Plymouth to Auckland, probably by the West Coast steamer. These members did not attend the final sittings of the Commission yesterday. Last, evening the other members left for Auckland by tlio night express.