THE PLAN THAT FAILED

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1964, 22 January 1914, Page 6

THE PLAN THAT FAILED

ON THE AYRSHIRE BoYS|g| URGED TO FORGO C9MPACTJI . .THE'LADS STILL^LO^AUI;:^ Under the guidance ; of-thpf Immigration Department twenty-seven, of.; ;tho, English country lads who came 'toiN'cjfc Zealand by the Ayrshire ,011 ,; Tuesday: arrived in Wellington by tho'": Slain Trunk express from Auckland 'yesterday. These boys are from the batch.of. fifty-one assisted out by. themont unde'r agreement to enter into' farminu employment at *a minimum wage of 7s. 6d., with clothing:!' s ;*?;!.,;;,*; A good deal of misrepresentation has been reported in connection with-their arrival, and yesterday a statement .was' that Mr. R. M'Eae,'a... re-, presentative of the 'Rural Workers' Union, had gone to Auckland, to. meet the boys ou their arrival, and endeavour to get them to break their agreement with the Immigration. Department, ou the assurance of the Rural Workers' Union that they would bo placed in positions at £1 per It. was made to appear that Mr: Sl'lfae's mission had been successful, -) for... a telegram received by Mr. M. Laracy;: secretary of the union, was published: coining from Jlr., M'Rac, to tho following effect: "Coming to-morrow's express with twenty-seven boys.".'.From careful inquiries made yesterday 7 * it would appear that Mr. M'Rae'sv:endeavours to break the boys away from control were entirely, unsuccessful/ although dissatisfaction was certainly planted in their minds. It is truo that the boys arrived in Wellington.;, by yesterday's Main Trunk express,,. and Mr. M'Rae also came down by.;- tho same train, but he was not. bj,ss aii.v means in charge of the boys. fc?: ! :'£| i :'*A Scene at Thorndon Bi. A peculiar position arose at.'; the Thorndon station when the express. ar r rived. Mr. Laracy and other representatives of the Rural Workers: .■Union (which, it may be explained, camo into, being after tho recent strike) were on tho station, and attempted to see the hoys. They wero prevented' from getting into conversation with the lads, and claim that "picketing" was adopted to prevent them, after they had paid for admission to tho station, The boys w;ere at once conveyed to a wagon cutvido tho station, and twenty-two of them were taken on board the Wahine, last night's southern steamer, where arrangements had been made that they should take their tea. The other bov's will proceed to Nelson. ~ j-iJ'.:-;^-' Mr. Laracy Boards the Watilne.?ij/ Mr. Laracy later mado his way : on board tlie .Wahine, and interviewed the boys. Ho attempted to persuade them to leave tho ship, and promised them that if they went to his office ho would guarantee them the £8 which each' hoy has to refund for his share of passage money from England to. New Zealand. Mr. Laracy further took it upon himself to inform tho bovs that thev wero under no moral or legal obligation to remain under, the guidance of the Immigration Department, nor to fulfil their contracts entered into before they left England with the exception that £0 each, would have to be refunded. 4 further statement made by Mr. Laracy was that £100 would be paid -into the Union's Christcbureh office, and this would bo devoted to keeping the hoys till they had been placed in employment at a minimum wage week. ."iv-ir" ..-. His Efforts Mlssfiro.^i'v^lll, Mr. Laracy failed in Ms object, and tho boys left by the Waihiito for south. A numbor of them go to Canterbury farms, and others will proceed as far south as Dunedin. It is understood that representatives of the Rural Workers' . Union went south . with the boat," and undoubtedly a further attempt will bo made at Christcbureh to-day to get tho lads to break away. . . .... ; .■,■„,,'. ...i; The Facts of the Case/: "?. W',. The. facts of the engagement entered into by tho boys have been entirely misrepresented by Mr. M. Laracy' and others in the controversy. Tile Wage of 7s. Cd. per week was fixed as the minimum, but many of the farmers to whom they are to bo sent have offered higher' wages, and have promised to increase the rate of pay if the boys sent to them prove to be satisfactory. Some of the lads aro only comparatively small boys of 15 years of age, and as they are to be provided with board and lodging and clothing, the wage of 7s. 6d. per week is not a very low one. The higger boys, who are somo of them really burly young mnn,_ will bo placed with thoso farmers offering the higher wages, and it is safe to say that none of these higgcr boys will be paid at the rate of 7s. 6d. a week, hut at a much higher rate, if they prove to bo able to adapt themselves to work on New Zealand farms. A boy is bound for only one year to his first employer, and out of his wages, after an allowanco of pocket money has ■ been made to him, he is required to repay to tho farmer the £8 advanced on account of liis passage money. . .;-, .. ". ; v: Harking Back a Llttto.^..';-^';'.' In this connection it is interesting "to note- that three years ago the Sedgwick boys were brought out to New Zealand under the control of the Labour Department. Tho understanding then was that they were to receive a minimum wage of ss. per week, with clothing provided. In no case was this minimum wage adhered to. After the boys had been at work about a month' a representative of tho Labour Department, visited their separate employers, and in each rase - tho wages were increased from 100 to 150 per cent; The farmers recognised the value of the hoys, and willingly paid adequate wages for their services. :.■?.;.■.