WORKERS' WAGES IN COUNTRY.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2405, 10 March 1915, Page 7

WORKERS' WAGES IN COUNTRY.

Sir, —I notice an active discussion has been going on lately in the Press on the subject of "Cost of Living and Country Workers' Wages," but no mention has been made of the enormous inorease in wages paid to farm workers that has taken place within the last few years. Not many years ago a farm hand got £1 a week and found, now the same man gets 30s. a week and found, and if he is a firstclass ploughman he will probably get 325. 6d. or even 355. a week, while he lives rent and firewood free, and well fed. and works from, 8 o'clock till 5 o'clock, except at when on nearly all farms, a bonus is g'vea in addition to ordinary wages. Then for casual men the wage a few years ago was Is. an hour and find themelves, now it is Is. 3d. and found in some meals. At the present moment, on my farm, I am paying Ib._ 3d. an hour, and the men have morning tea at 9.45 a.m., a good hot dinner at 12 noon, and afternoon tea ■at 3.30. Any decent worker in the country can now get 10s. for an eight hour day's work. I contend this is' a fair wage. There js a lot of broken weather in winter, and for three months during the short days the men do not work eight hours, and the farm workers' wages go on all tho time. It is all right to pay these wages when wheat is 65., oats ss. a bushel, and oaten chaff £6 10s. a ton, but last year I only got £2 15s. a ton for my chaff, and next year I may get the same, and at that prioe it does not pay to farm land at the present outlay, I believe in high wages for good work,.' but the worst feature of the thing now is that so many of the men even getting the high wageß 1 mention, will not do a fair day's They "go slow," and make their "nates "go slow," and if this continues a lot of land will soon go into grass that is now used for cropping. I only write to let your readers know that farm workers' wages have gone up of lata years. —I am, etc., _ : ' PARMER.