PUT IT ON THE FARMER!

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2771, 15 May 1916, Page 6

PUT IT ON THE FARMER!

&n,-As a reader of your valuable paper, may I qrave space for a few remarks will probably prove of interest to many of your readers? As an onlooker .it events in these troublesome times,-I cannot help comparing the lives ot.,tlie many who aro chiefly affected by tins great war: Firstly, one hears the loud complaints of the raiiwaymen, with their grievance of being l.nderpaid, while tlie cost of living increases. Surely this is a paltry cry for such a time as this. Hoes not this slight increase affect every person in New Zealand, not merely the railway employees? Cannot these' men realise their good steady jobs are the envy of many less fortunate? And, after all, where is tho money to come from to meet their demands? Of course, the farmer, the country's backbone, must meet practically all demands. 1 r h j nk -,|? Justice-.I might here draw a brief outline of the lives of these men so that those not knowing both sides of the question may judge more fairly' The railway employee works his eight hours only, sometimes less. He Jives in a'good house, usually one of .the better class ots buildings, with every convenience, •anartly: furnished;, in short, the lai'"e majority live in a style which not many years ago only families of comparative wealth could equal. Their families (which are usually few in number) are well educated, and of course the education must include music and many other accomplishments. When old age overtakes these worthy folks they can lean back on their pension. Now, I will draw a brief outline of he who takes to farming. The average settler makes a small start with money often borrowed from some "fat middleman,"- who has the handling and large share of profits of many a struggling farmer's produce. They start amidst meny difficulties, which it would take too long to even outline, and frequently work from dawn of day until late in the evening, especially during summer, when not onlv the farmer, but his wife and such children as are old enough to give any help, will toil many hours, each and even- day They don't cry out if tho farm does not pay overtime wages. A living is all they ask' for many years after starting, and when at last they can afford to take life a little easier they aTC then the envy of every town worker—men who know not what farm labour really means. Now the price of wool is enough to make their eyes grow green with envy- They do not think of farm wages, such as scaring; etc.,' costing extra, and farming material in many instances just three times ,as expensive as before the war.

I speak from a well-known fact in saying that it takes both economy and many years' hard and 'strenuous labour for a man to become independent in his old age. By independent I do not mean wealthy, but merely enough to ■ live on without being a burden to" anyone.,. It seems the fate of some women that, while their lot is cast amongst hard toil c-n farms, their city sisters can'live.:at ease. The country wife starts her busy day just at dawn, when she and her children may be seen going off to. do the milking. Even during an afternoon there is no rest, for churning and butter-making must be done. Instead of this work, the city wife goes to the pictures or pays a call in her'. new fashionable costume, and while indulging in her dainty afternoon tea with a friend, discuses the enormous prices of farm produce, especially butter, but forgets the great amount of . hard work it costs by those who have grit enough in them to do it. Yet as soon as these toilers reap-any. reward for. their hard toil the cry is, "Tax the farmer; he's got plenty of money." And why? Chief reasons of all—he works hard, and does not try-to live up to every penny of - his income.

Instead of a whine for more wages at a time like the present, why not devote energy to a more businesslike method of dealing with produce grown at our doors? Until the middleman has his profits limited, or a method by which produce can go as direct as possible to the consumer, there will always be this outcry of the lalxiurer against. the fanner. AVliy should butter, sold in soma of our chief centres during this season at Is. per lb., bulk weight, be resold at such "high prices? It's not the farmer who pockets all the extra. Trusting I am not taking too nun-li of your valuable space.—l am, etc., .TACK.