The Hemp Industry.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 448, 12 January 1909, Page 3

The Hemp Industry.

[to the editor 1

Sir. —As the official mouthpiece of organised labour employed id the above industry, I must voire a protest against the position you assigned to us iu your sub-leader ot the 10th instant. What applies to au individual is equally applicable to an association, and if there be any verity in the saying that ‘‘a man is known by tbe company he keeps” your placing us in the same category as the extorters of usurious royalty is as hurtful to our reputation-as it is damaging to our self-respect. Our argument is that with the prices now ruling for the necessities of life, taken in conjunction with the very broken time being run by most mills it is impossible for us to ever consider a reduction in wages. That there is reason in our contention is shown by the following extract trom an article by Mr Alfred Seifert, which appeared in the Auckland Weekly News ot the 26th November, 1908. After dealing with several disadvantages under which the trade is labouring, Mr Seifert, whose point of view may be taken as unfavourable to us, says“ The men very rightly claim that the cost of living is so great that they can hardly live. As regards wages it is not so much a question of how much a man gets per week as a question of the necessities and comforts that he can get for his money. ” It is not the least use trying to throw the onus L of the present position upon the workers. The millers have certainly had to face a small (comparatively a very small) advance in wages, but this has been compensated for by reductions in freights, improvement in machinery and, best of all, by the uniformity of output assured by Government grading. The men who are responsible for the existing state of affairs are the owners .of green leaf, reaping where they have not sown with a supreme disregard of the disasterous consequences which their policy of greed and grab will entail if not checked in time. Unfortunately the “man in the street” is ignorant of the correct facts, and I trust to your well-known sense of fair play to set us right with the general public as far as possible. — I am, etc. Percy T. Robinson, Secretary Manawatu Flaxmill Employees’ Union.