OTHER PAPERS’ OPINIONS.

Putaruru Press, Volume IV, Issue 137, 17 June 1926, Page 4

OTHER PAPERS’ OPINIONS.

GUARANTEED WAGES. < An interesting question was revived , by Mr. W. B. Matheson, the acting ■ Dominion president Arf the Farmers’ Union, in his contrast between the ( farmer, on the uncertain basis of seasonal returns, and the arbitration award employee, who gets from week to week a definite pash payment, and takes no risks. The town worker, with his guaranteed income, is, in the opinion of Mr. Matheson, in a happier I and better position than the land I worker, who has little opportunity for the lighter pleasures of life so numerous in the towns. The contrast could be carried further, as was once done before a Parliamentary Committee which investigated the price of butter . for retail sale in New Zealand. On j that occasion the hours worked by the dairy farmers were compared with their actual cash return, after allowance had been made for the cost of maintaining pastures in proper condition, and the general impression was that the dairy producer got much less per hour for his work, seven days a week, than the wharf labourer who handled his produce at ths seaboard. What keeps the producer at work under such circumstances is strong desire of the average man to carve out his own destinies. The man of resource prefers to manage his own affairs, even if they involve more problems than getting to work at 8 a.m. and • leaving off at 5 o’clock. And for the man on the land there is always' the hope, not always fulfilled, that increi ment in land values and the improve- , ments he makes from time to time can ultimately be turned into cash. If the operations of farming were subjected to the same close analysis as is done in connection with modern , factories the results would surprise most farmers who have been under the belief that they were getting fairly well paid for their effort. Such an investigation is actually to be made at the instance of the Board of Agriculture. It should prove a valuable contribution to our economic knowledge.—Marlborough Express.