FARM LABOR.

Taranaki Daily News, 24 September 1917, Page 7

FARM LABOR.

THE CASE OF THE LAST MAN. AN INTERESTING DISCUSSION. At the monthly meeting of the executive of the Taranaki Fanners' Union last week, a copy of a letter from Mr. Vavasour, of Marlborough, was read and discussed. He complained of what he termed the hysterical patriotism of the people of this Dominion over-shadow-ing their common sense in the direction of jeopardising the best interests of the Empire and this Dominion by depleting labor essential to agricultural and pastoral pursuits. Mr Hughes thought that there was a good deal of common sense in Mr. Vavasour's contention. The chairman: Up to a certain point. My own opinion is that we should take no action in the matter. Continuing the chairman said that Sir James Allen had stated that where there was only one man left on a farm—as in the case, for example, in their dairying industry —he wnuld not bp called up unless they could find Borne ineligible man to take his place. It stood to reason that they could not do otherwise. Mr. Mills: Is that toeing carried outr Tho chairman: There has been nothing done up to the present, but I feel sure it will be. Mr. Buckeridge: I knoiv of a few instances where the last man has gone. Mr. Mills: That was not a recent statement. The chairman explained that it was made some time ago, withdrawn, and then recently repeated. Mr. Buckeridge added that Sir James i Allen had pronounced that produce was of paramount importance; then he said that they must have more men, donht- | IeBB under pressure from the Home authorities. Mr. Mills: And since that the statement has been made that the last man will be left on the farm? The chairman: Where, for example, only a man and his wife are left to milk a herd of cows they will not take that man unless they can supply someone to take his place. Mr. Hodge: But they have done so, and are still doing so. Mr. Buckeridge: I know of one such | man who went away yesterday.

The chairman said that if anyone knew of such a man being called up they should bring the matter before the efficiency trustees to investigate, and decide whether or not it was in the best interests of the country that that man should go. They were quite justified in investigating such cases, anil if their decision was that the man should not go, but 6hould be left on his farm and so represented the matter to the Military Appeal Board, Sir James Allen should be asked to explain the position if the Military Board refused to allow the appeal. But he did not think it would ever come to that stage. Mr. Mills remarked that there were cases inumerablc of the last man going, and in most cases where such men were called up they looked upon it as only a waste of time as well as subjecting themselves to indignity and in suit almost to appeal. That had been the experience before with the Appeal Boards. So far as could be judged th» Military Appeal Boards took no notice of Sir James Allen's pronouncements, and there was no reason, for supposing that the Minister wouKP now take any definite action. He questioned if the Minister was sincere on this matter, otherwise he would have taken some definite course, and not have left it to the men themselves or to the efficiency trustees to make an appeal on behalf of the nation and ask that the last man should not be allowed to go. Such men should not be subjected to the indignity of an appeal before* the Military Service Board, who had no sympathy with appellants, and in some cases not even good manners. The chairman said that he was willing to take a motion to go forward to Sir fames Allen, stating the position, also asking that the efficiency trustees should be directed to make investigations and that their finding should be taken into consideration by the Military Service Board.

Mr. Hughes: I cannot agree with a lot that has been said about Sir James Allen. Fifteen months ago there were three able-bodied men on my place—my two sons and a hired man, and now I am the only one left. I have two married sons on places of their own, and I know what Sir James Allen will do with them when the time comes—they will have to go. I have also four sons-in-law, and they, too, will have to go, I am perfectly sure. Mr. Allen will exempt noboby. The chairman: Tho position has altered considerably of late. They might have noticed that General Godley, writing to New Zealand, said that they need not worry so much about 'keeping up their reinforcements, because they could make them good from the second brigade. Mr. Swindlehurst said that a neighbor of his was milking 45 cows on his own. He was called up in the ballot, and has

to appear before the Medical Board on the 2flth. He said it was no use appealing, and what, therefore, was to become of his herd of cows? Mr. Cleaver said that for three years people had been waiting for the Farmers' Union to move in the interests of the thousands of children who were only getting 9d per day. It was an extraordinary thing that farmers, who called themselves 'Britishers, should never have moved in that direction of increasing the children's pay to more than 9d per day. In reply to the chairman, Mr. Cleaver sa>d that he was referring to the pensions scale, and intended to move that the ICnioft recommend that the pension be increased to Is per day.

jThe chairman:-' You will get your opportunity to move in that direction later on, when we have disposed of tie pijcsent motion. Mr Lambie agreed with Mr. Mills so far as appeals before the Military Service Board were concerned. The men did not like the idea of appealing, and would rather go to camp, although they might know that they could do a greater service to their country by remaining on their farms than "by joining the army. One thing was certain, as Mr. Mills pointed out long ago, that the Government could not have both men and produce. At the present time produce wis blocked for lack of shipping, and it may be blocked for some time to come, but the country would not feel the effect this year because, although the output was less, the prices were high. In this coming year the quantity of produce would be less, and still les3 tho following year, and it was then that they would begin to feel Jttre7jikHJ& The production would not tbiff"-*c.?^!J^g ; >Ki!mit the taxation would, -an^l^pitawiw'' time that the GoverrmejiA«s!!itoi' 'X%fst. so : far as the /calling up #frfSn iab'or was concerned. I In regard TivMf: Cleaver's remarks he agreed that Whett'-lto iSecond 'Division

began to go a shilling 1 per day would not be too much to provide for a child whose father was away fighting for it. Mr. Mills added that he did not wish in any way to express an opinion or suggest that they should dictate to the Government as to whether they should take these men or no. That was a matter for Cabinet to decide, but ho repeated that they could not have both men and a full production. The Government should be more candid 'with them; they were not treating farmers fairly. They told them that they should keep up production; that they would not take the men necessary to accomplish that end, but still they kept on taking them. If they needed the men let them say so candidly, but they should not continue to draw farm labor away and then tell the fanners that they were not doing their duty if production was not fully kept up. He was struck with the fact that the Efficiency Board the other day recorded its appreciation of the fact that one of its members had somewhere seen a woman doing a man's work. Thousands of women in Taranaki had done men's work for years, and had said nothing about it, and hundreds were at present wearing themselves out in their efforts to make the farms produce all that was possible. No appreciation of the work of these women had ever been expressed. The chairman did not quite agree with tho latter remark, and instanced cases where the (Military Service Board had made reference to sisters of men called away and complimented them on the work they had undertaken and were carrying out. He would like to say a word or two in defence of the Military Appeal Board. He might say that he was a trustee of the Efficiency Board, and in the course of his duties had to investigate the case of a man on a farm who made application to him (Mr. Dunn) This man told the speaker the whole of his circumstances, including his financial position, and upon the strength of those statements he wrote to Captain Walker, placing the facts before him exactly as this man had told him. But when that man got into the witness box what happened? His statements there were altogether different to what he had stated to him (Mr. Dunn). He had not told his true position, and he could not blame Captain Walker for being riled under those circumstances. At almost every sitting of the Military Service Board there were exaggerated cases—cases he could tell were altogether wrong, and the Court had to be apparently harsh to get out the true facts.

Mr. Mills: In this particular case I presume you took care to satisfy yourself which of the two versions was the correct one. The chairman: Of course I did. I questioned the man afterwards. Mr. Mills considered the Efficiency Trustees should investigate a man's case in a different way to a court; they should act on the special knowledge they had as neighbors, and get to know the man's position by other than judicial means. Then there was another side to be considered. Many a man who went before an Efficiency Board might not be able to state his position lucidly when being badgered by the Military' Service Court; he could not collect his thoughts to enable him to state the whole, of the facts.

The chairman: This man waß not badgered. And in regard to his financial position who could give that better than the man himself? The chairman's motion that no action be taken in this matter was seconded by Mr. -Swindlchurst and carried. After a brief discussion Mr. Cleaver's motion, that the pension payable in respect of children be increased from 9d per day to Is per day was referred to the chairman and Mr. Mills, trustees of the Efficiency Board, to obtain full information upon.—Hawera Star.