THE WOOL HARVEST.

Taranaki Daily News, 12 October 1918, Page 3

THE WOOL HARVEST.

SHEARING and shearers. (From Our .Special Correspondent.) Wellington, Oct. !>. llic shearers are the backbone of the A. and ]>. Workers' Union, and if von would know what, the gatherers of 'the golden fleece are doing and thinking on the e\e of their annual harvest vou must mount the rickety stairway leading from Post Office Square in the city to the registered office of that organisation and ask the strong-faced, hard-handed, and withal genial secretary, who will pive you in his own and in his own good time all the news oi' the men and of the sheds in which they will be occupied during the next two or three months. This morning the news was generally good. Given a fair run of fine weather there are enough competent shearers in the country to do all the work that lies before them. If you want to know, the secretary will tell you where they are, what sheds t'hey will serve, and how many sheep will be shorn in each prate. He also could tell you something about employers and the accommodation they provide, but this information, as he wiil explain, is only for those it more particularly concerns. THE WEATHER FACTOR. But while there are plenty of shearers for a fmc weather season, there are no surplus men, and a "dripping'' spring would put an altogether different complexion upon the outlook. The supply is appreciably smaller than it was last .Vi-ar. Some of the old hands have gone to the war, some are in camp, some 'have taken to other occupations and some have simply drifted away. If November and December should be we,t months the congestion of work would produce a very serious position. No farmer who knows anything about his business, in the North Island or the South, would care to be shearing his sheep in January or February, and yet this will be inevitable in some cases if the regular shearers do not get a good fine weather run. The small farmers may do a lot by co-operation between themselves, as thev did last season, but co-operation of this kind cannot be applied to the big sheds. IJJARNERS AND PREFERENCE. Mr Grayling smiled tolerantly when he was shown a paragraph, in a provincial paper implying that unionist shearers were hostile to eo-operation

and learners. "It's wonderful," lie commented, more than half to himself, "how people get fed up with ignorance and prejudice." As a matter of fact, the unionists have not the least objection to co-operative shearing and they are always glad to lend a helping hand to learners. Further than this they have never asked for preference and have never desired such a concession. The employer is left with a perfectly free hand in these matters. If he came to fill his shed with learners it is entirely his own affair. If he mixes learners with competent unionist shearers, the latter will do their best to help the beginners and, incidentally and quite frankly, to satisfy them of the advantages of joining the Union. They are not out to create trouble, but to strengthen their organisation and to secure for their fellow-workers the fair conditions they are enjoying themselves. CO-OPERATIOX. Returning to the subject of co-opera-tion the secretary quoted the Union 3 arrangement for supplying shears to its members as an example of the great benefit of people with common interests and common needs working together. By purchasing from the manufacturers the very best brand of shears on the market tile Union saves its members just 100 per cent upon the price they otherwise would have to pay for the implements of their trade. This ypar the demand for the Union's shears .has been jso great that it 'has had to draw upon Australia for further stocks. In connection with this matter the gratitude of the executive of the Union to the Minister of Munitions and Supplies for advice and personal assistance knows no bounds. Certainly the far-reaching \fr.f work the Hon. A. M. Myers is doing in a score of directions, so silently and so unobtrusively as to ba almost unnoticed by tlys general public, obtains no warmer appreciation than it does from the men who control the affairs of the considerable army of harvesters that gathers the golden fleece.