THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1913. THE SLAUGHTERING CRISIS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 21 January 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1913. THE SLAUGHTERING CRISIS.

At the time of writing, there is no indication of the slaughtermen of the Dominion accepting tho offer of 27s Gd |km" hundred made by tho freezing e< mpanies. On the contrary, tho cessation o ; f work at- Wellington is a clear indication that the men are determined that their demands, so far as wages are concerned, shall be conceded in .full. The attitude of the Age in the matter of tho crisis has, we believe, been the subject of comment by those interested in certain companies of the Dominion. It i.s as well, therefore, that the position oi tlvils paper should be made quite clear in the matter, fn the first place let us say that we hold no brief for the .slaughtermen. We. recognise that, in some respects, their demands are nuvrsasona'bla iand unjustified. C|n the other hand, we are convinced that the freezing rem panics, as a whole,, have not approached the men in a conciliatory spirit. They received the I e'emands, and without dealing with [ them seriatim, and on their merits practically slammed the door in the [ face of the workers, and told them to do their worst. By offering an increase ill wage-, from 25s' to 27s Gd per hundred, tfiey admitted that' the men were entitled to some concession, though they have since explained that fliis offer was made solely to avoid disaster to those engaged in the industry. Our ipoint ,i« thi> : »: ilf the companies were really desirous of averting a calamity, they would have asked the men for a conference, and have ascertained what was the irreducible minimum of their demands. Had they done this, we have good leason for believing that a compromise would, have been arrived at. But, instead of that, they issued an ultimatum wjiich was practically a. challenge to the '.men. Tn it-lira cinrnunstances, and considering that the 27s (>d offered is below tho price paid for cbe slaughtering of lighter s-hctep in Australia., one can hardly bla.me the workers for accepting the challenge. The unfortunate part of the business is that those who will suffer most by the cessation of work will be those wbo can least afford it. The largo companies 'will be able to recom[>ense themselves, in a measure, by the hardening of prices which will inevitably follow the closing of the works. 'lbeir immense reserves will also enable them to stand a close season. The smaller companies, on the other hand, will suffer almost irretrievable losses. Tho latrge farmer will be a.ble to keep his sheep for a season with- 1

•juL suffering any considerable pecuniary loss. Ilit* snl' ii 1 faiineij howover and the mail who is fattening under con timet, will 1)!' practically ruined. It is 'because we feel tluit the small company and the small farmer are {»joijijjj to lie hit unmercifully that we deplore the- attitude of both the slaughtermen and the companies. So far a* the Wellington Farmers' Meat Company is concerned, its directors have acted honourably by the other companies in resisting the oxtr. nut conditions that have been made. If, however, the men absolutely ref 11-e to .work at 27s Gd per hu'Ti-dre-iil as t''iey appear likely to jt!>. ,ve maintain that the local Co.nipanv would be serving its own int-eresUs, and tlio.se of the <li-s-t.net, by opening negotiations with the men on its own account. It could not, of course, be expected to yield to every demand that has been made. If it were to do so, it would he a party to the "ultimate crippling of one of the most important industries the Dominion prwsOvft could, however, without sacrificing any great principle, confer "'. itli the men and endeavour to come to reasonable terms. There are those who will say that, if t-lio companies give way in the matter of wages, they be encouraging demands -by other f-ection.s of the workers. In reply we »vould say that the companies have already agreed to n-n increai.se of onehalfpenny per head in the killing rate. What, may we ask, does the other half-penny represent to the producers ? Does not the cessation of workin a season such as this mean more to the small farmer than the increase of a halfpenny over a period of ten j€ai>s? And if it. does, why stick at such a trifle? Wo repeat that the small farmer and the sJiiall company cannot afford to lose a profitable season for the >.sake of a principle that has no organisation to -support it. If the fanners of the Dominion had made preparation for this emergency, things night have been- different. But they have made no such preparation. They w-ore led to believe all through the piece that there was no danger of a crisis. Now that the worst has come, the l>e«>t thing they can do is to ishare a little of this year's profit with the men, and combine to bring pressure upon Parliament with a view to securinsr such amendments in the law as v.iH protect them against exploitation or intimidation in the future. After all. the present crisis is due to the defective law which permits thle caneellation of the registration of unions on the slightest pretext. Tf the Arbitration Aet is to be retained, this blot upon it will hav'e to be removed.