THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 1913. THE SLAUGHTERMEN.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 25 January 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 1913. THE SLAUGHTERMEN.

The slaughtermen engaged iu tho various meat-works ot tho Dominion have persisted in their. refusal to accept tlio '27 s 'Od per hundred offered by tho companies. The position now is that either the companies must meet the. men in friendly conference, and arrange a. 'compromise,- or the works must be closed until fresh labour can be obtained. So far as the larger companies are concerned, it is understood that they will accept the alternative, and await, the development of events. They can, possibly, afford to do this. They tako a very j considerable risk, however, of involving the country in more tiouble if tliey " employ nOll -unionist | slaughtermen, for it is a? certain as i night follows day that it what is 1 termed '.'scab" labour be resorted t-o, the waterside workers will refu-se to handle the i&heep at the ship's side. If the works are closed for a season. I the small farmers will be the biggest sufferers, They will (not only lose t.h? ■whole of the profit they, would make in one of the .best reasons that have been experienced; but they will b° hard put to .ft"to find winter feed, for.their .stock. The largo lan,d-hold-ers in the Wairarapa may be able to stand the -strain. Some, who .have 1 disposed of their surplus stock in the wool, or who have been fortunate enough to get 1 their "fats" away before the crisis came, may even derive a .benefit |ft)om „t|he Closing tho works, for the price of sheep will down with a, run, and tliev will bo able to buy to advantage. The rmall man, the man with a thousand or two acres, is not Ro'fortunately situated. He will be over-stocked, and besides losing the profit on the season, will, in manv instances, be com pel'ed to sell at a loss. We have maintained all through the piece that the slaughtermen have been unreasonable in' some of their demands. Tn-th' l matter of 1 earner q, fo r inst'i'nce. it would be impossible to concede what ihev ask without striking J 1 serions blow at the fro/,en meat : ndustrv. and without "ultimately damaging: themselves as well ns the producers. We have reason, to think, however, that had a. conciliatory conference been held-between the employers and the men, this.demand would have been waived, or. mnterut.lTy",. modified. As

•matters have now - reached a crisis, it remains for the* small companies, and bihs farmers, to decide upon a course of action which will protect themselves against passible ruination. We have it on good authority that a conference is to Ihi held to-day hetr.vee:i the Wcl lington Farmers' Meal Company and the slaughtermen in itemploy. It is to ho hoped that.*it' the information be correct and the jConferenct 1 eventuates, both .sides will I assume a reasonable attitude, so | that an arrangement may be come to ' which will ena.ble the. works to remain open. The Company has done the right thing in standing by ether comI panics in resisting the demands, and |in conserving the interests of its I shareholders as far as possible. The I question now is, can it' afford to adopt I the same attitude as the larger ecm- | panics and put up a fight, with the ■prospect of immediate loss as well as ultimate defeat? The answer to this fiuostion remains, of course, with the Company itself. We feel that we are voicing the sentiments of a. large •section of the producers, as well a.s the whole of the townspeople, when we say : that the adoption of the extreme. measure of resistance is not desired. Thdeed. if the Company were to c.ldst' its works, the main object of its iheing brought into existence would he defeated. The other and larger companies have their own battles to fitrht. They would not necessarilv he hound by the decision of the Wellington Farmers' Meat Company. for the conditions prevailing at. fcho different works are not alike. At the- same time, i,t may he taken for "ra-nfad that the other comnanies. >hy fighting the men, would not gain any concession more than would- he fiaincd hy the local Company, if, indeed, thev gn.ined as much. We shall await with deep interest the development ef events during tte'-rext dav or two.