The Waikato Times WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1937. FARM LABOUR.

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20281, 25 August 1937, Page 6

The Waikato Times WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1937. FARM LABOUR.

The statement made by the acting-Minister of Labour with regard to men who refuse to accept work offering, and for which they are fit, indicates that some of the confident anticipations of the Hon. H. T. Armstrong with regard to farm labour have not been fulfilled. Mr Webb has said that men who accepted jobs on farms, would not be penalised “through being deprived of more remunerative and more attractive work which they would have enjoyed had they not accepted country work.” This illustrates clearly the double standard that bas been established, and the vital work of production seems to suffer by the comparison. If Mr Armstrong’s predictions a year ago had come true tjiere would be no scarcity of farm labour. He said: A am convinced that when the public works are fully manned and when shops and offices have all the labour they need there will still be sufficient men left to carry on the work of farming.” At the time it was pointed out that the Minister had the thing in the wrong order. Later Mr Armstrong made this prediction: “There will be just as many men leaving public works to go on farms as there will be leaving farms to go on public works, if they can secure employment under the conditions laid down in this Bill.” Well, what is the position? There are over 20,000 men receiving sustenance without work, and there are many farmers unable to get the labour they need. And, unfortunately, this is no't solely a matter of numbers. Much of the labour available on farms to-day is inefficient. The men do not want to be there, and the drift from public works to farms was solely an effort of the imagination on the part of the Minister of Labour. A year has passed since the legislation was put on the Statute Book, and those in close touch with the position know that the difficulties now confronting the primary producers in this respect have increased, instead of diminishing. It is serious when a Minister of the Crown states that “it is not intended that any men, through acceptance of farming work, should be penalised” by losing all prospect of a job under the control of some State Department. The first necessity is the maintenance of production, and if the primary producers, owing to the prices paid for butter and cheese, are unable to offer wages and conditions sufficiently attractive to secure proper labour then the Government must state what they intend to do about the matter. A year ago Ministers were busy denying that there was any drift from the farms to public works. To-day the country notes that a Minister promises men who go on farms that they will not be deprived of a chance to get “moie remunerative and more attractive work,” and that means on public works. Conditions have been created that make it more and more difficult for the producers to get the assistance they need. The predictions of the Minister a year ago have all proved to be wrong, and the evidence of.it is seen in the statement made by Mr Webb.