MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 



43 



17 September. 1919.] 



MR. H. ARMODR and MR. G. G. MERCER. 



[Continued. 



10.125. You do not know how many men you em- 

 ployed in 1913? No, I have not that information 



10.126. How many horses did you have? Six com- 

 plete pairs. 



10.127. How many men have you employed on the 

 farm at the present time? Eight men, two boys, and 

 about eight or ten women. 



10.128. You cannot say whether you have more to- 

 day or less than you had in 1913? No, I cannot; I 



expect I have less. 



10.129. What have you included in the charges here? 

 Are these the total wages of the whole farm? Yes, 

 these are the total wages. 



10.130. You have six horsemen, I suppose, at 

 present? Yes. 



10.131. Are the boys put on the horses? Yes, as a 

 rule 



10.132. Have you a steward? I have. 



10.133. A cattleman I' I have not a cattleman just 

 now. 



10.134. Is there anything in these figures allowed 

 for cattlemen? No. 



10.135. The women workers are included? Yes. 



10.136. Can you tell us what the rate of wages paid 

 to ploughmen was in 1913? 1 a week. 



10.137. And the rate in 1918? 41s. 



10.138. And the rate for your women workers in 

 1913? 10s. a week. 



10.139. In 1918? 1. 



10.140. So that you have an increase of 100 per 

 cent, in the rate of wages? I have and more now. 



10.141. There has been an increase in the actual 

 amount of wages paid of 63 per cent? Yes I suppose 

 I may take your figures as correct? 



10.142. So that you are working with a considerably 

 reduced staff? I think I am. 



10.143. In view of that do you still stand to your 

 statement that you are getting one day a week less 

 work from your men, that they are knocking off before 

 time and that they are having their meal hours, and 

 that they are not caring much about working over- 

 time? I do. 



10.144. With a shorter staff and with a larger area 

 under cultivation, you still say you are getting less 

 satisfactory work out of the men? I have a less 

 acreage under green crop ; there is 30 per cent, less 

 green crop there. 



10.145. In 1918 you had 29 acres of pasture, as 

 against 43 in 1913; you had 116 acres of oats in 

 1918 as against 61J in 1913 ; and 67 of green crop as 

 against 90J in 1013? Yes. 



10.146. Your wheat acreage in 1918 is greater, your 

 barley and your green crop are less, and there is a 

 big increase in oats in 1918 and a big decrease in 

 hay in the game year? Yes. 



10.147. But you have a little more rotation acreage 

 in 1918 than m 1913? Yes, cereals. 



10.148. The rate of wages rises over 100 per cent., 

 and yet you say you are not getting the same labour 

 to-day out of the men as you were then? No, but 

 you must consider that we are finding it increasingly 

 difficult to get forward with the work, and we know 

 if we are to continue'this we have got to put on more 

 men, and not only more men but more horses. 



Mr. Mercer: There is another point that always 

 affects labour on the farm, that is the weather; and 

 what Mr. Armour has felt, along with many more 

 farmers, this year is that we have laboured under 

 the very best conditions as regards weather for get- 

 ting on with work. Never in my experience have we 

 had HO few stoppages as we have had this summer, 

 and last winter also 



10.149. For what period are these wages taken? 

 (Mr. Armour) : From the llth November. 



10.150. Your 1918 figures are from November, 1917. 

 to November, 1918 ? Yes. 



10.151. So that Mr. Mercer's statement as to the 

 remarkably good summer does not affect that? (Mr. 

 M freer) : I was referring to the last column. (Mr. 

 Armour) : We had an open winter for ploughing. 

 C.Vr Jtercer) : We have had two very good winters. 



10.152. I suppose you engage your ploughmen in 

 the month of MayP (Mr. Armour): Yes. 



10.153. And you engage the number of ploughmen 

 you want for the normal working of the farm? 

 ifes. 



10.154. If it happens to be a good open winter 

 for ploughing, you do not have any less wages bill 

 than you do if it happens to be a bad winter. That 

 is the case, is it not? Yes, but there is another 

 element that enters into it. Prior to 1918 we had to 

 deliver our hay to Edinburgh, a distance of 10 miles. 

 That took up a considerable time with the men and 

 the horses. In 1918 the Government bought the hay 

 for the army, and some of the straw too, and it was 

 baled and sent to the Railway Station and, therefore, 

 we had not the same amount of labour in delivering 

 our hay in 1918 as we had before. That would 

 account for the difference to a considerable extent. 



10.155. Would it account for the difference in wages 

 during that period? Yes, it would. 



10.156. Can you tell us when you shortened your 

 staff? I have not shortened my regular staff; I 

 may have shortened my casual labour. 



10.157. Your regular staff upon whom the operations 

 of the farm depend is the same to-day as it was in 

 1913? Yes, but we have to employ a lot of casual 

 labour. 



10.158. Is it as regards the casual labour that you 

 make the statement that you are now getting one 

 day's work a week less? No, both. 



10.159. Is it the casual labour that is working un- 

 satisfactorily, or the regular staff? I would not say 

 that the labour is unsatisfactory at all. What I say is, 

 that with the shorter day we are certainly getting less 

 labour, and it is affecting the farm work very materi- 

 ally. I do not deny that it is quite a good thing for 

 the men to have more leisure; we are all in favour 

 of that, but that is one of the difficulties we have to 

 get over as farmers. 



10.160. You put an estimate here in your 1919 

 figures of 10 per cent, increase in wages. Is that an 

 anticipation of what may happen, or what increase 

 are you allowing for there? I have allowed for an 

 increase on the ploughman's wages of 3s. on 4K. 

 which is about 7$ per cent., and on the woman workers 

 I have allowed 3s. a week on the 1. which is 15 per 

 cent., so I took an average of about 10 per cent. I 

 thought that would come about near the thing. 



10.161. Are your women being paid 24s. a week now? 

 33s. 



10.162. How many women do you employ regularly '? 

 Usually 8 to 10 women. 



10.163. Your 10 per cent, is a rough figure ; it is not 

 accurately worked out? It is a near approximation, 

 I think. 



10.164. If you revise the figure again. I think you 

 will find that your percentage is not strictly accurate? 

 I am certain it would work out all right for the 

 year. 



10.165. You take 10 women at 1 a week, and six 

 horsemen at 2 Is. a week, the increase in the case 

 of the horsemen is 7J per cent., and in the cnse of 

 the women 15 per cent., and you say that the total 

 increase comes to 10 per cent. I submit that your 

 percentage is not quite accurate? There may be a 

 little difference. 



10.166. What does the actual shortening of the 

 working day represent? Six hours in the week. 



10.167. So that you are not getting one day's work 

 less a week? As compared with 1913 we are. 



10.168. In 1913 in your district the Saturday half- 

 holiday was general, was it not? Not quite. 



10.169. I think it was in May time of 1913 that the 

 Saturday half-holiday came into operation? I think 

 you are wrong. 



10.170. I am examining you at the moment of 

 course, and it is not for me to give evidence. These 

 six hours were reduced at the May time this year? 

 Yes. 



10.171. What number of extra hands did you em- 

 ploy at the May time 1919, as compared with the 

 number employed in 1918. I am referring to the 

 regularly engaged servants for the 12 months? Th>' 

 number of my regularly engaged servants is verv much 

 the same that is the men servants ; the women vary 

 considerably. 



10.172. I suppose most of your women would bo 

 bound ? No, they are not bound at all. 



