GENERAL CONDITIONS IN NEW ZEALAND 61 



administration and management of the whole farm and 

 take a great pride in their daily tasks. Unfortunately, 

 the supply of these men is not adequate to the amount 

 of labour required, and so the farmer is very often 

 harassed with poor labour. 



On the whole the farm labourers are the most unorgan- 

 ised body of workers in New Zealand, perhaps the only 

 large group which still remains unorganised. This is due 

 to the heterogeneous collection of which the group is 

 composed, and the large area over which they are 

 scattered. Thus the beneficial effects of trades unionism 

 in stimulating efficiency in particular trades is lost to 

 this industry. On the other hand, however, the worker 

 generally gets fair treatment, though he has to rely on 

 his individual resources. This is due mainly to the fact 

 that the farmers themselves have risen from the ranks 

 of labour and still undertake many tasks, being on the 

 whole a very hard-working community. 



(c) Farm Labour and Trades Unionism. Attempts 

 have been made to get a farm labourers' award under 

 the Arbitration Act. In 1908, some ardent trades 

 unionists attempted this for the Canterbury Province. 

 The farmers and sheepowners objected, and a very long 

 and interesting case followed, at which evidence from the 

 whole Province was taken on behalf of the three parties 

 involved. Higher wages and regulated hours, better 

 housing, and more recreation were aimed at by the 

 workers' representative. The evidence went to show 

 that efficient men were quite satisfied with their wages 

 and hours as were the farmers. But the latter class 

 objected strongly on account of the inefficiency of farm 

 labourers. Some went so far as to say that 50 per cent of 

 farm workers were incompetent, and under the Award 

 these would be paid as highly as the competent men. The 

 Court upheld their objection and the award was refused. 

 The case though lost to the labourers, had the effect of 



