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 
