704 



Labour on the Farm. 



[Nov., 



sum can be obtained by a study of the varying Gross Income 

 derived from the industry on certain farms, or, better still, from 

 a study of the varying Net Output. 



Relation of Cost of Labour to Gross Income from Farming. — 



The graphical representation in Fig. 3 illustrates the relation 

 of labour costs to gross income. 



It will be seen that on this farm of 312 acres, the wages from 

 1914 to 1918 remained approximately constant, though the gross in- 

 come from the farm had during that time been more than doubled. 

 Up to the intervention of the Wages Board, the men were reap- 

 ing no advantage from the increasing prosperity of the farm. As 

 rents were remaining constant, presumably it was the farmer 

 who was reaping the whole of the benefit. If this is typical of 

 other farms, it looks as if in justice to the worker the Wages 

 Board might with advantage have been set up at least two and 

 probably two and a half years earlier. Continuing the 

 curves in Fig. 3 it will be seen that the gross income derived 

 from the farm reached its maximum in 1920. 



During the next year, in spite of the fact that with falling 

 prices the gross income from the farm was rapidly falling, the 

 successive awards of the Wages Board were steadily increasing 

 the wages bill. During the last year of the series, with the 

 advent of the Conciliation Committee, wages on the farm fell, 

 but not at all so sharply as the fall in the gross income derived 

 from the farm. On this particular farm, during the year 

 1921-22, 46 per cent, of the total gross income was required to 

 pay the labour bill alone. 



Looking at the bottom graph in Fig. 3, it will be seen that 

 during the years 1915 to 1919, and possibly up to 1920, labour 

 was apparently not getting its fair share, but that from 

 1920-1922 it was certainly getting more than its share. Pro- 

 vided we had taken the 1914 figures as our standard and labour 

 on the farm had been prepared to accept as its share the pro- 

 portion which the farm could apparently afford to pay, it would 

 have received as wages in — 



1914- 15 



1915- 16 



1916- 17 



1917- 18 . 



1918- 19 



1919- 20 



1920- 21 



1921- 22 



£870 instead of £S25 actually pau 



1,340 „ „ 808 „ 



1,220 „ ., 779 „ 



1,560 „ „ 834 



1,600 ,, ., 1,336 „ „ 



2,000 „ „ 1,650 „ 



1.520 „ ., 2,118 

 1,200 „ „ 1,841 



