A COLONIAL TOUR.

Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 145, 20 June 1888, Page 2

A COLONIAL TOUR.

T H.E REV. J. S. HILL INTER-

VIEWED,

HIS VIEWS ON LABOUR AND THE CHINESE QUESTION.

The Rev. J. ,S. Hill, who has recently returned from a tour through New Zealand and several of the chief towns of Australia,

takes a great interest in matters not only religions, but also social and political, and a brief record of his impressions cannot but prove of interest. Mr Hill was interviewed by a Star representative yesterday. He said: "In Sydney and Melbourne I met a many Auckland young men who were doing very weft, especially those who were, ood . orkmen, .inginecrs, builders, and mechanics generally. I found several who had bettered themselves in many ways, but also a great many who had made a mistake in leaving this couony. Of course there are some people who1 will never get on anywhere." .' "Do you think this state, of things will last in Melbourne ?" "I think there must be ;. reaction by-and-by. There is a tremendous rage for speculation just now, and I suppose that is what makes lawyers' clerks in great demand. I hPtve seen in Collins-street, sometimes, three thousand men, drawn thither by speculative excitement. " "Would you advise young men to go there in search ot work ?" "Well, there is a demand for labour in Melbourne, but it is no use for unskilled labourers to go there. The hours of labour in many trades are very much longer than in Auckland, and wages as a rule are lower, except in trades protected by unions." _ "Do you know how tho early-closing movement is progressing in Australia ?" "There appears to be a tendency_ m Sydney and Melbourne towards keeping shops open lane at night, and competition ia so keen that I doubt if the early-closing movement will prove a success. In Melbourne, unfortunately, they have not a Factory Act like ours, and girls employed thero are turned out into the streets from factories as late as 11 o'clock at night. You will find sometimes as many as 1,000 girls turned out from their places of employment at that hour. This is only when there is a rush of woik on, and during slack times many are out of work. In Ballarat I found that the shops had a half-holiday on Saturday." " What is your impression as to the prospects of trade in this colony ?" "I think things are looking better. I visited the Mosgiel factory, and found them working as hard as they could on full time. They were not only supplying the local market, but were exporting to Australia, and they are making a fine class of materials now. I noticed that the actory employed a very large number of girls and very few men." " Did you visit any other important industries ?" " In Ballarat there is a great iron foundry called the PhtPnix. It is worked on the co-operative principle, all the men employed—about 2,000— having shares in the profits. Thoy have just obtained a contract for thirty large railway engines for the Melbourne Government. The men seemed to work together most satisfactorily." "Did-you see anything of the Chinese agitation in Australia ?'' "Yes; there seems ,to he a- tremendous feeling amongst the worJcKiK classes against Chinese being introduced into the colony. I think the New South Wales Government were wrong in what they did ; they ought to have co-ope_;ated with the other colonies. There were a good number of men on board the steame. which was detained who had every right to : land, because they had complied with all conditions laid down by the law. As far as they were concerned, the action of the Government was unjust, but at the same time it is true that a got cl number of those Chinamen were frauds', and some who held naturalisation papers could not speak a word of English 15 There is, no doubt, a great rush of Chinese to the colonies just now, and it would in crease considerably if there were no ■ re§ istrictions."

" And what restrictions would you sug gest, Mr Hill ?"

-• I think we should adopt the American system. Some places in the Chinese quarters both in Sydney and Melbourne are awful, and I am sorry to say that some of the English women who go to their places are just as bad. It is very desirable indeed thab these Chinese hovels should be prevented, and sanitary measures rigidly enforced. I saw something of the mission work that is going on amongst the Chinese, and it seemed to be pretty successful. At Ballarat there were sixty Chinamen attending an unsectarian mission service, and three Chinamen were baptised in the Presbyterian Church whilst I was there."

" Were there any other matters of public interest that you came across, Mr Hill ?" ' I found that in Ballarat they adopt the boarding-out system in regard to their old and poor people, instead of keeping them in one large building, and this system has been found to work very successfully. It is found thab cases that are nob very serious can be put out with widows and others, who themselves would, in any case, require some charitable assistance, and in this manner the old people are made to practise a sort of mutual help. The old people thus provided for are properly looked after by duly-appointed officers, and also by the Ladies' Benevolent Society. I found in Wellington a strong feeling that something should be done in regard to the larrikin element amongst young girls, which has assumed very serious dimensions." " Now, your views on the tariff, Mr Hill ?"

"I'm a free-trader still, and I'm right against the tariff, and I think that the leading politicians hold that it would be better to still further reduce expenditure than to increase the tariff. As far as I can understand public opinion, it is that the Government must retrench still more, and there also seems to be a prevailing opinion in favour of local government, excepting in the question of education. In the matter of inspectors, is is thought ib would be advantageous to have them removed from under the influence of Boards, with the view of greater efficiency and reduced expenditure." After some further conversation on general topics, our representative thanked the Rev. Mr Hill for his courtesy, and withdrew.