The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1894.

Auckland Star, Volume XXV, Issue 291, 6 December 1894, Page 4

The Evening Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, and Echo.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1894.

For the cause that lacks assistancs, For tha -vmftiß that n'oeds rtsistaiice, ,For the future in the distance. : And the good that we.can do. •

The visit of the Premier to any part of the colony is usually the signal for interviewing, him upon all kinds of ; subjects. Such a chance is seldom I thrown away. The .practice on the "whole is mutually beneficial..: It assists the head of the Government to take a comprehensive view of public ; affairs, and it affords the interviewers am opportunity of bringing under the Premier's, notice various matters that cannot be fully discussed in Parliament, or th.*»t deal exclusively with local interests.. . To deal satisfactorily with the questions laid before him by deputation!* is not.the.least difficult of the multifar"io"US duties; that fall .to, the lot. of a colonial" Pre'mierA Since he assumed office"' Mr Seddon has, had a good deal of experience in this branch of his calling, and has often scored a success owing tc the intuitive perceptjon that enables him s^nv,,to get to the heart of a subject, aixd his habit of frankly expressing his views in clear, gUFnistaJ^able Janguage,,i^^fel^; those w;hb interview, the honourable gentleman are, satisfied with .tX* Xc: suit of- their mission or hot! they.,;9*<f bound to accord;,to his .statements th^ merit of explicitness, and havel seldom to complain that they failed to understand what he meant.

Amongst the many deputations that waited upon the Premier in the course of .his journey from the South, those that originated with the unemployed formed a conspicuous feature. This is a matter of regret. ..We hoped as the summer advanced that the, demand for labour would, be found equal to the supply, and that all able-bodied men would be able to find employment without the special intervention of the Government. ' Apparently this is not the case. It is not necessary to recur to the depressing' causes, alleged to account for the slackness of work. What is of more importance to the public is tb find out how far these statements. about the increasing number of unemployed' are justified by facts, and whether the difficulty of obtaining' billets is attributable to existing conditions in the colony, or is due to faults that maybe sheeted home to the applicants themselves. 1

To form a correct judgment on these points is not easy. The difficulty is increased by the fact that we have a number of men in the community who, for selfish purposes, are always disposed to take the most pessimistic view. The Under-Secretary for the Labour Department, in his recent visit to the South, found the reports on the condition of the labour market most conflicting. Looking at the question all round, we are inclined to agree\ with an opinion recently expressed by the Premier that matters in. regard .to the unemployed are improving. That a good many men are still out of work, more especially in the Southern part of the colony, is quite clear. We have the evidence of mayors and members of Parliament in addition to the complaints of the men themselves. But while many of the cases are genuine, we cannot doubt that there is a large admixture of shiftless fellows who have formed the habit of banging on the Government. . j

In this respect, Christchurch is the. chief offender. From the persistency with which they are assailed whenever they visit the place, we should think the Premier and his colleagues would be glad to give the City of the Plains a wide berth. It really seems as if, a lot of men there are always on hand tograb every piece of public work, whether in their own provincial district or out of it. Owing to their importunities, sixteen Christchurch men were to. be sent to do road work in the Gisborne district. This caused the local men to set up their backs. The Labour Department at Wellington had previously heard of "no talk ofthe unemployed in Gisborne," but the Gisbornites were not inclined to let slip an opportunity thrust upon them by Providence, i£s soon as they found there was a good'

thing going in their district, they commenced to enrol themselves as unemployed in real earnest, with the. result that the destination of the Christchurch contingent has been changed to Napier. The next thing we expect to hear is that the contagion has caught the Napier people, and that the bureau agent there is besieged by crowds of local applicants.

AVVe have no sympathy with the introduction of the parochial spirit into State business. It would be obviously unfair when extensive public works.for ivhich the funds are derived from the general revenue are being carried on iti one district to lay down a hard and fast ruie that the men employed should be drawn exclusively from the local population. . , But the evil we are. dealing with is of a very different nature. A section of the Christchurch unemployed appear to think that the Government are bound to find work for them, and that they, have a'prescriptive right to be trotted about "the'colony .wherever and whenever.,' ; any "little public job is on hand A! A : ,• * 1

' It would be 'as well for the Christ-: church' unemployed to disabuse their minds of this idea at an 'early date. In a time of general depression every centre of population can,produce its quota of unemployed, who have a right to be first considered where local work is concerned. Auckland is no exception to the rule. ..It was announced week ago that with the despatch of fifteen men by the local Labour Bureau to the railway, extension works at•* -Hikurangi, Mr Ferguson had cleared the books of all names that were down for employ: ment. But since that time several men have 'stated thatAheyxhave been* out Of .work a considerable ,time,.<arid if any move .\er,'e tuade to send, up an additional lot of Christchurch men, our local applicants, would largely increase. Nothing is.more calculated-to. foster a spirit of discontent, and to cause men in any particular place to look to Government, for, work instead; of. relying on their own exertions, than the knowledge, that- when 'any. roadmakihg or railway extension in their vicipity is required it is given to those , who clamour the.loudest even if th?y live at the greatest distance from , the locality where the work is to be carried out. ■.:..."" r. 'AAA A.'' A-" -"'" "..■' -

In replying to a deputation of unemployed at Dunedin a few days ago the Premier made Some' observations that ought" to be weighed by all who are eager to be fed from the State pap-boat. One man remarked that he r claimed work and must have it. To this expression of the relation between the State and the- individual the Prpmier replied that ■ no-man had a right to say^to rthe' Government." You must find me work," He pointed out that the 'taxpayers; of. a country^ must hec&hsideteoV atid met m6Wammti' the principle that only reproductive works .would be undertaken ...by the Gibvernmeht. After some severe remarks onthe conduct of some,men who had obtained, work by. misrepresentations to the ALabour Bureau, Mr Seddon reminded.the deputation' that in a few years there would be a cessation' of public works, and that they must A'ook to settlement upon the land under favourable conditions, and hot to Government employment, as the means of ottaining a living for themselves and families. We fully concur in these sentiments. While we sympathise with the hardships so many are enduring thff«eßepressed tim*?s, we are convinced that the evil may become intensified to the extent that the spirit of self-reliance hitherto characteristic of the great body of colonists, is superseded by an abject dependence for everything upon the Government. ■