TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 9173, 2 August 1895, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Among the many feaSocialism tures of life at the in present time with which Ancient China. China waa well ac-

quainted many hundreds of years ago was—so we learn from a Frencli litterateur —the theory and practice of socialism. The father of Chinese socialism was a great scholar named Wang-Ngam-Che, who, according to our French authority, was preaching the principles which lie at the root of modern European socialism about the year 400 A.D. He was originally inspired in his doctrines by the traditions held by his countrymen of a former Golden Age, and believed that by the application of hia proposed methods of life, thai- age might be repeated. The fir3t necessity was, that the land and all that it produced should belong to everybody ; the second was, that the State should make it its first and principal business to bring about this change at once. The time, as it happened, was most opportune for the philosopher's theories to be put into practice. China had bsen devastated by floods and earthquakes, by which it was estimated that half the population had perished, aud the starving survivors were clamouring for reforms. WangNgam-Che went to the Emperor and told him it was his duty to save his people. He bad, we are told, already obtained a groat reputation for uprightness, wisdom, and benevolence as prefect of a province, and therefore, instead of handing him over to the nearest executioner, the monarch received him graciously, listened to his teachings, and became a Socialist on tb.o spot. Having unlimited autocratic power, and being prepared, as it were, to shed tho last drop of his brother's blood in a good cause, he immediately abolished all private ownership of land. The nobles were compelled to give up their great estates to the commonwealth, and the land was then distributed among the heads of families, eacli one receiving so much, and the ownership remaining in the State, which meant the Emperor. " L'etat, e'est moi." There was enough land to go round. Under the regulations drawn up by Wang-Ngam-Che all the excess of crops on each family's laud, over and above what was required for their sustenance and for new seed, waa the property of the Commonwealth, and chose who went in for breeding cattle had to give up a certain proportion of the young cattle to the wnole community, while another portion was distributed among those families who had no cattle.

Fob a time all How the went well. This is Experiment not an uucoinmon Worked Out. experience of socialistic} communities, as if a cruel fate sent them golden dreams, only the more effectually to wake them up to the discovery of failure. The good times under this ancient socialistic regime lasted, it is said, for a generation. The next generation, however, displayed a lack of zeal, the novelty had worn off the business, and there were soon signs t hat as a means of regenerating human kiud it was not going to be a success. The farmers, we are told, instead of sowing the seed distributed amongst them by the State, preferred to grind it into meal and cat it, the natural result being that the fields remained unsown and famine years were experienced, first in one district, then in another. Pastoralista lost their interest in the breeding of horses, oxen, and sheep which they had to hand over, at the end of all their pains, to the Commonwealth. The men who were employed in the forests to cut down trees for the community rested from their labour as soon as they had cat down enough to serve themselves. The women V7houn Wang-Ngam-Che had required to be set free from all physical labour, soon found themselves obliged to work to save themselves and their children from the starvation withwhich they were threatened by the idleness of the head of the family. Complaints were made on, all sides that the land was unequal in quality. Cne man would find he had to work twice as hard to cultivate his portion ac his neigh* bour had, and in the end China seems to have reverted to the old order of things. The great Socialist; teacher died a neglected and disappointed man, admitting with sorrow that his scheme of reform was impracticable. The lesson has been repeated times without number ever since, and still hope springe in the breasts of Socialists that a time will enme when their principles will find universal acceptance. The error they ail make is that they ignore one of the strongest feelings of human nature—personal ambition. Without this man becomes simply a dull machine-like creature, possessing no interest in his work, and imbued with an ever-strengthening conviction that the State mnat feed and clothe him, and provide him with everything he wants. But

uo power on earth can convince the tho-rough-going Socialist that this inherent element of human nature cannot be altered by the rules and regulations of any socialist colony.

Iγ all Departmental '• Home-Girk " reports were as well and writteu and as interWorking Girls. esting as Mrs Grace NeilFs share of the report of the Department of Labour, they would be much more widely read than is the case at present. Mrs Neill, who, until lately occupied the position of female inspector of factories, during the past year visited factories and workrooms throughout the colony where women are employed, and speakiug geuerally she considers that the condition of the workiug girl in New Zealand is very satisfactory iv respect of hours, of labour and sanitary conditions and fair as regards wages. With regard to the latter question, however, she excepfcs the dressmaking trade and country districts, in which the rate of pay is very low. Mrs Neill accounts for this tact (1) by the number of fairly-educated girls who leave school year by year and for whom occupation of some sort, preferably near their homes, must be found until marriage ; (2), because a considerable number of parents in the country districts are comfortably off, in ao far as the possession of a home of their own. "As the daughters grow up, if they cau get light daily occupation, earn enough for pooket money and learn something about dress that is all that is required. There is no struggle for a subsistence wage, nor even to acquire a self-supportiug trade. They live at home, and marriage is expected to follow sooner or lator. Never having learned domestic work theoretically pnd bystematicilly, nor haviug any opportunity to gain distinction and honour ia the science of domestic ecouomics, young women and also their parents are apt to regard hou&eholJ service ia their own homes or elsewhere as undignified drudgery of no vital importance, and likely to interfere with their prospects of future advancement by marriage." It is easy to see, adds Mrs Neill, how this surplusage of "home girls" tends to keep down the pay of those who have to live by their earnings.

Wit a regard to the dre3SThe maUiug trade Mrs Neill's Dressmaking reportis not at all cheering, Trade. from the dressmaker's point of view. The trade is at present, we learn, on a decliue, though whether this is but a fluctuation in fashion or a permanent changa has yet to be proved. The larger firms, Mrs Neill finds, assert that their dressmaking rooms are run at a yearly loss, first-class private dressmakers complain that their trade is gone, and that small dressmakers, who are glad to go out to work for 2s or 3a a dij, are multiplying indefinitely. The heavy duty on imported dresses does not prevent society ladies from obtaining their smartest) frocks from Paris, London, Melbourne, or Sydney, but for praatical everyday wear they get the " local tailor to build them a tweed suit." If this phrase is not correct, our lady readers must blame Mrs Neill ; we accept no responsibility in such delicate matters. The prevailing simplicity of fashion, as shown in the plain skirt, coat aud blouse, ha 3 done much to damage the dressmaking business, and other causes for ils bad slate are said to be the abundauco of scientific'methods of measuring and fitting, and the p.entiful supply of well-cut paper patterns. Armed with these, any woman of ordinary intelligence and plcuty of leisure cau either make her own, and her children's dresses or supervise a needlewoman engaged by the day.' Girls continue to offer themselves in any number' as apprentices, though seldom with the idea of acquiring a self-supporting trade, and as these apprentices receive no pay for either six or twelve months, Mrs Neill does not think it probable that the wages of dressmakers will increase. She therefore advises mothers to obtain for their girls a thorough home and domestic training than to "put them to the dressmaking" after leaving school —advica which, it will be admitted, is exceedingly sensible. At the same time we may be allowed, on behalf of fathers of families, to hope that Mrs Neill's remarks as to the simplicity of dress partly causing bad times among dressmakers will not induce the ladies to rush to the opposite extreme. Times are not very good yet, with any one, and the present fashion is far better adapted to the purses of many than a more complicated and ornate one would be.