THE PUBLIC WORKS POLICY.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 11190, 3 February 1902, Page 5

THE PUBLIC WORKS POLICY.

THE WAIPARA-CHEVIOT LINE. DISMISSAL OF CO-OPERATIVE WORKERS. HOW THE MARRIED MEN WILL FARE. (BT OUR SPECIAL REPORTER.) Matters have been in a ferment at Waipara since last Tuesday, and almost everyone in the township has had his business and other arrangement* turned topsy-turvey owing to the sudden dismissal of aB the co-operative workmen engaged on the construction of the railway from Waipara to Cheviot All have had brought home to them very forcibly and realistically what is meant metaphorically by "a bolt from the blue." On Tuesday morning the men went blithely to work; in the afternoon they were informed by Mr A Jack, the en-gineer-in-eharge, that he had received instructions to dismiss everyone on the works. Twenty-four hours or so later about ninety out of the one hundred and , thirty men employed had been paid off, and coon after kft the place. The remainder, consisting chiefly of married men, many of whom had their wives and families on the works, were discharged on Saturday, and fully expected to be paid off, but owing to some hitch, this important matter to them had to be postponed till to-day. In order to ascertain, if possible, what the effect of the paralysing action would have, especially -with regard to the married men, a representative of "The Press" visited Waipara on Saturday and spent several hours conversing with the men and their wives on the unexpected turn things had taken, and the prospects the men had of obtaining other employment.

On alighting from the train at Waspara one of the first persons the reporter met was the young man who is in charge of the local store—an establishment maintained almost eotely by the wants of the co-opera-tive workers. The storekeeper re-

ferred to two or three oases where married men would suffer considerably by the Government's action. One man, with a family of four or five, had just recently, at an expense "of ten or twelve pounds, brought his family from outside this provincial district, on the •works, and now that they had got comfortably settled, they would be compelled to "move on." Another married man had also just recently arrived with his wife and family from outside Canterbury, and! would be in a similar position. Like Othello, the storekeeper's occupation -was gone; a man from town would be up to take stock this week, and then the store would be closed until -work on the line was resumed. The way the Government hfcd fooled the workers was ehameful, he remarked. Enquiry into the. particular cases he had cited resulted in it being ascertained that he had, probably «omewhat the position. Soma uncertainty existed in. one case, but in the other the man is to be retained on the -works as a sort of caretaker, and the other will also probably remain on the works. The reporter did not see the men themselves, as they w*re at work, bat conversed with their wives, and from their remarks, he gathered that the dismissal of all engaged on the line would not .affect their husbands, who would remain on th* works. . ■■.•■■

FROM THE WOMEN'S STANDPOINT.

Strolling amongst the tents pitched amid the plantation of .pines on the right side of the main line,-our representative came upon one of the married women, and after intimating who he waa and -his business, she •was nothing loth to give all the information in her power. "It's a bit of a humbug," was her mild ■way of describing the inconvenience caused by the sudden stoppage of .-work. Her husband, sWr- explained, had Started on the works about three months previously, buthad been put off just before Uhnstauc, after which he had been taken on. They had lust got back and settled down, and now they had notice to qnit. Her husband had no job to go to, and would have to look about for something. When the reporter Suggested that there must have been some mismanagement which had resulted jn the Government's action in dismissing the men, she said:—"l suppose it can't oe helped. These earthquakes and other things, and the Premier going Home have run away with a lot of money, I suppose." She did not appear to take a very gloomy view of her position, and spoke of others who would be placed in more straitened circumstances. Whether 'she really looked , upon matters at philosophically as she appeared to do it is, perhaps, difficult to determine, but. the reporter in his subsequent enquiries found a much, similar state of feeling existing amongst the other women an the works. They preferred to look on tie bright eide of things, and each one thought her neighbour's plight would be much worse than her own, and .the reporter never found those who would i state that, they would be left entirely destitute or without hope of their husbands iobtaining other -employment.. He found that they were mostly Canterbury people, and those who have studied, even superficially, the Canterbury character, are aware that there ia a larg* amount of self-reliance, and'never *ay dlis" ia tfc. {Passing to the next tent the wife was found at the uncongenial task of :peckiiJg tip, .bat she afterward* joined her husband when she heard of tie reporter's biflriness. Talking about the average earnings of co-operative workmen, the xnan said that none of his earnings went in drink or tobacco, and yet after five-months on the works, during 'which there has been fcufc little broken time, he will land in Christchurch. with his wife and two children with only three or four pound* ia his pocket (o keep them going until h* finds a job. Already he had been making enquiries in the neighbourhood of Waipara but had' not met with any success, and there ■vras nothing left for him to do but to get to town, and look around for ■work. The suddenness of diemissal was ■what he found f*o£t wi*b most. The men employed on the works had all felt pretty confident, especially afttsf the remarks made at Cheviot before €hrietanae by <the Hon. W. flail-Jones, respecting the vigorous prosecution of the line, that whatever happened on the other co-operativ* -works in the colony, the position of the men on the W*ipar«H(3Hjviot line w»« en assured one. Relyins on the (Minister's utterances. UK men had been free with their earning* at Chrietm* time, when in town; **««•» there had been any indication. hhr^ r * r sliffbt, that there was a possibility of their w&legale dismisMl. a J»r«e nomner of them would have gone much slower, and would have now been in a more favourable financial position. As to the chances of getting hVrvest work he thmight taey £ere very slight, ** (l nDde *£Sf l J££ meet of the farmers had engaged thenmen. As a sort of B We light •» *» Po«----tion be informed th* reporter the* it tod cost him over three pounds for «»«*"■ tent-t&e Government, it is understood, supply one tent and its fixings free, but as one tent is insufficient accommodatioiii for married people with children, the latter have to purchase another tent «t th«r own expense. A corrugated iron chimney had cciTten shillings. In response toJus request tbe reporter bad a look JMide the tent, and found that the interior was very cosy and comfortable. His wife remarked that they were worse off than some of the men who belonged to Cheviot, and who could co back to their noidjng* and Srayf «fetThough off the land to live upon. Neither tbe man nor his wiie coxnplaioed much. X little further on the reporter had ■■ * chit with * woman who took a decidedly cheery view of thing.. Her husband was going grasajseedSng. and though she nartarally objected to leaving Wwpara after being settled there for ten months, petred quite re-igned to her fate- Tie they had haaghz she int<Tided erectS in her «od»?. backyard yd had no .doubt Uw*, *i*« *«k °» }"* w * B rewuned, "her man" wou.d be back on it. From thw w<»auui «he reporter learned ibex some of the hardest ca«es of privation

would be amongst the famaKee Mfiooh h*& been further up the line, bofc who bad left a couple of days previoaely. The families were larger than those a£ Waipara, a»d living wa* somewhat dearer. At Waipara there was plenty of firing to be gob iree, font further along kerosene had to be used.

Whilst talking with th* -wtmien, tihe reporter enquired what possbiStdes there woo for She married and raamarrMd men to save anyt&ang out of their wages. It aiipeared chafe the average earnings could toe put down as •between 7s and 8s per d»y, bet that sometime* tb« *ver»g«f was k>wer«d, owing to fcrefcen time, due to bad weather. An unmarried maa could live on from 9s to 12s 6d per week, according as he cooked for himself or had his meals at the hotel. It cost families, -for tare necessaries, on an ftvwage, from 15s to 17s per week. Although groceries aod so on were sonwrwfcai dearer than in town, there weia not tfie same opportunities or temptations to speed money. When lost time, and tie money spent on clothing was taken into acoouat, the general opinion was that there was not mudi left to put by foe contingencies.

WHAT THE MEN HAD TO SAY

It was near land) time when these enquiries bad been concluded, and ihe reporter having learned that the msn stfil on the works were engaged at "the pit"—that is the ballast pit—and that they usually had diaser *t the hotel, he caiied'in «t the only hostJery of which Waipara boasts. Hera he met several of the nMtrkd men, and tfcew statements consisted practically of corroboration of those givea aibove. " AS •emphasised the uncomfortab!* "hole" (almost as bad as "the pit" they were working in) which they'found 'themselves in owing to> the sadden action of the GormHse&t. Twenty-four hours' notke did not ooßfrnn to their ideas of what was due to than, and they commented freely on. fcbe fact €ha* no private employer coi»d h*ve done the same thing with wou&t have been aibt* to insist on*g«*tiag deoen* notice. Al«\ they spoke strongly on bearing 'been misled, prior to Christmas, ia having no hint or indication given of the stoppage of tihe works; indeed, everything then pointed to a certain amount of permanence of employment. The roea. eepedaliy ti»e unmarried ones, were also very *>&ier «w the (postponement, of the final "payment till to-day, instead of Saturday, as origiftaJly intended. One man stated i&it he had » job to go to, but. as h« (bad nine or ten pounds due to •him he did not like leaving - it behind him. Meanwhile his chance of getting the job promised to him was a. vanishing one.

"Its shameful." remarked one man, Iβ* ieaang to the sudden dismissal of tie -workers, "and the Government ought to be robbed up about it." One man, evidently welleduoa'ted, tftated tfc&t tie bad bad nothing to growl about in the matter of wages, ana he had been on tie works almost since their oomaaencement. There had, however, beefl a diecided wan* of forethought on thai part of tie Government in oat giving the men. ea intimation before Christmas of the poari-s btlity of the work being stopped. "Baa man w&s wnongst tshoss wtHtang in "the pit," and knowing tiat balkst -α-ould be wanted rigit np to tiwi last, ooasidered he was«nfe to be employed at Inst t&l the end of Mardh; seeing «iab it ~wts expected that the Sine v fax as SoergiE would be open for tranle about thai time. Bofc the Czar of New Zealand issued bis uk&ee, and he, with other optimists, b&TO got tfaeir "walking ticket." Another married, *oad just been on the works foe a fortnic&t, and be expected tibat after paying his debts, be wodld be able to leave with ','fouipeawe W-penny" in bis pocket. The dnef ground of complaint anotoer nun had wae Wai. tm« like the Wert CsoAst port ton of &c Mi&vnd Baflw«jr yvntkM, where, trben «nen were diepooeed with for a time they could go "fo*ffldong* , for gold,'or the Springfield works, where, under similar circumstance*, work ooafcd be obtained ftom farmer*, there was nothing in the ebape of employment to be obteioed in the neighbourhood of Waipara. He wae an old 'Iwittler," *nd it was stated that be had been engaged an almost *fl the railway-construction works since, and in* chiding, the Xytfceltan tunnel. Hie.intention is to go to the West Coast, and ttj his lack "fowkking." Anotiie , old veteran and optimist, and old West Gowtet to bdot, will mso hie himself westward, and pick up Mine old-time trail in sea-rah of the prfe-; dxma wetal

THE POSITION OF THE •■JttSQßi'

The representative of "The Press" iooli the opportunity offered of seeing how - th« work -was proceeding on the line by going Id the baSast train aefaru tfce first etatiea on the line at Omifai. five mile* frost Waipara-. Riding on a ballast, wmegaa w»* ft decidedly new sensation, and though the** were no cushioned seats (in fact the paaaeA* gem wife on the riiinyle which comprised tie ballast) Mud one c lego dangled over die (ride of the waggon, the ride was by w> mesa* at uncomfortable ax one would hey* expected. Tbie portion of tba Use is practically finieh«d, -with the exception tint lure an.d there the rails require -straightening, and consequently -there was no unnmal jolting. It is stated that, it will be possible to con-. ?ey passengers to the nine and a ball mile peg, -which i« about five milf« from ScugQi. Beyond Omihi, however, the line required ballasting, and :t is doubtful whether a, heavy, passenger train could be taken over it 'pie idea - i≤, of coar«*, to shorten - the coach journey Jfcr -rrCkjrs '.atbending the Cheviot. Show on' Mirch 21et, bat unkes the line iff properiy fiftMtt-d or a. departure » made from, the «Tdu»ry - procedure, it iis difficult to undmtsrrd that a passenger train -will be run over *«? **81> of th& new line. The difficulty in fit* way is one that the Premier, met with on his visit to Cheviot in December last. When the epe* del arrived at Ht Seddon, Wished to have the ran over.tJse Waip»ra-C!iKviot- lie* »■" -*»r as the rail* were laid. But th? ne>v lit:; had sot bsefl, nor i* it yet, tafc?n <iv<>r Hy the ftailway Department, and cocsc-'nwntly t6a* Department -wonld not t-ik* any r>k of damage to its rolling stock by mf&ing.it over the unopened line. The" Prem>r and party had perforce to content thcmrtlves with the somewhat different luxury of a baHbet -waggon for their jowray over Uwtise. TJnle** •the same procedure is Followed, in oonnec* tion with the pa*senger« for the CSieviot Show, the line will not be Available t« shorten the coach journey. There at, da. parently, but little doubt teat had the irojfk not been interrupted, the line would haire been open for traffic m far •■ ficaxgiU on or about the date of the Ehotr. Another gathering which ha* -been interfered trith by the stoppage of the work* jg the opening of thR B&feyardß at function which will probaWy be .portioned in« deSrotelyOn reaching Omiai * %&ng of men w<4 found engaged in "topping ©fr , the line with ballast. Whd*t the-' waggone wet* being emptied tbe reporter had tto opportunity of witnessing th* work done Ojy at contrivance colled /'a. plongh." which i« shaped something like the bow* of a. ebip, the V extending the full width aad a. little beyond the rail?. It* fraction i* not to turn a furrow, but. epread the baHaet evenly over the line. The wacgeoe had been pushed by the engine from Waipara. instead of pulled, and the reason was now apparent. for the plough was atteehed to the end of the waggon furthest fronj the engine. Tb« bottom of eaoh waggon w «o oootrircd that a Dortion caff be opened, and the ballast falls and i* shovelled through on to the middle of the line. When sufflctflDt ballast hae been deposited, the engine dnrav ahead of course dragging the plough, the point of which cut* into ttoe heaped baßaat* atsd the sides evenly distribute it over the pernutnent way, but keeping the ruiSe-clear. The inventor, or perhap*. to be more accurate, the improver and adaptor, Mr Curtie, vrsa in charge oi **>* e ßl^, awi "fc s ™*" thjS this mean* of dietribut*ner tto ballast, in addition to being more expeditioue, » also more economical than the usual way. This waa the last but one trip of the ballast train prior to the stoppage of operations.