THE GOVERNMENT AS EMPLOYER.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12364, 30 November 1905, Page 9

THE GOVERNMENT AS EMPLOYER.

(SPECIAL TO "THB PBKSS.") AUCKLAND, November 29. ' Tho" Herald,-' under tho heading, "An , Unpopular Employer,"', cays;— " Ms Seddon complains.that the Govern- i raent is experiencing great diniculty in obtaining tne necessary labour to enable the various public works throughout the colony to be pushed ahead, ami he hints at the possibility of the votes authorised by Pariiauienc being underspent in coneequencc. It woe the universal belief Wittjn those appropriations were put on tire ostiiiMiies, end hwgeiy increased in view of this being election year, that the Government hod no intention of expending the full eiuounte voted. Now we find the Premier preparing for the Government * plausible excuse for the non-fulfilment ot its promises, by alleging tnat tnere is no. labour available. We venture to assert that this excuse, whether it be well founded or not, « uk> most telling condemnation of the Government that has yet been pronounced.. For wh*t does it realiy ) mean ? It means that the Government, by its harsh,- arbitrary, and Svjust treatment of those in its service, has made itself the most unpopular employer of- Übour in the colony—so unpopuiar, indeed, that, while privato oontractons have no 'difficulty, in obtaining u'hat labour they require, it is unable to get 500 pick and shovel men, or it means that notwithstanding the. Ministerial fanfaronade • about New Zealand being the workmen's paradise, working men are fighting shy of the colony, and prefer to go to other lands rather than oome here. There is no possibility of, tue Premier wriggling off the horns of this <lilemma. If the Government, after fourteen years of office, caixnot eecure SUO pick and shovel men, it must be owing to one or other of the reasons wo have stated, and we leave the. choice ' to : tbe apologists." . ■■■ I