“The Press” In 1864

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30602, 19 November 1964, Page 16

“The Press” In 1864

November 19, 1864. We confess that at the beginning of the winter we entertained apprehensions that the province was on the eve of a very serious crisis, and we then urged upon the Government the expediency of commencing some large public works which would serve to give employment to the working classes during a period when the demand for labor in the other quarters was likely, we thought, to come altogether to a stand. But we are bound to admit that our apprehensions have not been fully verified, and that the winter has been got through with much less difficulty than we had expected. It is true that there has been some distress, but it has not prevailed to anything like the extent we feared, or more than was unavoidable under the circumstances in which the province has been placed. It must be remembered that we have been passing through a period of commercial depression, such as all colonies are at some time or another liable to, and the difficulties of which have not been experienced by the working classes alone. During the last two or three months there has been so great a stagnation of trade that, as we heard it re-

marked a few days ago, merchants have not been thinking of making profits, but only of how to escape loss, and have been but too happy to accomplish that. Now, it is impossible to avoid the natural effect which this state of things must have on all classes of the community, working men among the rest, and there is no doubt that its influence has been severely felt; still, though the slackness in the labor market has been considerable, it has not got to such a length as to effect any reduction in the rate of wages, which have remained throughout as high as they have ever been. It is, 'also, a noteworthy fact, that the two or three shiploads of immigrants who have arrived during these months of commercial depression, have been so far from meeting with any difficulty in finding employment that they have moved out of the barracks and been absorbed into the rest of the population with unusual rapidity. The worst part of the year has been tided over. Summer is now close at hand, and what with the wool season and the harvest ample employment will be found for those who are now out of work, and the present distress will, we may confidently hope, very shortly come to an end.