LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 213, 2 June 1908, Page 9

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

I SHOCKING ALLEGATIONS. A, CASE FOR INQUIRY. Sir,—l wish to draw attention through your vnluablo paper to the stato of a family living at Roikorangi, and their mode of existing. The writer was told of the affair, and made a call on them last night (Sunday) in company with another settlor, only to find six young children, tho oldest being about ten; no father or mother home. On' being questioned as to Where their father and mother were, tho girl replied, 1 "In Wellington." • '-'When will 'they bo home?" "Mother said she would be home .on Saturday or Monday." "Have yon plonty to'eat?" "Oh, yes, plonty of bread, and butter. Yes (second' thought); oh, no butter; plenty of bread." , "Snow, me your bread." " Horo it is lying on the'.table"—, two crusts ,of bread about an inch thick, tho remains, of some bread given to them by a neighbour, ■ ' On looking into, tlio bedroom four of the youngest children ivere in a bed; and another bed was in the room without any bedclothes on. .'Judging from that,' they all sleep in the one bod. Tho bedroom is about 12 x 8; no lining on tho walls to keep the draughts out. ~ ■ Now,. Mr. Editor, ..this girl of ten, left to look after six children, is supposed to be a delicato child, and I believe the. parents have a doctor's certificate saying" that sho is not strong enough to go to school. Yet she. does all the cooking and looking after the children. Tho father goes to Wellington for a time, comes back and ; says he can't get work, and when offered work hero some time ago would ■ iiot do it, becauso ho was not strong enough. When ho was getting eight shillings , for eight hours labouring ;he panted nine. ; . In-conclusion, all I can say is,. • What are the children to : do if the parents don't come back? .They would get assistance from settlors, only the latter don't believe in keeping a loafer to come and eat what is given for the children.—l am, etc., V / .humane; P.S.—You can give the. authorities my address.

' TAILOR-MADE ONCE MORE. . Sir,—ln fiirther reply to " Fleeced," undo the ; above heading,, ! must, go into detail, a, .1 am told I daro not answer certain ques tions previously put to me.; I wish to con" . tradict that straight out,, for I had intendec (when I last wrote) doing so at a later time but'first of all to clear .up-and get' a.direoi reply to what I _ still assert, to bo the firsi cause, of my taking up pen in, this matter . ''Fleeced',' certainly has the good taste ti: admit that ho, and a good many more likewise; are in* the wrong in ono wag. they bav< of doing business—namely, selling factorymade as " tailor-mado." I might here agaiu explain the terms used.' By. factorymade:! moan snits.-mado in " slop factories,'' called specials, ; boing . made to measure, Tailor-made—those made on tho samo premises. as the .order is taken on. I must, however,. reiterate the fact ,that tho . above method of business has been pursued in AVellington for somofcimo past, : and, as far as.] know, still is being done. (Thq "names! of' the different firms could be given, as reports have appeared in the.local. papcTs'of. breaches committed, although no details are given, but we have, the evidence given.) I.must admit, .with regret,, that' the same mothods are imputed to certain master 'tailors also. ■ I make no • attempt to deny this, for I. am satisfied .as to tho truth of it. It is giving vent to another of oiir grievances, and Jean, assuro you wo would bo very thankful to " Fleeced." to -assist .us, the W.T.U., in .bringing homo , ono of these charges,, being .unable'up. to the present to do so.;. I .might, havo oxplained at tho outset ■.that.l am not .tho champion of tho merchant tailors,; far. from ; it'./They; want'us to do [,'degreo tho, prumbs! fall to us. ..Tho way it ' •put?. i ßaraest;is. $hs ( .unfair competition causes ..prices -'to,, b'o cut .'so-fine' that; a man carpiotbe paid a, living: wage at the'price cut to; and then another evil creops in—tho girls to; takp'. the, place ~of men, they work cheaper—another grievance.. . ."Before I go any further I must give' a direct ;roply to certain questions, although this , all 'bo covered in this letter. First, Could I sell as tailor-made a-suit made off my: premises, if by a tailor?. ; Clause 7 of,tho. Tailors' Award answers ..'that ,verv'-clearly.. •You . would, be "committing a breach of that ■same award, but; perhaps not a breach of trust to your customer. Tho numbor of men and women employed in Wellington in our ■trade aro, asked, 1 for. ' I cannot ■ givo • them' off-hand,, and;cannot.say. numbers of female, 'the proportion,employed (in order shops) .is not' '.much more than, two to 'one,-'.if that, to ; my personal' knowledge.. While -referring to numbers you aver .thero are not sufficient tailors in Wellington to do tho work if required. The, numbers to ciato are about 170 odd, 'a decrease' of "forty odd, since Christmas,' , duo- )to slackness 'of work. I could, however, if the work was to be got, guarantee to procure 200 lien insido ten days. They are available, ■ but they will not stop in town to starve; Thero never has been a genuine shortage of men. ' Tho fac-tory-girls aro totally different to thoss "in order'shops working on a' 'different footing-' or system.'with a separate scale of pay, ctc; If tho tailors could not 1 make suits better than;tho girls, there would not bo "one" tailor in town • now, for tho simple reason that tho girls work cheapest. (I could show "Fleecod . tho difference: if he-likes to-call in our shop.) Wo: aro most certainly:.endeavouring to protect tho public, even'if we do seek to benefit by it, and to a certain extent: we do: . AVo. havo. complaints from a good mariy men about their suits not fitting, falling to piecos, etc. Wo are,told who made it, or whero bought, but when wo say how they havo boen had .they aro not gamo ■to come forward and ,givo evidonce whicli -.would secure a conviction for breach of our award, so what can we do? There is no question at all about the quality of tho work turned out by tho factories (in comparison), and it is the cheaper prico in most cases creating tho demand. '' - .

■ Now, Sir, can any sane person expect to get for £3 10s. as good an article as the man next door sells for. £5 10s., or, ratheT,. the same 1 quality? All tho above replies should not be needed by one who professes to have oven a slight knowledge'of the trade.' We have no wish to kill any trade or to ; tako work out of tho.hauds of any factory worker, but for goodness sake, act fair to your customer and tell him. what,you aro giving him. If the factory-mado article is so good as "Fleeced ". tries'to point out, why did tho Manufacturers' Association make such a protest against labelling their goods "Factory-, made" during the hearing of, our last disputo' before the Arbitration Court? An extract from tlic report of the same would' help to throw a little more light on tho subject. I enclose same, and trust, Sir, you will not think it too long'for publication; if so, let this suffice. It was proved then that'suits made at Home and imported were being sold by a certain firm in. town as tailor-mado. on. tho promises (name can be given). I should jiko to ask now, why attompt to hold our. proposed conditions up to ridicule? Is onr time statoment so amusing? Especially just now, it is under consideration by tho Conciliation Board, onr claims being partly heard in tho country. I cannot cliscus3 the same now for that reason. I am open to later on. however. . Wo want justice, and it is hard to havo to get it as wo do (try to), when we have to get an award to give us the right to earn a living .wage, and'it is quite plain "Fleeced" is again on a subject ho cannot know much about. _ He shows it also in saying tailors and tailoresses together, when • wo are a separato nnion, and all to ourselves. Ono word, however, about tho log (timo state-, raont). I can show hini somo dated sixty years age, and they wero necessary years beforo then, and, as they are-in uso all over the world, some with more items than ours, there cannot bo I anything ridiculous in it, except to ono who knows nothing of the trado. Sir, perhaps I am trespassing too much on your space. Can I claim tho samo privilege as my opponent? If so, you havo my thanks. I only want now, in conclusion,' to emphasise a few of my remarks previously made. I do not for obvious reasons champion tho cause of the master tailors. Wo have our worst enemies among them. I still maintain

j that certain drapers and mercers arc perpctiating a swindle on the public; also as to I the dilferonce between the two articles t-hero | can be no two opinions if one uses two eyes without prejudice. Through the foregoing you can see the disadvantages under which we .labour. Wo are u small body, but wo deserve fair, play, and we do not get. it. In reference to tho satir'o on tho Conciliation i3oaru, I can say tliat only helps to show plainer.the conditions, etc.,/wo have to contend with. If th-oro aro any points I have missed .and not sufficiently ropliod to, the .chance may como. again later.—l am, etc., May 30. y? f -\y (Tlio extract from' tho report referred to by our correspondent is as follows:—"7. All bospoko,, work shall bo dono in tho shop of tho employer for whom the samo is performed, and for whom, or by whom, tho order is taken a All such work as shall be performed by journeymen shall be paid according to the time statement hereto attached. Tho expression " bospoko work " in these conditions shall include all goods made and sold, as 1 tailor-made • \ also any order in which there is a garment 'fitted on, whethor such ganiiont is by chart measure- j ment or not;'!)