THE WORKLESS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 261, 28 July 1908, Page 7

THE WORKLESS.

POSITION IN WELLINGTON - BETTER TIMES WITH BETTER WEATHER. LISTS OF UNEMPLOYED. . There has been a good deal said about thi unemployed in Wellington, and a good deal of what has been said may be exaggeration, but this city has had such a wonderful run of "go-aheadness" that the least symptom of any sort of set-back in these phenomenally good conditions is likely to be regarded as something in the nature of a calamity, and certain agitators at the street corner see an opportunity to blame everyone under the sun for what no ono is really responsible. The financial panic of sis mouths ago has shaken the whole world, and New Zealand has felt a tremble. Money is tight, and when money is tight something has to stop until it is loose. When that something has to do with;the employment of labour, labour becomes unemployed, and in this manner wa are brought face to face with the .position ■of to-day. There are men out of work to-day in Wellington, but that is a condition that obtains in every normal city in the world in midwinter, particularly when the money market .joins hands - with the weather. Wellington , lias been the Mecca for tradesmen and labourers from all parts of New Zealand (and even Australia) for some years, and it is only the fact that the cjty has been phenomenally active in many progressive ways that has prevented the out-of-work cry being raised. But Wellington cannot always guarantee that it will digost all tile labour given it fine weather or foul, tight money or loose , —that is asking too much. -

Not Without Warning. ' Tho position has not come about without warning. The Labour journal of .this month said:—

• " Tra do generally during the month just ended cannot be said to have been RMd. Many trades show a decided falling-ofr on the last couple of months, ihis is particularly noticeable in the building and painting trades, and is accounted for by ~the fact that building operations in the suburbs arc almost at ' a standstill. This has thrown a number of men out of employment, and, although tho trade in the city is about at its normal standard, the supply of labour is far' more than enough for the demand. Tailoring trades arts also slack, and show ,a decided and sudden fallingpff ou tho last month. On the other ■; hand, dressmaking and bootmaking . , s a ?° Generally speaking, employers are not alarmed as to future prospects, and they ;dO not anticipate that tho slackness above indicated will be of,long duration. Building trades ' are ofily fair, taking city and suburbs together. In town they can be said to ' be quite up to tho usual standard, but m 'the suburbs they are practically at a i standstill. A number of men are out of ; : employment." i' . Continuing, the report states that businesses coming under the heading of slack are tailoring, engineering, woollen mills, and , plastering. Of unskilled labour it says:— •"The number of applications' for em- — ployment has increased during the. past month, quite a number of men having arrived from tho South Island and from ' the CQhntry districts. The prospects for the unskilled labourer are by' no means ' , as fright as they were two or, three months ago, there being littlo or no work offering locally. The supply at present —.exceeds the demand."

Unemployed on the Wharves. A representative of The Dominion has been trying to find out'how- bad the situation is at present. _ Visiting the 1 Spcialist Hall yesterday morning, he found a number of unemployed resting and enjoying themselves, who cheerfully gave particulars of their troubles. Tho precarious conditions of wharf labour were described. . Hundreds of men were unable to find work on the wharves, and many of thoSo who called themselves employed were earning nest to nothing a week. The case was, quoted of a new-comer to New Zealand, a teetotaller and a non-snioker, who had averaged on the, wharves 15s. 3d. a week for eight weeks. Then ho left these shores, saying that he would sooner starve in the Old Country.The young man who related this story had'earned 15s. 9d. in six weeks; He had been down to tho Wharves that morning looking: for work,' and would go back in the afternoon. 'There wore men who stayed thoro waiting from 7.30 a.m. till 5 p.m., and then got nothing. , Would ho go to tho Main Trunk line? Not he. A man wais lucky, working thcro, if he could earn 30s. a.week all the year round. Another case was instanced of a canvasser, who had been unable to get work for fivo months and. a half. His only disadvantage was a weak back.

Crocers and Others. ' Two men.whovwere amusing'themselves at' i a- chess' board told a doleful story. There • was no work for' cleaners and pressors, to which trade one of them belonged. Tho_gro- " 'cery trado,-which would not claim the other,' was in similar stato. . This man had gone to answer an advertisement for a grocer;, he • found six or seven other applicants inside ■ 'the shop, and four or five more waiting to - make application outside. There was no , chanco for .him, so ho left. j When tho pressman called again, the chess- ■ board had been abandoned, and a " wage slavo" at tho piano was keeping up the 'I spirits of his comrades with a popular air. , Painters and Decorators. i-A little knot of painters, holding consuli tation on the bad times, endorsed and sup- , plemented the rt marks of Mr. P. Rcyling," • secretary to the Amalgamated Society of Painters and Decorators. There were nineteen, names of unemployed ..on the Union's - book', which did not represent o'ne third of tho real number. Mr. Reyling explained that the _men got tired of reporting that tliey were "still out" o'fwork, and when he saw nothing of a man for several weeks, ho would cross his name off the book. Busi- ' ness had been slack in this trade for. the past two months, and was as bad jn the country as'in tho city. When a man got a job it was only for a day or two, and the -majority of tho men who were employed were 'making only half-time wages. Some of the •best men in tho trade were unable to get work. None of. them : had tried the Main ■ Trunk works. Two painters had gone out, however, to the Hutt Railway duplication works, and in three days their hands were split right across and covered with , blisters. They could not keep their end up with tho . "professional navvies," and they "got tho > sack." - There were so many accustomed labourers anxious for employment that it did not pay to engage men who were raw to . such work. Ono pf. the painter's present said that there was a general impression that the assisted immigrants brought here by. the Government wero given priority of employment on landing, so that they might be able to writo Homo and say that they had got a job. Tho job, however, might not last a week. It was stated that tho majority of tho painters in Wellington were comparative new-comers. Coach-Builders and Plasterers. Mr. W. J. Westbrooke, secretary of the Trades and Labour Council, said that there were a considerable number of coach-buil-ders out of work. Four immigrants of this trade who came , by tho last boat had been among the unemployed. He had advised them to take to pick and shovel work as there was no prospect of tho trade improving for a month or so. The, slackness had existed since the last of the new tramway cars- was finished for tho City Council. When the car contract was let, there was a rush to Wellington for the • sak<j of this work and many of the men out of work wero visi.Amv £or the last two years this trade had

oecn as busy in the winter as in' summer. A considerable number. of plasterers were unemployed. Eight, who' had arrived by boat a week or so ago, were, lie believed, • "still out of work; " Generally speaking, tho . slackness in employment , was, worse than it had been for many years. ' Bad Time for Butchers. The secretary of tho Butchers' Unionstated sbout eighteen butchers had been walking about'idle during the last two months. Con- , ditions had not been so Bad during tho last four-years, and there was no sign .of an": improvement:' A large number of immigrants r had arrived from tho Old Country awl Ansi tralia, who had failed to", get employment, v Most of them had left again,, working .their . passago back to England or to other parts ■. of tho world. . Twenty-five carpenters appeared on the .employment book of their, union as wanting employment. This number might be taken, it whs said, as. representing about-half the total ■ unemployed in the trade. ; . . Mr. M. J. : Reardon, secretary of the General Labourers' Union, 'had been informed that tho Government was discharging labour- . ' ; crs'{roin tho Hutt railway and underground ■ ■ '' telephonic, sworks. •; This policy was, lie ■ .thought, a mistake. .• Tho pressman quoted >: , on. tns other side the statement of the Gcnoral .Manager for Railways that/ the nurii- ' ..:bor of men employed on the Hutt,; works is , largor'.than it has oVer been before. Mr. V Reardon,■ said that men'had come to him complaining of dismissal. ■ i As regards, the statement of the' Labour, -'.Department's officer at Napier, that he had work;;for ill who liked to came,' Mr: Reafdon said t'hr.t he had information that men had . ' been thrown out of employment in that dis:trict. v ; HoV; stated , that ton men had been v.; . discharged , by the Napier Borough Coun- / ciliV . i.. -& ■ , A; riian whose business takes him about the : wiiatres -.said tbpt 'at least six'men had . "'. .come'' to him ifor the 1 price, of ;a, meal. ' They wcro-VrbspectaiKle men, who .would-work if they could get it. ' - ' •V'.';: .The-Rev.' Wj A. JSvans, Chairman of the Benevolent' Trustees, said that , the applica-.- : -.-tions -to '.that',- body, for assistance had not been-appreciably ".more 'numerous this winter than, in- years. pa:t. : He recalled that- in , .1896 therewere computed to be 360 uncm- \ ployed in Wellington. Tho labour, leaders, Y however, were then hand in glove with the ; vGovernment/. and they did not make so much of the .fact.j .. ■ ,-v ;.. ■. Pay on Govermhsnt \>Vorks. I'lio Hon. W!'Hall-Jones has stated that ■ ■ he, can find, employment',for, hundreds of men '• Ton co-operaiive works., Wages aro there paid according to 'tho pjece-tfork system; which .',■' does not commend itself to. many of the uii- . employed." .To show .that good men can earn fair wages, however,' Mr. H. J. 11. Blow, Tinder Secretary fori' Public, Works, Quoted the following official figiires'ior ■tho;.-month of Juno'to a, reporter -yesterday: — ■ " ' Railway;- construction '. work in • Otago—highest rato oarned in one 1 • day, Bs. OcL; . highest rata in •• eight hours,-Os. 2.8 d. ; ..lowest rato per day, 6s. &7d.; averago-per .day 75.:7.6d.;'.-average per eight hours, Bs. 2.9 d. ■; ■■ ■ -'■' -,On tho -Main Trunk. lino the rates were ;; somewhat higher. ' The /average on one; part was nearly 9s. a day, and on another part 'Bs. 6d. ; '- There are about 1000 men; employed.on the Main Trunk lino. at. preterit. The' number has formerly been as high as 2000.' There will be plenty of work •to do along the llino for a few ' months ' to: como,- and when -this railway is quite completed, th? Public Works Department,- Mri. Blow states, will be aljla to find work on'other sections for all thp men' now employed. ' ■" ' - i Chance for Unskilled Labour, ■■,_ . ■ With respect 1 -to'- unskilled : labour, there should bo some work"offering shortly by the- ■ 'City Council, which lias just raised £100,000 . for the -drainage of. Kelburne; Northland,. .; Brooklyn, " Wadestowiv Kilbirnie, Roseneath, .. Hataitai,- and Island' Bay. The Mayor' has" promised, -now that the loan has' 'been floated' satisfactorily, to urge on the' work, /so that'good navvies; should bo' in request. ■ Round tho Halls. The pressman inspected at the halls of labour ■ yesterday/.'afternoon' tho unemployed lists, , which.. . are;, ' displayed for . the - receipt of the- signatures ; of ' , ;the. : workless.', ; ■ The Trades Hall sheet contained 63 signatures;'.' including '1.8, -painters', ■. 28 ''carpenters, and.'B- labourers.'i.-At tKe Waterside Workers' Office Mr. D. M'Laren .. showed our i representative '.two ; sheets, con- ; taining 86 names, of winch 40 were those of /"■ wharf and general labourers. '''Forty', Willis Street" is''another home of labour in Wellington. ' There; Messrs!/Reardoir arid ; Carey woro fbund; 'tackling, the , work - born ofa• • strenuous time.■■■•' There; were only-. 16 signatures on, the unemployed list,- but Mr. Carey stated tliat if 100 hotel-workers were wanted to-morrow he could ' supply- them. A ! good, many of the unemployed had been working last week; in .connection with the '-faces,; balls, and parties'that had opportunely happened. His; people .had hot: troubled to parade, their names on the list, arid :jn. f corroboration-/ of he said the half-dozen men in the.room, who, were, out of work, , said- they had not signed.. . '■■.' ■;■ ■. ■ ,r ;. .' ■, •'

: "Under the red flag"' in" Manners Street there, -were ' ; fivo • names on the . list exposed to view. is : understood-^that there aro lists out' at Newtown and, Pot-one. In connection. , with :' theso . lists it ! was hot , known by anyone consulted whether there .was any .'duplication of; signatures, but. it was supposed 'tha-fcla .man, having signed,' say, at the Trades Hall, would noti sign again- at'the. Socialists': Hall;-The. idea of the unemployed demonstration announced, for to-day was discountenanced everywhere. MEETING AT THE STATUE. DEPUTATION ■ 1 were given at the Queen's Statue , yesterday to-a moderate attendance. ■' ' . V . - Comrade Dowdall - was the . first speaker. He said, "Some of the Waterside, workers lil-ro more beer than : work." He then complained that some one had forged his name to a certain document, and ho gave expression to threats of what he would do. Ho did 'not, 'howover,. give an exact statement of the offence. ,Be continued: "To-morrow at noon, wo shall moot at this statue, and at' 12.30 p.m. we shall march to Government House. We shall present- our'petition, and shall not ask but demand,that the present corrupt and vicious Government Ave have to-day shall give justice to the workers." (Applauso.) Becoming more- impassioned, the speaker-.de-clared: '.I will expose something to-morrow. This .is not idle talk with me. I talk not for approbation, but for justice." Ho did not think that tlio unemployed should ; leavo town and go up country, as he would then havo to maintain two establishments.. It would, he said,, be better to starvo in Wellington than to go up country to absolute starvation, and not to know'how the wife and children were doing here. His excitement increased, and he complained that he had been refused employment on the.ground that" he was an agitator. '. ./"" . At this stage, the speaker was handed 'a telegram.

A-voice:. Somebody is offering' him a job.. Tho comrade announced that the. telegram was from the Premier agreeing to receive a deputation at 12.45 to-day. In a previous communication, the Premier had said that there was no need for a-demonstration.

"Why is he frightened of a demonstration demanded tho' orator. ■ "I. know; because itwill bo cabled all over the world." ■ Mr. E. Howard, a Canterbury delegate to tho Trades and Labour Councils'.Conference, then took tho platform,. "What do tho workers'want?" he asked. "More work?- We -pant the whole earth and everything the earth produces."-, "It is you, and not the Government," he oontinued, "who are to be abused, becauso you can be bought for a shilling." •

| Wo talk of the "terrible nervous strain" of modern city life. Tho worst strain of modern city lifo is not on tho brain, but on the lungs. _ Apart from its foul air, city life is the easiest, happiest, and most healthful lifo yet invented.—"Saturday Evening Post." TWJatLelphia.