The Daily Telegraph. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 1888.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 5191, 11 April 1888, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 1888.

News from Auckland states that over fifty married men with families havo left by tho steamer Waihora for Sydney to try their luck "ou the other side." We hope they may meet with every success. The telegram does not say whether these men aro aitisans who hope to find work iv Australia that they cannot get here, or whether they aro miners about to try" their luck at Broken Hill. We think they must be tho latter, bocause from all accounts working men of ] all olasses are no better off iv Australia l than they aro here. The Christchurch Press the other day published a letter from In tradesman, who some time back "left New .Zealand, concerning the state of business in Melbourne. Writing under date March 28th, he says:—" The miserable and reclc.less condition under which wo labor are enough to make the stoutest heart quail. Li4»rully, we carry our lives in pur hands ?very day we work. That is to say, the scaffolding, ladders, appliances of every | description that we requiro iv our work aro , tho worst in quantity and quality I ever 'met with. Tho prices obtained for work, . from the keen competition, are so utterly ' inadequate to do the work properly, or, as iifc is usually put iv building parlance, 'faithfully,' that the contractors are at their wifs' end to know how to get through without suffering severe losses. They have tto resort to sub-letting, in some cases labor and material. In many cases they find the material and sub-let the labor only. That usually means two-thirds to half tho i ' current' rate of wages to those who are tie successful (?) tenderers. For day work they advertise continuously for improvers, aid get applications from persons from 15 tc 55 years of age who aro willing to accept aiy wages' tho boss thinks propor to offer ttoni. Men who expect to get what is caled the,' current' rate, 10s a day, aro oily wanted when no others are to bo had, ard aro the first to be put away as the work neirs completion. We nave here men—lam spiaking of tho building trades only—, frcm New South Wales, South Aus'«'«lm; v Queensland, and from New Zealand, and with very few exceptions, all are anxiously looking for a revival in tkeir respective colonies, and ure ready to rush back again at the first sig-n. Aiuong-st the workmen the politics of thodiffercnt colonies are frequently warmly discussed. The New South Wales and South Australians argue in favor of Freetrade, while theyoung Victorians argue as stroi-gly for Protection, < tho older Victorians taking very littlo part in tho debate, althoujpi there are a few who : will bold that Pro tor-ion had nothing to do with tho proseu* prosperity of Victoria, but that it has K-en brought about mainly by a chango o-' policy ou the change of . Government. Some of the older workmen speak of « ' Berry Blight,' that is the ] I Berry (~vernmcJit, when stagnation was . - over everything jintil they had to muko - wuy for tho Service Administration, which ' followed them, when things took a turn, ( tindhave continued to improve until now. This section of workers seemed disposed to ( make hay while tho sun shines, and even say ] it is very likely a reaction will set iv as soon as 1 the Exhibition is over, if not before. At tho I present time, at any rate, there is the up- 1 pearance of a considerable amount of money being in circulation, suburbs rising almost like mushrooms, five, seven, ten, and some few as much as twenty 'miles from Mcl- , bourne :in all their sections rising continu- x ally iii price, while in Melbourne l!ie prices - obtained aro simply fabulous. How long it will continue it is impossible to say. I have " come iv contact with several long residents | in Victoria, who say they aro completely , puzzled to know why Now Zealand should not go ahead, aud be as prosperous, if not j more piosperous, than any of the Australian colonies, considering her climate, her . natural resources, and her freedom from wild -. beasts and venomous reptiles, and they T prophecy that her timo will come." t: