The Daily Telegraph. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1892.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 6374, 9 February 1892, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1892.

Feom Auckland we hear that Mr Tregear is about to establish a i.abor Bureau iv that city, in order, apparently, that the unemployed may find work. It is a miserable reflection tbitt in this young country there are hundreds of men seeking for employment and finding none. It was the first notion of the present Government to open labor bureaux, and provide relief works, and if these things were really needed the humanity of tho proceeding cannot be questioned. But. like most other enmities, it appears to have been abused ; men who were not out of work have presented themselves as unemployed, and at a season of the year when the agricultural and pastoral works of the couutry cau always absorb tbe available labor, it, is found that men cannot be had iiy these labor bureaux aiel relief works the Government, have not only entered into direct c mpetitiou with employers, but, it would appear that they have eneeui'iig.:! that spirit of half restlessness half idleness which distinguishes n large portion of the ela-.-. known as

the swagger and the sundowner. The swagger and the sundowner are features of the up-country rwads, and o'it of-r.he-way sheep stations, and only those who have to support these ne'er-do-weels can form any conception of the cost of thoir maintenance. They are as regular in their rounds as the " stars in their courses ; " they never g.t permanent employment—it is the last thing they desire, but they roam down tbe const and up again through the inland road, accomplishing the grand tour in about twelve months. Many of the-e old trampors aye a. well known on the coast stations, and the time of their arrival is as easily guessed, as that of the mailman. But not a handsturn will they do ; they cannot be trusted with an axe'to chop a bit of firewood, or a bucket to draw water from the well. Such is the man who is called a "sundowner" from his habit of reaching a station at nightfall so as to ensure supper, bid, and breakfast,, on tbe cheap. In some of the large cities, notably at Wellington, Christchurch, and Duued'in, a somewhat similar class of man is to be met, men who will just work sufficiently to keep themselves out of the Refuge, who, laboring half the week, oan loaf the other half at street corners and in public-houses. These men are not unemployed in the proper sense of the word, and they deserve no sympathy. Instead of relief works and labor bureaux for such as the professional swagger, the sundowner, and the town loafer, there should be labor colonies, and to which it would not be a bad plan to draft the inmates of the Refuges.

In a lato number of the Homo News there is a note on Dr. Berthold's article in the Charity Organisation Iveview, on the work done by the German labor colonies. These were started in 1882 for the purpose of inducing vagrants and beggars to abandon their useless lives and to become respectable members of the community. The difficulties to contend against were very great; for, as is well known, tramps and outcasts have a decided aversiou to discipline, and wi'l do no labor unless compelled. Social reformers in every country are endeavoring to grapple with the problem of poverty. The evil is increasing day by clay, and the means of extinguishing it seem as far off us ever. Still, labor colonies on the systora followed in Germany should effect much good. Dr. Berthold oxplains lhat the German labor colonies are " the result oi voluntary co-operation based on charity " Twenty-two have been formed in different parts of the Empire. " All able-bodied men out of work are admitted without distinction of class, religion, or character." They are remunerated for their labor at a rate of wage lower than that prevalent im'tho locality, and they aro supplied with board aud lodging at a small expense. Dr. Berthold tells us that the usefulness of the labor colonies is demonstrated by the satisfactory percentage of vagrants who are rescued by them. Ho deprpoates their establishment iv the large cities, and his experience goes to prove that the agricultural colonies are by far the most successful. The labor problem must sooner or later come under the consideration of Parliament.