MR. BROGDEN'S NAVVIES.

Evening Post, Volume VIII, Issue 170, 19 August 1872, Page 2

MR. BROGDEN'S NAVVIES.

The corauiencement of the Pieton aud Bleuheiin railway has rudely disturbed the sjmnoleufc inhabitants of Marlbonragb. from shelr normal state of grinvliotg iuaccivity. •'he advent of Messrs. Brogden's workuieu seems to have been au evenc unparallele 1 -since the days of Capt. Cook, and the navvies and their doings form themes f«»r the newspapers to dilate upon, occasions for k >ublie ineetiugs. aud the subject of adiresses to the Superintendents. Th^ viurlborough "Express, or local "Eat -loswill Gazette," makes a greal deal of capital out of the cireutnstaae«that some slight difficulty has occurreil between Messrs. Brogden aud his employees iv getting the latter set to wotk, and under the heading of "The Plctou EtnbrotjtioJ" jc\'s th*t ~\ a more inefficient body of men could scarcely be got together. * *" * That many of the men have been in the habit of collecting black mail in Picton to squander in drunkenness ; that they do more work at the public house bars tha*= they do on the road ; and that the maj-uicy of them would not obtain 10s. a week aud their food at any farm in ilarlborough." Now the fact is that the statements of the Gazette quoted above are utterly false The mfn's employers, the parties principally interested, are satisfied with them ; the rate of pay they receive- Is allowed to be ample, being quite as much if not more than they coulJ procure else where, and moreover there is no imbroglio at all. except in the brain of the Editor of the print alluded to, and his compeers The men are at work, and everything is proceeding in a satisfactory manner. That the opposite is not the case is no fault of the Marlborough people. They seem to have used their best exertions to create disturbince with the most selfL-h views No doubt they expected to reap a harvest by supplying the navvies with necessaries at stiff prices, but found themselves checkmated. Messrs Broaden, with the view a' preventing their men from l»ein£- imposed upon, took care that stores should be provided for them at a price 25 per cent, under what the storekeepers of Marlhorouuh wer* willing to sell at. Messrs. Brogden do not pursue the truck system : they pnv their men their wages, and supply them with goods at a moderate price, giving them, ii< addition to a saving on the necessaries of life, the advantage of credit. Th : siswhat has roused the indignation of tho Marl borough Eatanswill Gazette, and called forth indignation meetings headed by thr butchers. hakeis. brewers, and even professional men of Pirton. In explanation of the assertion about work doneatthepuhlichouse bars, we nv-»y say that we are eredihh informed that a Picton tradesman has been In the habit of going from house to hous» with navvies, treating them and expatiating on their grit vances until he_ hecanu inebriated, when he was carried home by his orat»-ful following. A great' deal of public interest had been falsely direcfe 1 to a private matter. Messrs. Brogden bav^ made certain contractß. which no one doubts their ability to fulfill, whether at a profit or a loss. Misunderstandinsr** "with their -workmen are among the difficulties they have to contend -with, and all the less and trouble of which fall up^n themselves. They are responsible to the colony for the due completion of their work, arnl neither the people nor the Press of Marl"horongh have any business to interfere in their private affairs.