Evening Post. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1896. LABOUR LEGISLATION.

Evening Post, Volume LI, Issue 36, 12 February 1896, Page 2

Evening Post. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1896. LABOUR LEGISLATION.

In his reoent speoohoa at Christehurch, tho Promier waa particularly vehement in endeavouring to impress people with the great benefits which they had derived from the Labour legislation of the present Government, and tbe blessing which Mr. E«kvb3' administration of tho Labour Department had been to tho oolony. There was reason for special insistence on theso points, beoause the Premier mnat be aware tbat a strong spirit of Boeptloism is abroad regarding them. He was right, therefore, in endeavouring to revivo or strengthen the faith which to the majority of tho Labour Party must now be received as the evidsnos of things not seen. The faot is, that not only in Chriatohuroh, but throughout the oolony, tho industrial olassea aro beginning to recover their senses, and^to fully realise tbe three broad faots— First, that employment is no more easily obtained now than it was bflfore Mr. Bisyca appeared in the Parliamentary arena, endeavouring to sot olass against olass ; second, that during the administration of the present Government

wages generally have been lowered ; and, thirdly, that during the same period the cost of living has been appreciably increased by the imposition of extra Customs taxation on necessaries. So far from the lot of Labour having been ameliorated by the action of the present Government or the efforts of the late Minister for Labour, it has been rendered distinctly harder. The peoplo nekod for bread, and the Ministry has given them a pack of Acts of Parliament, wbioh have proved exceedingly unsatisfying. Mr Seodom seems to consider it a proof of the usefulness of those Acts, and of tho benefits they have conferred upon tho people, that no one has proposed to repeal them. Itwouldbeyery absurd for anyone to propose such a thing ; for, as a rule, they aro as harmless for evil as they are unproductive of good. Most of them were shorn of any dangerous provisions during their passage through Parliament, and in their present form they may safely be left upon the btatute-book until a Government and a House which do not profess to represent merely ono olass of the community undertakes tbe tifik of amending them, so that thoy may be made beneficial to all classes alike. If their rotention on the btatute-book in any way gratifies any Bection of tbe Labour Party— and there may be some who derive a mysterious satisfaction from their presence thore, as tho old woman did from that blessed word "Mesopotamia" in her i Bible— it would bo a pity to deprive them of that satisfaction Mr. Sbddon's efforts to mako the Christchuroh eleotors believe the j thing that is not wore acaroeJy so successful as the efforts in a like direotion which may j be witnessed nightly performed by Mr. Kbnnedt. During the present eleotion it has been made manifest tbat not only is there a growing feeling of unbelief in the practical benefits of the Labour legislation, but that a strong feeling of disEatisfaotion exists in re- j gard to tho aotion of Mr. Bbeves personally. He has beenacousedby Demooratia speakers from the platform of aoting discourteously in resigning without formal farewell to tbo electors, and of having desorted hia post as Minister for Labour, leaving his programme but half fulfilled. Those reproaches are scarcely just. The eleotors of Christobnruk must have known Mr. Kekveb well,' and they must have been very foolish if they expsoted courtesy at his hands when thoy bad oeasod to be useful to him. " Constitooents air handy to help a man in, Bnt arterwavds don't weigh the heft of a pin." i This is particularly the case when a good billet renders further assistance of the kind unnecessary. As to courtesy, Mr. i Reeves was not to tho manner born. With regard to the alleged desertion, it is no disgrace oven for a soldier to retire from an untenable position. His position as the originator of Labour measures had beoome absolutely untenable in the Cabinet, in Parliamont, and in the country. All were thoroughly tired of him and his Bills. It was hopeless for him to think of carrying any more. The cause of Labour has lost nothing by his retirement, and he only exotoisod a wise discretion in executing a strategic retreat into the safe haven of the Agent-General's office. The old saw says that be who fights and runs away may live to fiahfc another day, and suoh may possibly bo Mr. R.BEyRB' fate. Bat we venture_ to predict that if he fights again in the political lists, it will be on the other side. He will probably find it convenient to drop " straight-out " Socialism in London, and unless his sooial (not Socialistic) aspirations are ornelly blighted there, he will probably return to Now Zealand as good a Conservative as anyone conld possibly desiro.