LINES ABOUT LABOUR.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIII, Issue 28, 2 February 1907, Page 12

LINES ABOUT LABOUR.

Accprd.ing to the Sydney Worker, th«> deposits on shares the projected Australian Labour daily' newspaper aro now being returned by the promoters. During the "festive season" tho Sydney Worker quoted a stanza of "In Memoriam," and attributed it to Longfellow. It 'explains that the mistake was owing to "a combination of variegated happenings," — a neat way of putting it. At the last mooting of the Sydney Labour Coancil the office-bearers for tha year were elected. The principal officers are*— Pussident. F. Bryant (Typographical); rioo-preeident, A. E. O'Brien (Professional Musicians) ; secretary, J. P. Cocliran. Mr. Bryant, in returning thanks for his election, said that he was the first Civil Servant to be president of Sydney Labour Council, a' fact which ho took as emphasising the general adoption of the xxqw trades unionism in which politics played' a part of e'ver'increasing importance. The Bent Government has reinstated a batch of forty-nine of the railway men who went on strike three years ago, and as a,ll the leading officials, including Messrs. S. D. Scorer, secretary, and N. Hart, president (of the Engine-drivers' Association), aro included, this practically i completes the list. The men go back to their old stataio, but have forfeited the compensation rights to which some of them were ontitled. Mr. Bent is said to have long been in favour of reinstatement, but the public were not. He has had to wait thtee years before ho felt safe in taking; action. Trade reports for the week continue encouraging. The building trades still continue busy, and mechanics and artisans keep fuHy employed. The clothing trade is still bnsy for the factories, but tho tailoring trade is slackening off. There is a steady demand for unskilled labour. Furniture trade is still slack. The abnormal rains experienced last week have brought down logs that have been waiting fdr three years, and there will be plenty of material for tho sawmills for some time to come. If there aro trade unionists who place faith in the prophecies of "Old Mopre," his almanac for the current year should bring them joy. He predicts the formation of a gigantic union of the workers of all nations during 1907, to be named "The Universal Fraternity of Breadwinners." It will "ensure the world's peace," he says, constituting "a strike against armies and' brotherhood slaughter." And, there will be also "an cpidranio of madness ajn,ong millionaires." Of this he may have already seen premonitry symptoms in the horseback dinners, baby afternoon teas, and P'ggy suppers of the Ne.w York "smart set." A. Bushman sends the Sydney Worker the following rough outline of the past two years of his career: — First, I have travelled something lika a thousand miles, per rail, bike, and boot. Have worked at rabbit-trapping (twice), quarrying (twice), wood-cutting (twice), vaneuveaking, clearing, ' fencing, harvesting, wieat-lumping, platclayang (on ' railway), tank-sinking, rough carpentering, and finally as a station hand, and a man requires to be pretty handy at near- , ly everything on a station these times. "Industrial Tr»mp" writes in the i Auckland Star regarding the terms ofi fored by the Auckland Tramways "Company to the union: — "There 'has been a ( good deal of private disoussion amongst i the members during the past week over tho diSerent clauses, and it has been hold that whatever, theie is in the nature pf a concession, only the motormen and conductors have been studied. For in- | stance, inclayso 1, only motormen and I conductors are specified as eligible to roceive six holidays in each year on half-pay. There is no mention of anyone else, and switchmen, firemen, brakesmen, and barn hands are wondering whore they come in, seeing that they also work on public holidays." A case of interest to shearers has been before th^ Wagga Police Court. The manager of Bookuook' Station summoned ten shearers for having absented "themselves from duty. Thai ' shearers, had engaged to deal with not less than 22,000 and not more than 30,000 sheep a,t £1. They had shorn 2&.000, and refused to shear Bbeep belonging to an adjoining settler uolfss, they were paid £1 Ss. The manager admitted that these were harder to shear than tho'Bookbook sheep. The Magistrate found against the shearers. ?o far as these particular sheep were concerned., but for them on the point of their / having been kep(j waiting six hours,' for them, which amounted to a breach of agreement. Defendants were allowed costs. Wage-eoroers (says the Shoe-makers' Journal) must organise. Their productive power is atoeady organised by capital for capital, and there io nothing left for them to organise but thwr opportunity, which they organise in the form of labour unions. Why should not every man who works, and is willing to work, "enjoy some rest and a trifle of happiness when tho fruits of his labour give so much of both to others? LabouT does riot organise from choice. It organises from necessity. It has organised righto, which must be upheld. Organised capital is a great economic, institution, the produce of progressive civilisation, whose ecoifomic power, if wielded in Labour's cause, would^ happily solve Labour's problem,. Organised with tho organised haJlol; will 'yet yield, this, very power to ameliorate the conditions pf the masses. Labpu'r will not then ask where and how it can get a living, but how best it can makft that living happy. A cooffiaspondent of the Wprker writps tlms:— From time immemorial the prpfpssion had been looked upon with contempt; the great body of workmen smiled pitingijr when a clerk, went by With his well-brushed shabby-gente<>l appearance. Id the Old World it had always been sp, w d Sydney conditions in. tho.'year of grace 1907 were not much better. The usual advertisement was: 'Wanted, a stoatf, experienced clerk ; references jrequirjsd ; salary, £1 10s per weak." Plodding homo one evening, after ten hours' constant brainwork, a Weary dorjc was thinking deeply pn the qaestipn. He had given the ' beat ' dye years of bis life to a city counting-house, worked book many nights without extra, pay, and', belonging to the married variety, with tfcree children dependent on him, had to grin and bear it. Was it always to bo so? How had other workers imjn-oves other conditions? Happy thought! The' elerke must unit*; it had been spoken of before, but the time had now arrived for definite aotion. After freely advertising for a week, a monster meeting was, held in the city, five hundred oleiks signed tho roll, and this number was soon swelled to a thousand. Once aroased, no, time was lost, an award was soon gained through the Industrial Arbitration Court, declaring forty-five shillings to bo the minimum wage for senior clerks. With a fast-growing Labour party in the State Parliament, employer? were afraid to break thie awatd, and a£ last in New South Wales it was no longer a disgrace to ba "only a clerk."

A boy writing an essay stated, "Strong drink is the stuff which causes' the most human hoj^ines* by ltaviaj; it alonfuU