RETRENCHMENT.

Evening Star, Issue 7361, 5 November 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

RETRENCHMENT.

TO THB SEIITOB. Hiß,—There can be no doubt that drastic , retrenchment in the public service, if justly and fairly earned out, will help to restore this Colony *° ! he Prosperity of formeV rfSqJ?' the P ro P<"«l contained in the Finan. SS.KT** 0 retreach the v&rious deP»rtments by a lump sum each, leaving the details in the hands of the heads of such depKnts! ♦"w^L?*™? 4 to.™*** 5 muth confidence that such wUI be carried out in a fair and just " !a^ ner - J, e !F few »en holding secondary positions will he willing to apply the pruningtaarfe deep enough as regards themselves and their friends. The consequence will be that the working man—dependent for the sustenance of himself and family—will become the scapegoat. No better proof of this could be cited than the case of the 150 railway employes dismissed during the last week or two. Many of these men living in and around Dunedin, were entirely dependent on the daily wage of 6s or 7s they then earned. Seeing that all other channels of employment are closed, or nearly so, what is to be the final outcome of this style of retrenchment? The bread-winning ability in then* ruthlessly taken from nearly 500 persona by the dismissal of the 100 odd men, Yet, sir, if we turn to the higher portion of the same Department to which these men belonged, what do we see? First, an engineer of working railways, with a salary of sow* L6OO per annum and travelling allowance of U per day; an assistant do, L4OO and 14 per day travelling allowance; a chief clerk, salary LBOO to L 350, allowance lfe per d*y j with sixteen junior officers under there. Now, sir, judging by past experience, the retrenchment here will probably be LlQOoff thechief engineer, and soon atthe same rate, some of the juniors being dismissed—to swell the ranks of the unemployed. What material difference, I ask, does the loss of IVLQO make to a man who has then leftX4oo or LSOQ per annum ? None whatever; whilst to the poor daily-wage man dismissed it means his all. A gentleman remarked to me the other day when on this subject i " Oh, bat you must remember men holding these offices have a social status to keep up, which means expense.' 1 Is it necessary in'a sma'l Colony like this, with our handful of people, to pay for anyone's sooial status while others of the community are nearly starving? I submit that we cannot afford to pay any official more than L4OO per annum however high his qualification, seeing that marry as good men can not only live respectably but save money on half that sum. If some such standard were established as this, there would be little need for dismissing so many daily men. Then again, Bir, in conjunction with thk matter comes the question of hoars of labor; and here I must refer to the case of the drivers and firemen of our railways. For their day\ pay they are required to work ten hours, or at the will of the Department make a, running of 100 miles' distance. This varies on certain sections from a minimum ef eleven and a-half hours to twelve and a-Jialf hours, for which latter tjme th,ey aje allowed to count one hoar overtime; but tleven and a-half is only counted. as ten, or a day's work. Apart from this gross injustice of the regulation; I think it must strike any intelligent mind that these long hours are an element fraught with danger to the travelling public; for surely twelve and a-.ha]f hours standing on an engine must be a great tax on any man's physical endurance, and should at any time a lamentable accident occur, could the aver-wroueht driver or his mate be conscientiously bkuhed } In conclusion, I think the public should, through their representatives, be made acquainted with the reductions in detail, so that they m'ght see justice done to all, and not be content with a lump sum saved here and there in order that those already well-to-do should suffer least, when they are better able, if need be, to lose most.—l am, eta. Common Jmno& Dunedin, November 4.