WORK AND WAGES.

Evening Star, Issue 9027, 9 January 1893, Page 4

WORK AND WAGES.

Meetings of the London unemployed have been held at Tower Hill and Oldham, At the latter place speeohes of a violent character were made. The speakers declared that Canon Holland, of St. Paul's, had mocked the men by inviting them to place their hope in Jesus when he well knew it was useless. Samuels, an Anarchist, advised the men to commit theft at the cook shops, or murder, if necessary, saying that he preferred pricon to starvation. The following letter has been sent by Mr D. P. Fisher, seoretary of the Wellington Trades and Labor Council, to the Trades Union Congress to be held in Australia : " Dear Sir, —I have to acknowledge receipt of a parcel of pamphlets on * A Suggestion for the Settlement of Labor Disputes,' for which please accept many thank*. The copies were distributed amongst delegates as far as possible, and then passed round. The subj act was therefore fully considered before it was debated. The author of the pamphlet, my Council thinks, deserves the best thanks of every unionist for bis contribution, which evidences mnch care and thought in working out the scheme, and is a step towards the solution of the labor question. But the suggested scheme is, in my Council's opinion, weak in its two cardinal points, and can hardly, therefore, be vitalised by amsndment. The scheme, besides being too complex, deals with effects only, leaving the cause untouched. The primary mode is in supposing that unionism can generally bring about pormanent reform. The amelioration of the condition of the workers as a whole can only ba brought about by Parliament. It must not be forgotten that a large number of workers are not yet unionists, and that the most unionism can do is to improve tho condition of those organised. The grea<; that unionism possesses is centred in concerted action, and this power must in future be directed to Parliament with all the force possible. Then the land question stands before all others, being the question which underlies production and manufacture, and consequently regulates wage?, working hours, and the sanitary condition of the workerf. Bad laws place the beßt of land in the hands of a few, who control its production, to the detriment of the many, with the result that the former amass an unreasonable amount of wealth, whilst the latter eke out an existence. As Frederic Harrison says: 'To me it would be enough to condemn modern society as hardly an advance on slavery if the permanent condition of industry were to ba that which we now behold : that actual producers of wealth are separated by so nasrow a margin of distribution that a month of bad trade, sickness, or unexpected loss brings them face to face with poverty.' My Council is strongly of opinion that land Bhould be the chief source of taxation, if not the only source, and that the means of certain production should, as far as possible, be controlled by the community for public advantage instead of for private profit. That the deliberations of your Congress may be productive of much good is the earnest wish of my Council."