WORK AND. WAGES.

Evening Star, Issue 12765, 19 March 1906, Page 1

WORK AND. WAGES.

Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. FRENCH COLLIERY STRIKE. '.';■:- PARIS, ''Malreb;'il7.'.V Twenty thousand men .-ire on strike lit,the Lens district, Pas-de-Calais. The.strike ia spreading., .... THE .RIGHT .TO. STRIKE. PAR-IS, March 18. (Received. March 19, at 8.30 a,m.) M. Clemenceau, Minister of tlie Inberior,: conferred with the Labor Federation at Courrieres, and promised to respect their right to strike and not to fiend troops unless disturbances occurred, but he urged' them to remain'calm. ■•.■■" • After hearing a statement by Mr Andrew Collins, labor organiser for the Wellingtondistrict, as to the taiioresses' trouble in this City, the Napier Drivers' Union voted £3 3s towards the support of the girls locked out, and to forward a further contributioni if required. Tiie Steed Trust have in contemplation the building of a town in the Chicago district for their employees, wihach will includ* all model educational and civilising agencies, iixindrng a free library, a theatre, and an opera-house. A gloomy report concerning the state of the building trades in South Africa is (says the 'Sydney Morning Herald 1 ) supplied by Mr W. H. Hornby, a former president of tie North Sydney &icHaye2s' Society. Mr Hornby has returned to Now South -Wales after, three years' residence in South Africi, and has brought with tern'data supplied by the secretaries of trades unions, showing that a large number of roan are out of work, and thai owing to lack of funds they are Tunable to get away. For a year or scatter, the cLcse of the war there was a brisk demand for skilled labor, but during'last year, according to Mr Hornby, " South Africa went to pieces," and now there are hundreds of men walking about. Upwards of 800 carpenters were out of work towards the end of January, and this unemployed total. was supplemented by some 300 brieHayefrs, 150 plasterers, 100 enginemen, and-from 60 to 70 painters. . Work in the buikrrng trade was practically at & standstill, and Mr Hornby reported thcfc the total of unemployed would be added to upon the completion of one or two large contracts, which were well advanced when lie left South Africa. Under the will'of the late Mr John Feeney, proprietor of the 'Daily Post' and other newspapers at Birmingham, each of the sub-editors, _ correspondents, reporters, clerks, and foremen who at the-time of his death had been five years in his employ received a sum equal to three months' salary, while employees in other capacities each received equal to three weeks' wages. " Do the Railway Commissioners of New South Wales intend to imitate the action of the Victorian Commissioners, who have forbidden their employees- to wear other than block neckwear Vben. in uniform)?" The question was pot to Mr M'Lachlan, the secretary to tho CVmimissioners, the other day.- " Ah," was the reply, " I see the men over there mast not wear colored neckties. Well, I think you may safely conclude that it is not at all probable such a course will be adopted here." "Another recommendation of the Victorian Commissioners, Mr M'Lachkn, is- that, shunters should wear low shoes or elastic-aides or half-Wellington boots, 'with broad -heeJis." "Well, thai is a sensible thing. In this State the department has frequently urged the men to wear low heels, or no heels at all, because they are so liih-le to get caught in the rails during smrruting." " That has been done purely from a • numanitaiiiain • point of view?" "Yes." "Bui the Commissioners do not object to a scarlet' or a sage-groan necktie, ch?" "Oh, dear, no." Speaking at the annual dinner of tho ioowoomba Chamber of Commerce, Mr Kidston (Premier of Queensland;) pointed out that the present trend was towards cooperation as against individualism. He did not say there was any hope or any fear of then- reaching the stage of pure Ocranrunism or Socialism. The common sense of the community was a protection against extremes of any kind. Referring to the possibilities of Queensland, he said that two yeares ago there were under 8,000,000 she°p an Queens-land; now there were; over 14,000,000. There were likely to be 20,000,000 by the end of tbe year.