Hawke's Bay Herald. MONDAY, JUNE 10, 1895. COST OF CO-OPERATIVE LABOR.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 10012, 10 June 1895, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. MONDAY, JUNE 10, 1895. COST OF CO-OPERATIVE LABOR.

Tne New Zealand Times of Wednesday j publishes a copy of an exceedingly sensible letter from Mr W. Crowther, M.H.R., of Anokland, to the Minister for Pablio Works. •• With this note," he says, "I am sending yoa a resolution passed by the Auckland Builders' Association, who have requested mo to forward tho same to you as Minister for Pabllo Works for your favorable consideration. They strongly assert that snch large snms of pabllo money should not be spent wlthoat beln K submitted to fair and open competition. They farther assert tbat it is the safest nnd surest and the most satisfactory way for Government to get the work done. They do not objeot in the least to co-operative competition, but they also asset, that if there is any good \ reason why they, who form a considerable : portion of tho colony's taxpayers, should ' be shut out from such a large work (about ] £12,000), tho roason should be made ! known to them with n view to having I j the matter set right at once, as they t cannot afford to continuously suffor under c Buoh disabilities. In terms of their re- ' quost I respectfully submit the accompanylug resolution for your favorable v consideration." Mr Crowther's letter £ evidently refers to the restoration R of tho Auckland Asylum, partially J destroyed by tiro soma months since. n Bnt thia complaint as regards Auckland },' is on all fours with the position here. 16 b is proposed to erect in Napier a now a Custom-house and police station, and at Sl Hastings a posb and telegraph office, and ™ here, as in Auckland, thero is to be no tl competition, no chance whatever for any ot our builders, who probably have ot si their command the services of tbe best v men ln tho trade, while there cannot be a G doubt that tho buildings will cost much " v more, and contain muoh loss satlsfnotoiy ,j work, thou they would If the contraot wos •'} open to public tender. It i 9 understood V\ that the man who nre to bo thus spoon- cc fed by a Government which attacks overy w form of employment of labor aro se.eo.ed x

y the police sergeant In each district, j tr i is seml-officially notified that the ai listings list oi carpenters is fall, hat iere is room for one plumber and one H .icklayer. Sergeant Mitohell is, no s( oabt, an exceedingly active nnd lntelll- | ent police officer, but It is open to doubt _! 'hether he is a good jadge of a work- A lan, whether he is a oarpenter, I ? ..inter, bricklayer, or plumber. In this | „ ise we believe there is no timber on J I be ground yet, but men are engaged, and I ib many of them are not likely to be at * york for some weeks it most be admitted j hat the engagements co far are the * everee of businesslike. If the whole ( ■olony is to be turned, as far as the Gov- I ■rnment can manage it, into a hnge ' socialistic camp, it is ob well that publlo attention shonld be drawn to it before we are irretrievably committed to the principle that all Government money la to be expended in Buch a way as to cripple trade and largely increase tbe burdens on I the taxpayers, for the purpose of providing I employment to Second-rate men, and cutting the ground from beneath the feet of those who are much better equipped for the work, and who by superior Bklll can pei form that work much better and much cheaper than cm be done by private arm-pern. uts. It ia aboot time the Government C-nsidered tbe taxpayers, and stnyed their hand in the conr.e they have adopted of making tbe posiiion of every employer of labor os uncomfortable as possible. Mr Crowther Is to b*3 oommended for his pluck in Hiring to deal .en.ibly with suoh an im?o.tant question. A Christchurch contemporary recently published a series of articles by our old Public Woiks officer, in whioh the whole working of the system of co-operative woika was elaborately explained and ex. posed. On one contraot for drain digging on whloh the officer was engaged he had under bim a tailor, a maker of dolls' eyes, a pastry-cook, and a cletk. They could not have earned their food at fair wages, but tbe price was raised nntU.they made a snug little cheque. This la only one example out of many. Naturally .uoh incompetents do not know how to ose the plant (which is supplied by the Government), and the result is great damage entailing costly repairs. " The work," aa hs eplgrammati.ally puts it, "isprovided for the men, Instead of the men being engaged for the work." The retnrn laid before Parliament, he aaya, purporting to ahow the cost of tbe co-operative works, except in one instance, stated the cost of labor only. If the cost of plant, material, conveyance, &o, were added, these prioes would be considerably enhanced. Thus, where an average price for earth is apparently stated at ls 3d, its total coat ia possibly Is 9d at completion. The return h, therefore, to that axtent misleading. " According to the Department's constructing engineers," Bays the writer, " in most instances the addition of the cost ol plant and material to the cose of labor required to complete the woik amount tc more than the works would cost If let by contract by a sain varying up to about 25 per cent, and lt ia a question not yet decided as to how much tbe colony can afford to losa for the doubtful advantaged supposed to be conferred by the system. There are exceptional casea where the cost of work has not exceeded tbe probable cost by cintrao., but it is believed that these cases are few in number." The system also entails expensive supervision, while a large amount of clerical work Ilnvolvod, but the Pailiamentnry retuvm show nothing of these items. To thai extent the returns are not only incom plete, but absolutely misleading. , | i '. i : ' ■ ' ' ' ' '