The Lyttelton Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 1893.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXX, Issue 10104, 1 August 1893, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. TUESDAY, AUGUST 1, 1893.

A few years ago every Premier in Australasia would have scornfully repudiated the proposition that it constituted part of the duty of his Government to provide work for people. The Ballance Govern;-. ~t was the first to admit the truth of the proposition, and to practically act upon it by the establishment of a Labour Bureau. A year later the Government of New South Wales waa constrained by the distress among a mass of the people to follow the example set by New Zealand, and within the last month the Government of Victoria has hurried thorough Parliament a Bill for the construction of two lines of railway for the avowed purpose of providing work for the unemployed. It begins to he clear that the economists of forty years ago did not write for all time; certainly they could never have entertained the idea that in a colony of the Empire containing less than a million of inhabitants, some of their leading and most cherished axioms yvould be boldly set at nought with the consent and to the entire advantage of the whole people. By command of the Governor, the report of the Department of Labour for the year ending March 31, 1893, has been laid before Parliament. The report amply justifies the existence of the department, and there can be no doubt that, when the powers of the department in reference to the collection of statistical information shall have been enlarged by statute, as suggested, a wider extent of really valuable work will be accomplished. It was claimed for the Labour Bureau of New South Wales that within three months of its establishment it found employment for no fewer than 4000 of the 6000 men whose names were entered upon its books ; but, notwithstanding this alleged success, and still further success following upon it, the Labour Bureau in that Colony fell into disfavour. This result is easily explained. The New South Wales Government and what are esteemed the governing classes, by no means regard the claims of the labourer with the kindly eyes of the Government in New Zealand. When it was found—or generally believed to have been found —that the Sydney Bureau was simply a Government machine for bringing about a general reduction in wages, confidence was shaken and the usefulness of the Bureau seriously if not fatally impaired.

New Zealand lias little more than half the population of New South Wales, and owing to geographical conditions, her Labour Department is placed at a great disadvantage in coping with unemployed difficulties. When these facta are remembered, it will be admitted, wo think, that the finding of employment for 3874 men during the past twelve months is a very good performance. Upon the labour of those for whom work was found no less than 7802 souls were dependent for subsistence, and from these figures the practical benefit resulting from this branch of the work of the Bureau can easily be realised. Canterbury presents), we notice, the chief difficulty in carrying out the objects of the Bureau. This arises from purely local causes. In the good times —in 1877 and 1878—the unemployed gatherings in Cathedral square were more largely attended than they have been recently. In the summer months men are employed in shearing, harvesting and ou road works; but as winter approaches the demand for labour declines and finally almost disappears. The Government has, of course, no control over the engagements of private individuals, but returns from the local bodies, showing what works have been constructed, the number of men they have employed and what cash balances they may have in hand might prove instructive, it would be well for the critics of the Labour Department to fully realise the gravity of the present position. In Queensland the Government is retrenching, and it is stated that from the Civil Service of that Colony alone some 3000 persons will be thrown out of employment. In New South Wales further retrenchment is threatened, and the labourdifficulty continues extremely acute. It ia the same in Victoria. In all the Australian Colonies there is a scarcity of money, and not one of them is able to carry on public works on the magnificent scale of former years. Naturally, therefore, longing eyea will be turned to prosperous New Zealand, and the Government will require the cordial assistance of the people in meeting this new demand upon the resources of the Colony.