The Lyttelton Times. MONDAY, MARCH 30, 1896. THE UNEMPLOYED IN POLITICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCV, Issue 10919, 30 March 1896, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times. MONDAY, MARCH 30, 1896. THE UNEMPLOYED IN POLITICS.

We must once more protest against the attempts o£ the Opposition to trade upon the misfortunes of the unemployed in this colony. This is a subject which every humane person — be he politician or otherwise —ought to he prepared to consider aside altogether from party tactics ; but Conservative speakers and writers persistently take the opposite course. Captaiu Bussell, in his address at Wellington on Thursday evening, repeated the well-worn assertion that the Government was responsible for the existence of unemployed in New Zealand at present; but his accusation when analysed, only 'amounts to this—that the Government’s legislative and administrative reforms have made this colony attractive to the Australian working men. It is, in another form, the complaint uttered by the junior member for Christchurch in the course of the recent election campaign, that it was all right to make the colony prosperous and keep wages up, but it was all wrong to I t other people know of it ; we oiuT.t to keep these things secret! The leader of the Opposition professed regret at

the presence in the colony of a certain number of men who cannot find work; but his sympathy was empty, as it did not go the length of making any suggestion for the employment of these men. The Conservative journals are even less sympathetic in their attitude. They bluntly declare that this is a political question, and they do their utmost to keep it alive as such. The Wairarapa, Daily Times, declared a few days ago that “ the temporary dearth of employment is a mere trifle which could easily be arranged ” —if, we suppose,-a Conservative Government were in office to “ arrange ” it, as it did before, by driving thousands out of the colony and patting a number on relief works at 2s 6d a day. Our contemporary does not, of course, mean it in that way. Its contention is that with a Conservative Government in power “ all surplus labour would be in demand.” It declares: “If employers in the Wairarapa had confidence in the present Administration, they could set five hundred additional men to work immediately, but they are afraid of Government interference with private enterprise.” This is proof of what we have frequently asserted—that a number of employers, for political purposes, or under the influence, of political fright or prejudice, are doing all in their power to intensify the unemployed difficulty ; and, in the circumstances, it reflects unbounded credit on the capacity and resource of the Government that there are so few men unable to find work. In connection with the unconcealed efforts of the Conservatives to foster and make ' use of the unemployed a somewhat curious question arises : Where do these organisations of unemployed men find the funds to carry on their agitation ? They cannot have adopted, in paraphrased form, the declaration of the revolting American colonists : “Pounds for agitation, but not a penny for the support of our wives and families !” Yet they hire halls, advertise, send, circulars and carry on other movements that require money. In Sydney we observe the same phenomenon in a still more exaggerated form. The unemployed there, have actually started a weekly newspaper of four foolscap pages entitled Hard Up. Now, it is proverbial that there is no surer way of losing money than to start a new journal, and it is popularly believed that only millionaires can indulge in that amusement . with safety. Where,then, do these “ hard up ” Sydney workmen find the money to run their newspaper ? It is a mystery even darker than that which surrounds our New Zealand unemployed. But both mysteries appear capable of the same explanation, and that is on the hypothesis that the whole thing is a political movement. The Sydney journal, Hard Up, has declared its mission to be political, and it has formulated a “ platform ” which includes model workmen’s homes, encouragement of industries and the issue of legal tender Treasury notes. Palpably, however,the hard-up” unemployed cannot be possessed of money to establish and conduct a newspaper. We have read of a Beggars’ Guild in Paris that has its entrance fee and annual subscriptions, from which a newspaper is produced, giving information of value to the cadging fraternity. But every beggar has an income, and not altogether an uncertain one ; the Sydney unemployed have none; and we can only surmise that they are drawing upon some electioneering fund and are playing a part in the game of politics, not altogether in their own interest. We trust that the genuine unemployed in this city and elsewhere with whom we have the warmest sympathy—will hold strictly aloof from all partisan movements, will not allow themselves to be used as tools by any political party, and will not be deluded by any high-sounding promises of what the Conservatives will do for them if they only assist in ousting the Liberals from power. On grounds of justice and humanity, and not of party leanings, the unemployed are entitled to Government aid; and on these grounds ■ their appeal should be based.