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New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 7004, 29 April 1884, Page 4

We give to-day in another column the speech of Mr. Firth at the harvest home at Matamata, which contains many points worthy of the attention of all readers. It is with deep regret that we notice the shadow which fell on the otherwise bright scene in.the announcement made by- Mr. Firth that he must discharge a number of his hands, as cropping does not pay at the present prices. This is to be regretted for the sake of the men, for the sake of Mr. Firth, and also on account of the community, as the causes which affect the proprietor of Matamata must also affect others, and sooner or later occasion a depression over the whole provincial district. There is evidently something seriously wrong in the relations of the different departments of the commonwealth, when a man in Mr. Firth's position is obliged to suspend his farming operations on the ground that they do not recoup the outlay. And the outlook forthe country is rendered even more dark, if, as has been stated by Mr. Firth and others on recent occasions, grazing is not more remunerative than cropping. This we believe is also a fact, and it shows this unpleasant truth, that the financial relation of the employed to the employer, and of the producer to the consumer, is not here a normal or healthy one, and requires to be considered de novo. It is possible that the resoluteness exercised by Mr. Firth in facing the position may have the effeot of leading all men to reflect with more care on the prices for labour and the prices for produce that will leave the producer asuffioientmargin of profit and enable him to continue the industry. Unless a good understanding about these can be arrived at, and by the good sense of the community be recognised as having the validity of law, then the result must be that many of the most industrious and self-denying of onr settlers will be compelled to suspend both cropping and grazing operations. This will unquestionably prove a disastrous determination for the country generally, and- tho only comfort one has in contemplating it is that, swayed by Mr. Firth's announcement, the people will so enter on the discussion of the matter in all its bearings that the farming industry may be placed on a more satisfactory footing than it has been in this country for some time back. In connection with this subject, the remarks of Mr. Firth on the relation of capital and labour are well worthy of consideration, as also are his words respecting the new despotism which has supplanted the old, but, like the old, " does not readily listen to what may be the truth." One cannot refrain from indulging in a deep feeling of sorrow at contemplating the discharge of the Matamata men, after they, had many of them- assisted in the first and 'perilous . commencement of operations;

and. remained to . witness the birrs* wilderness .turned .into fruitful field. The brief account given by-Mr. Firthnf these hopeful but tragic beginning, when every ploughman carried a rifle and every, stockman a revolver" reads quite, like a drama. W e trust that soon a history of the romance interwoven with the reclaiming and building up of that splendidly worked estate may be farniahed to the public by Mr. Firth's facile and forcible pen. And we cannot conclude this notice of what, but for the depressing announcement with which it concluded is the most remarkable account of I harvest home we have ever perused, without an expression of the hope that then, and even before, then, Mr. may be in a position to intimate that "times have mended," and that he has had the pleasure of receiving back info hi 3 employ those men whom it evidently was a great pain to him to part with.