FEDERATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11619, 5 April 1901, Page 3

FEDERATION.

TO THE EDITOIt. "' ' ''. Sir,—" New Zealandcr's" figures moke it perfectly clear that a languishing industry, bolstered as is the boot trade, is a loss to the people, a loss to capital, and the worker's outlook is Dad. Your correspondent states that there are 600 workers adding wealth to this city. Now, it caters for a . provincial population of 165.703. It is a fair inference that each inhabitant averages, say, two pairs, of boots a year, which means a total of 331,'556; pairs. The result of careful inquiry gives the inflated price of a pair of boots at at least. an average of 3s per pair; therefore, on the above, it would be £49,738 por annum the price naid in support of these 600 workers. It is notorious . that capital invested in boot manufacturing concerns has been badly placed, and the heavy discount at which shares are selling proves the industry unprofitable. .

The wage of •'be worker " New Zealander" gives at £2 per week. '■■ This he earns whilst capital loses, and this, notwithstanding 275 of the people are taxed in support of each worker engaged in the - industry, which is cramped in provinces, and has not the wide range from " Carpentaria to the Bluff. Under *he latter condition our American friends could duplicate their plant, jj employ our workers, and make profits,, and give us better quality in an establishment here.

I desire all workers to understand that in the controversy I am not taking sides against them, but rather the other way. Capital and labour should go hand in hand; anything destroying harmony results .in loss to both "sides,.'and labour^ comes i off second best. The wage-earner is usually out of the avenue of enterprise, therefore he should in his limited sphere be made as comfortable as possible. It is well for the community owing to the numerical strength of the,workers, that prosperity should bo with labour sustained, which means a spending power, to the good of all. I congratulate the workers on their prospects under federation. In the broader life, and in _ nation-building, there will be greater happiness and prosperity for them, which must continue during the full; term of expansion, and that will last till the extinction of us all, because we total but a-hand-ful in the world's millions. The.Commonwealth lias to be peopled, and the artisan takes office in every department of construction.

: The general tenor of "New Zealander's" letter is to belittle one who has given years of research to the subject. I, however, recognise in the writer one, who, when fancy takes him, changes this, and is rarely seen "in tho open." I may tell him I know the Commonwealth Bill is the freest, giving the rich 'and the poor equal voting power in both Houses. I know it to.be much the some in substance as the Bill our delegates of 1891 had a hand in shaping, as, it was taken as a baso. After over 20 years' residence in many parts of New Zealand, and over 30 years in Australia, I can gauge the productiveness of this country. As for the characteristics of New, Zealand, I class the inhabitants as provincial. I, however, credit the majority with a desire to embrace that which will moke them national, and only those whose selfishness would lead their fellows astray desire to remain provincial. It is a fair inference that he whs writes under disguise has got some good reason for taking the shelter he has. am, etc.. " . ~ , .■ ~ ■ Jesse ■ King. Auckland, April 2, 1901.