FIFTY YEARS AGO
.UNEMPLOYED IN AUCKLAND The unemployment question in Auckland was fairly acute 50 years ago, according to a report which appeared in the New Zealand Herald of Decembei 9, 1885. "It is beyond question that there are at present in Auckland cases of distress, want of work, and mayhap of'individual hardship," stated the article. "Nor is this to be wondered at, because for some months past Auckland has been the centre of attraction for contractors, mechanics and labourers from the South, and as a natural result the supply has exceeded the demand. Contractors complain that they cannot obtain paying prices in the face of keen competition. Mechanics' and labourers' wages have not been reduced in any way, and the result of the combination of is that there certainly exists a depression.
"Whether this is so great as represented is, however, questionable. That some are out of work among a large population is not to be '.wondered at, and that there should be distress among the improvident is not surprising; but it becomes a very grave question indeed if the amount of distress represented at the meetings of unemployed really exists. The fact is questioned by some of our leading men."
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22287, 9 December 1935, Page 8
Word Count
202FIFTY YEARS AGO New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22287, 9 December 1935, Page 8
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