UNIONISM.

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 9107, 2 October 1890, Page 3

UNIONISM.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES.

See yonder poqrj o’er-labour'd wight, •So abject, mean, and vile. Who begs a brother of the earth To give him leave to toil. Bdbns.

Slit,—Tlitire is one part of the question now agitating the minds of the people of this Colony which appears to me to have been almost overlooked. I mean the rights of free labour. We are living in a British community, and are supposed to have all the rights and privileges of a free and independent people. Why, then, should one class of the community usurp authority and dictate to the other portion of it what they should do, or what they should not do 1 This octopus of Unionism encloses in its grasp all ranks and condition of men, and endeavours to drag them down to tha bottom of the sea of destruction. May 1 ask: Why should I not be allowed to work and earn an honest living for myself and family without molestatioH or the fear of being killed. The Unionist labourer threw up his employment of his own free will } the employer advertises for fresh hands ; and the unemployed gladly avails himself of the work offered. What harm have I therefore dona to any man, and why should I be boycotted 1 Why should any body of men be allowed to league together for the purpose of raising the price of bread ? In Great Britain the article of food ia always exempt from the operations of Unionism, and Why should it be included here $ Before this strike occurred the two-pound loaf was selling at 2£d, but now it ia raised to 3d, and ia chaxged 4d if delivered at your house-. The price of flour is Lll per ton, about the same that it was before the strike began ; and I submit that the profits realised by the bakers are out of all proportion to the cost of production. The only persons who benefit by this iniquitous proceeding are the bakers, and I think their nefarious conduct should be exposed, as I consider it a collusion to defraud tho poor man of his daily bread. The only answer the master bakers give you for this proceeding is that the Union has ordered them to do it; and that they themselves wonld be boycotted if they did not make the extra charge. A scale has also been given to the shoemakers, largely increasing the charges, for thorn to go by. Such a state of things is intolerable in a free country ; and that it should be possible epaaks little for the Government, who allow the majesty of the law, the sacred rights of citizenship, and the amenities of social life to be usurped by an irresponsible, autocratic and dominant party.—l am, &a., One of the People.