EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 10241, 2 September 1909, Page 2

EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

If there was really a trade depressioi in this country, i Evidences of has been swallowec Progress. up in progress. H will be of excep tional interest to our readefs to lean that, in Wellington alone, the wage: paid in factories and by tradesmen dur ing the last financial year exceeded b; £150,000 the amount paid during th< previous period.. This is not indicativi of depression. No one who is not i hopeless pessimist or a political trickstei will see in this/undeniable fact a causi for mourning. What becomes of al the tears shed on account of unemploy ment, in the light of the figures w( have quoted ? Labor and industry weri in a transition stage, that is all. The? were finding their own level, and th( phenomenon was used by certain per sons for their own questionable pur poses. Once more it has been mad< only too clear that certain politicians o the baser sort are prepared to liumiliati New Zealand for the sake of party, anc that, as usual, "the poor working man' was being used as a tool for tlie achieve ment of their ends. There was mori fuss than philanthropy about the agita tion of these undesirable persons. H was they who, having nothing whole some to occupy tlieir minds—who, being really as unemployed as anybody—drift ed into that mischief which a certair evil influence finds for idle hands to do Let us review some of the names of the philanthropists who cried their eyes oul • because of the sufferings of the unemployed workers. There were Mr Herdman and Mr Fisher, aided by The Dominion newspaper. The first preacliei the doctrine that the less wealth Is taxed, and, therefore, the more fisca burdens are piled upon the laborer, the more work there will be for all to do The second is—one scarcely knows what; but he was once a professed friend of the toilers, now he ranges himself with those who view hard work a: the penalty of destiny—who tell us thai there should be the utmost freedom oi contract —that there should be no interference to protect th< wage-earner, whilst the well-to . do are to be patronised by i public expenditure which increases th< value of their possessions. The third— The Dominion newspaper —wailed loudly for the sake of the Dominion—The Dominion newspaper. It lias a mission It lives to attack every effort made fo: the sake of the people and to raise t( a position of influence those who woulc establish government for the privilegei classes. And so the industrialists liavt been flattered and fondled and hum; bugged, that they might be inveiglec into lending themselves for the establishment of a state of things wliicl would make them mere chattels in the national economy. Hence the workers railed against a Government which was doing so much more for them than tlieii hypocritical friends approved that it al most imperilled its existence. No on< can dispute that men and women anc children have suffered through a lacl of work during the winter that is now giving place to a season of greater activity ; but, unfortunately, there will always be unemployed so long as our present economic system exists. They will, whatever may be done, occasionally aggravate the evil of employment. In the present- instance, the fates have been against us. In spite of all that has been accomplished in New Zealand to find occupation for all, there are men anxiously waiting for something to turn up. Whatever may be the reason —and at times it may be improvidence or overindulgence in drink—their misfortunes are not due to any sins of omission or commission on the part of our Government, which is admittedly one of the most progressive of all the world's Governments. The prosecution of public works and the parcelment of the laud, if all other conditions had been propitious, would have provided something to do for all. It is quite likely, however, that, within the next six months, there will be enough work to absorb those who are, it is to be regretted. still lacking means of maintaining a comfortable subsistence.

Ik there is one body in North Otago that deserves the Agricultural and sympathy and pracPastoral tical support of both Association. farming and urban communities, it is the Agricultural and Pastoral Association. This is primarily an agricultural and pastoral district, and the whole of our commercial interests arc bound up in those two pursuits. Fortunately the earliest settlers in these parts, with that acumen which later brought them prosperity, foresaw the destiny of the new land that they had made their home, and among their first acts was to introduce at much risk and expense the best stock to be had in the Old Country. In this respect many of the companies, and notably the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, evinced most praiseworthy enterprise. With these early importations as a basis, our 'Hocks, our herds, and our studs have increased, the standard being maintained by frequent infusions of new blood, so that North Otago retains to-day the reputation she has held since the early sixties —that ft being the most fertile hunt-ing-ground in the Dorni.iiriiV«-&)r..>.«rfi-"rarle si.3P.lv tliis very ".enviable reputation the district is indebted in a great measure to the enthusiasts who instituted the Northern Agricultural and Pastoral Association, Messrs John Hyde Harris, the Hon. Matliew Holmes, Dr Webster, and others, and to those who since 1863 have maintained the importance of the Association either in its original guise or under its later name. The purpose of association could hardly be a more worthy one, that of "continuous improvement in stock breeding and in every department of husbandry, periodical gatherings of the agricultural and pastoral classes thereby promoting a friendly competition among the members thereof, affording opportunities to buyers and sellers of stock to ascertain the wants of each other, and, finally, enabling all classes of settlers to consider and decide upon everything relating to their common interests," and its value to North Otago cannot be doubted ; yet the work of carrying on so important a body is left to the few, and the membership is such as slioud bring shame to any business-like community, the membership is such as should bring right away, and those who enrolled would be magnificently recouped for the expenditure of the guinea which .gives title to membership.