The Ohinemuri Gazetti AND UPPER THAMES WARDEN. "I will a round unvarnish'dtale deliver" —Othello, Act 1, Scane 3. SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 1892.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume 1, Issue 5, 16 January 1892, Page 4

The Ohinemuri Gazetti AND UPPER THAMES WARDEN. "I will a round unvarnish'dtale deliver" —Othello, Act 1, Scane 3. SATURDAY, JANUARY 16, 1892.

Ttte T?alway works have been loner'in. the clouds. The little explosion that we made'some months ago iias ;had the effect, as in the new scheme of rainm-iking, of fetching them down, and we may now consider that' they have fairly been started. Mr Tickermnn. thp "Resident' Engineer, arrived hero on Wednesday last, arid with' his lieutenant Mr Gerald Fitzgerald (who hye >he way is the eldest son of the well-known Auditor-Genera 1); lost no time in getting " on" the 1 iob.'.' -The ; work is being proceeded with most methodically, ench pnrty of men eim plnved getting their particular section;! hnving' it pointed out to them, told the price 'they will get, and left rto wire in at il. ft will'be most interring to wa»ch the progress and development of the co operative system in this connection. I', is a bold stroke and if successful will mark a now era in'-fhft employment^ labour. Even if nns'icoe-sful it can do no harm. any rate 'nothing hut actual pracic 1 demonstration cm decide. 80 much depends 'Upon individuals-i-upon the' Engineer and bis subs., upon the headman of,t.he:gang, and <nore .than- all upon the men themselves. -We do not quite know what-is supposed -to be the -mutter ~with the old system ;ofj tendering. 'As a ma*ter of fact,^ competition is the only way of arriving at -the renl rnarkot^lue of anything, j Steamerp, H"'els : !B >riks "Sbo-es,' Circuses, and individuals mii^f bow to 1 be irrm law of iho survival of tho "fittest, and anything that stanvis infr.»,Vt of that fixiom. m^ets with thesame- fate as thote^lehrated cow of which Geor^ Stephenson -spoko, when it was-snr-. raised■■•tharit riiieht not "look our. far the ' engine." Itwns.so much. the worse for the co«v. Really in this o r se (ho Engineer is vhe Gz.i- of the whole concern. Ho estimates the value ot the !work to be done, and the rnMtw can take it or leave it- Not presua.ina: th'it ordinny comnptifiqu an<r the'; creneral pquation of things pronouncf>^ "hat an 8 hours daye work is worb--8,« and when (hese rapii measure up: their *nvk th^v -find they have only earned 5«. Wll that be Fair to the m-n? '-If on the other hand -when the •lay of rpck.ming arrives it i^ found • hafthey have earned I^B, will that be f;ur to the o.n U otry-the ultimate emnloyev? «'Justice" says Montes, tquieM, "i« a .el-fvon of eongvuity. which* rally subsists between two things." Theory of the country is for justice, the cry of the w>v]jing man is for justice. Let it be done ii; the heavens full. Wo make no donH that the gentlpmon of the Public W'-rks Depart rent.are in every waxwell -and fully fitted for what they have to4o, but the present portion

1 6f the' Engineer reminds us of that of ! a handicnpper for « race. He -has to gnage th<» value o£ the work and to dfl^r men.-as neaily a* he may, payment-at the present rate of wages ,in the open labour market of th« colony. If he makes an error, either by offering too much or tc/O little, commensurately he is robbing the country or the men" The men, however, caUwithdraw, 'but the country cannot. Then as to the men themselves. 'la Rnite of- the postulate laid down in the Declaration of Independence, all men rtre not created equa'. 'Every "working man, whether-he works with brain-or muscle, knows this, when he<comes't<o siz^ himself up as against his neighbour. ;In gansfa of a dozen to twenty mi»o, .will anybody cay there will not be a vast difference between the beet and tha wor=t man ? The one is'perhaps a yard or two yurds of mullock a day better than the o'her, who thereby gets an unfair advantage. On thfl other band."however, it may that the bunding together of men, somewhat , after Bellamy's ideal, as'-a battalion 6i the army of industry, will b'-ing forth altruistic results, which are.greatly to he valued. Tim filing of comrade- | -hip—thai; aprit de corps which creates ■\ generous rivalry as to "who shall bo rhe best for The onminou crfuse —there I is more than a raeie sordid vtlue afc11ached to this, and if financially the arrangement tarns out'to"be''a fair-burgain between employer and employed, if may' be productive of good results. The scheme is getting all sorts of show here and if it does uot succeed here if will not anywhere. The men who are taking "up sections cannot be beaten in the colony There is nothing of the out-of-work hilliard- _ marker, or ib." cheap 1 clerk or unattached ac'or about them. Of Mr Viekwmaii, the brains of the concern, - wo need ' say nothing, and hm right hand supporter Mr -FitZ" Gerald -strikes as also being ■;■& man who knows * his businrss. IMt - Thos. Shaw will alsa assilf in "the supervision and we fei<l stire he "Will make a-good interpreter as between boB and mnn. "We repeat, if tha system ever wanted a Mr chance,it has it now, and that no actual criticissot, of the experiment can be made until it has been put to the touchstone"^f practical experience.

The TTon. Mr Cad arms-speech At.tbe Thames was a characteristic resume 6£ the dnin^p of the present Government. Mr Ca Imin'does not pretend to oratory, •tint \vh »i, is intvi»».sipallv b^ter, he hands out larffft chunks of solid fact. Unlike . many of our'flowery speakers who are . all sentiment and no practioe, Mr Vad\ man dots not :»ttein|it with. 3ilas Weggto " d"< p inr-> p^e 1 »y "~

tbaft tax on p dp^rf.y so grim, 'A tax "n pro'-ery is <-o him ; And ii- is nothing more. With the most of his speech we cordially . nyr^p, arul'we ai^-'quite sure, frotn the knowledge we possess of Mr Cadmari's . sfe»-li-i£r qualities, while rep>esenting ns, that he, at'least, of the present ministry , v actuated by geiuinely p^trioiic motives. The statement that the prorti'.'S<«ive and giMdnatcd Land T«x is c )tn-, Delling'land companies-to cut up <heir lai-iie blocks of land is undoubtedly'tru?. J.ist here we'a'-e inspired with a few hrilli-mt ideas concerm*sc monojniy. Among m-uiy term themaoiTea.^ "LibeTiU" a' wron«j'fr<'Hnoc 'p^ars'to ". have recently sp» in. lA^-r-'V^mi* not ; i f.etfi«)g of class against, clns*, nor „ hould it be an interference with the : rights ot frroperty. -wbero that i»ix»p»rty has bpen flnwHsrtl by , hari work, talt-nt, thrift. or lntfitimate Kpeculaii-n. „ -Mr -Henry . • Georgp, much of whose writing i 3 ad-. , miracle, \v<,n\l\ not, ibauk the policy ..; that wetikene 1 his nY>lu to property:', whifth lie had bought wi L h-the.proceeds of his brain. But -vlfctv m«>no|.oly set« .; in, "corners," are fonfied, 1 «h<J rbe^-few . usurp the riohts of 'the -niany,—: ■, Lil'e alism should st.pp in a*d cry« . 'Hold! enough" It is' »«* «J! >. monopoly in 7c»rf. *'»' in -°t™r ' thinsa. also tint this-obtains. In • America, the ni.se democratic country : in the world, there we more "corner^,

"trusts," and gteanlio monopolies than jift'iy where else on fhe globe. Here in Kew Zfeuland. we are g-idually drifting ■ into the same state; The 1 vge shipping companies, -for instance, are -insidiously workiag'their way to the sole control of :all our means of transit by water, and pivseutly will-b*s in a position to dictate. Other large.iostitutiorrs viri ualiycontrbl the business and the "markets of the colony. We do not so much allude to that much abused institution the B'.-rak -of Niw"'Zealand, -which", *of- them all, has been more , sinned agaiust than sinning. There are m;iny other monopolies that nee.l looking to. Every vspo'o'tifii! 6f siig*r that g.ws wuhyiiur •tea or toddy contributes to a tlivide-id.. You••catiJt race two hot sea, but sorueohe in Auckland has a voice'in the'matter. - Do ywu light your kerosene 'latnn—a" monopolist smiles, and if \'ou contract; the na/ty habit of drinking beer;,you -add your mite to the adipose tissue of : some ''fair round belly with fa t; capon ;lin.ed;'' at each swig. We don't envy anyone thrir fair profits, but when so "much special pleading "is heard about I^and •Monopoly wo only desire to poinr. -out. that there are hundreds:-of other ■ jnonopolies which are eating the heart ' ottfcof the community, and about which j nothing is said. We could point the 'moral and .-adorn the tale with anin- - stance iv ihisourvery own district. : If .you think hard,you might hit it: : '