The Oxford Observer. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY APRIL 14th, 1894. THE UNEMPLOYED.

Oxford Observer, Volume V, Issue V, 14 April 1894, Page 2

The Oxford Observer. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY APRIL 14 th, 1894. THE UNEMPLOYED.

Whose fault is it that there are unemployed ? Not at any rate the fault of the unemployed themselves except in a veiy small degree j. because very few indeed will refuse to work, if there is a hope of a profitable return for their labour, but to toil hard for a bare existence without the gleam of a hope of of bettering ones position is a self imposed slavery which very few free born men could or would submit to, and rightly so to, because the worlds production of everything calculated to. make life comfortable is so enormous that there is enough and to spare for everybody. A writer who has studied the subject for years so far as the Australasian Colonies are coucerned, believes that the question is of easy solution. He says and we agree with him that—

•If our presesent Government were to offer £50 for the | best essay on the vexatious and ever-reciirring " unemployed " question, I should submit one written in five minutes and embodied -in less, -than as many | litie'sfand it would read thusly or nearly so:^ Settle all those \ unemployed; you mow have up- j on,.ithei land?: H" Sjfjate^f arm " fashion ; then prevent, all those ! you possibly can from coming to the colony by advertising that they are not wanted herer^ '< Labour market full." There f Messieurs s representing j the Camnefc, t in' my opinion .you have an easy and the only correct solution of the ever-lasting tineii^lpyed. problem! 'J Aside^ altogether from its beipga milter of good policy, I consider that in* the interests of common humanity every Government sh ouWr-radverfise .periodically-* the exaljt cbn~ditidtf of itMome: ilalboiir jnlarketQM AAdviGrtigel \ it,> that is to say v m. those lands or countries, from whence it Jsre-> ceivingjemigrants, , . Take' Engr ;Jan4/ ; to instance. : Every j6ceaii^linet i i bri^g^isyit'fe "i£ JW dumps down our ishores a 1 heterogeneous and miscella^e-' piis cargo of Eumauity which it comprehensively terms " steer-

age passengers." I Signs are not wanting that the coming winter wffi be a very hard one. The crop yield has beferi belo# the average and a good deal damaged by pests and bad weather as well and .that portion which has been fit ,tor sale has realized so low a figure that no margin of profit is left for the grower, so that farmers could not if they would employ much labour and as a rule even when prices are good they employ very little in the winter time except at nominal rates. ... ■■~.~,~ K . „....-<

We need not emphathise the evils of idleness, our readers are well aware of the dire evils attendant lipon poverty and our local bodies are quite alive to it's financial aspeot when they receive their little bills f robi the Charitable Aid and Hospital Boards. People cannot be allowed to starve whei_ bread is available, but the expense attendant upon supplying the idle is not its worst aspect " Satan finds &c: "

Poverty is the origin of a fearful number ol evils as all of us know and we earnestly recommend the attention of our readers to the solution of this great and growing evil as set forth by the authority we have quoted. There is one evil by which we think the unemployed question is greatly intensified and that is the keen competition for small jobs at starvation rates nobody benefits by it, but frequently the tradesman pays the piper.