The Oxford Observer. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY JUNE 23th, 1894. THE UNEMPLOYED

Oxford Observer, Volume V, Issue V, 23 June 1894, Page 2

The Oxford Observer. PUBLISHED WEEKLY. SATURDAY JUNE 23 th, 1894. THE UNEMPLOYED

The question of solving this nJomentoiis question, although it has occupied the attention of the greatest: Statesmen Philanthrdjihists fbr many years appears to bo no nearer a solution than ever and although a good deal of suffering; has been alleviated by ' praiseworthy efforts, the evl apposjrs to be^oii the mcrea-se: Lord Shaftesbury

tmammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaqpamm. 1 was undoubtedly right when he expressed a doubt that the in- - troduction of machinery for the performance of all kinds of niaiiual labour would work out for the benefit of the masses. The idea prevailing amongst the intelligent portion of the community was, that ■ the man who invented a machine to perform any work cheaper and quicker than could be performed by hand was a public benefacto^*? but that was not the opinion ot* the workers either iu the agricultural or manufacturing district and history records a good many riots consequent upon the introduction of machinery. It was useless to argue with the English artisan that without machinery England could not compete with other manufacturing and corngrowing countries. The only thing they understood was that \ less Workmen and workwomen would be required and the consequent reduction. of wages whi ch tl i ey considered were already too low J However the result proved so far as manufactures^ were concerned highly satisfactory for a time, biit all aninials whether of the higher or lower class receive an increasing impetus under favorable conditions and as a natural consequence labourers have increased faster than the demands for their services. The agricultural districts appear to have passed through the same experience, but not with the same happy result. Notwithstanding the use of every conceivable kind of machinery and the introduction of every scientific method to make the soil increase its production. The British farnaer has gone down to Zero, while the Manufacturer still holds his own. But in both cases the introduction of machinery has not worked out for general; good; but let us hope that the turning point has not yet come. What the eventual result will be, all the Philosophers, Statesmen and Philanthrophists in the world are not able to. predict. What appears tb us so inexplicable is that wealth is annually increasing and yet side by side with' this^ increasing dearth of employment and destitution. The Government have done their level best to cope with the evil, which those who differ politically with us seek to deny. . However to our mind our assertion is amply proved by assertions made by the Hon Treasurer at Oamaru an extract of which our readers will find at the foot of theai'ticie It will be there seen, that more.relief has been afforded to the unfortunate^ more men employed on reproductive public works and more families setI tied on ishe la.nd th an in^any. I other previous decade of the Colonies history iand yet it is painfully true that the members requiring relief through wa,nt of em ploy ment is daily increasing. It is all very well to sit over a comfortable rfire with repleted stomach and talk of the swagger as a loafer and a vagabond but let any suah who have the - courage shoul(|e;r a, swag and try the experiment of seeking^ work within a radius of 20 miles of his own comf orlable'dwelling and we venture 'to assert that he would return to his .fireside a sadder, and a wiser man and .-a heart Ml o%harity ;ai?d sym-pathyjforthose-Be'had -formerly denqijnce^. !skev$ js sot and there never was permanent einiplovkient. for- a) : laygey number of labourers in N« Zl arid it is perfect t nQHsense to assert as many do that a labOWer can '!

f earn sufficient in the busy season (three month) to support himself during the whole year. Time was, but that is past, when a good round sum could be earned in a few weeks at the busy, season but no exorbitant rates are given now. Ihe. question is, will ourOovernment coupled with the assistance of the various energetic philanthropic and. charitable bodies cope with this very serious evil ? and our answer is, we do think they will, because the are not only trying to relieve the necessities of their own people, but a constantly inflowing stream of necessitous individuals from neighbouring colonies and the only possible solution to the difficulty is by a conference to be represented by delegates from every Colony and agree upon a united line of action. It would be costly no doubt but tlie amount; of suffering that could be saved and the L prosperity . that would ensue won id repay the colonies ten times over. The unemployed difficulty should not and would not increase if proper measures were taken for it's suppression • in the face of the facts that our Finances are sound, our public and private ' debts decreasing and a sum of five millions sterling standing to our peoples credit at the Banks. We quote the following from a Speech delivered by the Hod J. G. Ward at Oamaru. THE WEALTH OF THE COLONY. In 1885 the public wealth of the colony was £40,304,000 ancl the private t wealth was £123,098,000, and the net private wealth, after deducting the in- ; dobtedness of public and local bodies, was £125,000,000. In 1888 that net private wealth had increased to £130, 000,000 and im 1893 to £155,000,000, bo that in the short time from 1885 to 1893 there was an increase of thirty millions iu the private wealth of New Zealand. That was the clearest evidence, taken from the records of the colony, that, notwithstanding the trials which many people had gone through at the time and the trials which many were admittedly passing through at the present time, the colony had enhanced prosperity in private wealth to the exs tent of thirty millions. Well might they ponder over these figures and endeavour to realise their import. We thought we were in a very bad state, bvt when we came to examine the stern facts there was evidence that we were not quite so bad as we thought we were.