THE LABOUR MARKET.

Otago Witness, Issue 1555, 27 August 1881, Page 15

THE LABOUR MARKET.

Mr Skene reports under date August 24th : — The prospects of the working class improve daily. As anticipated, the spring demand is likely to more than exhaust the supply of good and suitable farm, station, and labouring men. Every ploughman is now needed, and couples and shepherds have commenced to move The removal of the lar^e hill in \ork place, Dunodin, "ill use up all the extra labour in town ; but contractors will only employ strong stout men— bone and sinew they count as capital. _ A few stragglers are coming bade from Au-»tialia, and muhty thankful they are to set foot on New Zealand soil again. If men were only a little more contented with a moderate wage, they would not have to shift about so much, and bo richer in the long run. Hotel business is very precarious both in town and countrj ; there arc far too many of them ; nil w.irit first-class servants, hut few can alford appropriate wa-;es. Lambing-down is not so common nowadays. With improved times farmers should arrange for homes for couples, so that they may secure a hardy trained class for the time to come, rather than a'lopt tho suicidal Home svstein of driving the farm servants into tho villages Female servants must be shipped out from Home at once ; they cannot be got now but on hitrher term?. Shopmen, clerks, storemen, and such are generally too plentiful : but hmart, steady men in these lines when once known are valued and well paid. All in connection with tho building trade are busy, but grumbling as usual. Wages have not varied since last week.