TRADES AND LABOUR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2209, 2 July 1896, Page 19

TRADES AND LABOUR.

New York;, June 24. Three hundred of the Petersburg strikers have been arrested for. breaoh of contract. Tho difficulty is supposed to be pait of a general movement by foreign influence to organise the workers. ' / I ■ Sydney, June 26. The ballot at Newcastle as to the acceptance or otherwise of the proposals of the conference against the reduction of tUe hewing rates resulted as follows : — For the acceptance, 1253 ; against 1 , 451. - (Fhom Our Own Correspondent.) Reefton, June 29. • The strike of quartz miners is ended. The men at a meeting held' on Saturday night resolved to accept Mr Ziman's offer of work at 9a per day, and resumed operations to-day. Instructions have been given to put between 20 and 30 of the Oam&ru unemployed- on road work at the Ardgowan entata. - ' The number of men engaged on the Government po-operttive^works in the colony for May lssb under the Survey department was 1464, of which number 43i we*a employed in the Wellington district, 363 in Auckland, 379 in Taranaki, 25 in Canterbury, and 117 in Ofcago. Under the Public Works department there were employed 165 art ieans' and 754 labourers. Of this number there were engaged on the Catling river railway 10 artisans aud 28 labourers ; on' the Seaward Bush railway, 5 artisans and 57 labourers ; and on the Otago Central railway, II artisans, and 186 labourers. Under the Labour department .there were employed onthe State farm' at Levin 2 artisans, 21 labourers, also 13 families. '

■ The latest returns published by the English Labour department for April show that trade is still steadily improving, and that it is in a better state at present than it has been for a very long time. The returns refer to 108 trade unions, with a total' membership of 4-15,731, aud the average proportion of unemployed is 35 per oent. compared with 3 8 per cent-, in tbe last returns and 6*5 in. the corresponding period of last year. A great majority ,of the unions are, however, considerably under the average ; 62 societies, with a combined membership of 264,753, were below- 3 per cent., some of them being as low as 1 percent. ; 19 unions, with 68,379 members, had leas than 5 per cent, of unemployed, - while only 10 unions, with 11,513 members in all, report over 10 per oent. out of work. In nearly all the principal trades, too, the figures Dhow an improvement, as compared both with the previous month and also with the corresponding period of last year, one notable exception being the mining industry, in which (both coal and iron) there has been a slight falling off, but, as considerable briskness is apparent in the pig iron, steel, engineering, and shipbuilding industries, the slackness in both iron and coal mining it not likely to last long. The Northumberland miaeri have had to submit to a reduction in wages of 2£ per cent., aB a result of the operations of the Conciliation Board.. The tin pUte trade is another branch of industry in which there has been a falling off, and in it there appears no prospcot of improvement, . unless the scheme Of pushing the tradein tho colonies answers expectations when it is got into operation.. Of other trades whioh, although showing some improvement, have, not improved so 1 much as circumitances would have justified us in expeoting, may be mentioned printing and bookbinding (which do not seem to have benefited so much at might have, been expected, considering that the opem*ng of Parliament generally brings a large increase of .work to them), and dock and riverside labour, which is always expected to greatly improve at this season of the year, owing to the opening of the Baltic and . other causes. The cstton industry, in. which the outlook has for lome time b?ea moat gloomy, shows some improve* ny nt, though it is to be feared it trill , prove only temporary.