EARLY OTAGO AND EIGHT HOURS.

Otago Witness, Volume 06, Issue 2899, 6 October 1909, Page 89

EARLY OTAGO AND EIGHT HOURS.

By the Hox. J. T. Paul

Mr Edward Vine, whose interesting letter on this question I published a fortnight ago, ha 3 again supplied me with some early oersonal touches of interest. Referring to Mr W. H. S. Roberta's quotation from Brett's " Early History of New Zealand," g-iviug the "honour of introducing the eig-ht-hour system (o Mr D. S. Parnell, of Wellington, Mr Vine says: — '"I have come to the conclusion that it can ba refut3ct—if not, Mr Parneli, to say the least, must have ' ratted it \ whilst in Otago. Besides, two prominent Wellington residents at this time -were most bitter opponents to it. I allude to the late Sir William Fox, wiio opposed it; in Olago. and the late Ur Sairmui Evans, who. as editcr of the Melbourne -Morning Herald, wrote some snosi b.licr and scathing articles against its introduction into Victoria. ' This was iv the middle fifties of the last century. . I am confident we shall come out on top in the' long run." Mr Vine's lengthy letter is most liiterestLig, and I am sure my readers "will appreciate ths hiteresc this e::residoafc is tak.ng to establish Otago's claim to the honour of introducing the reform in Australasia. IMr B. C. Warnes, editor of the Hutt and Fetosie Chronicle, has, been instrumental in bringing to light some further information lt'srarduig the introduction of the reform. Mr Warnes asked readers for replies to tbe quesh.on, '" Who originated the eight-hour movement in New Zealand?" Two emphatic answers have been received. Mr D. Keir, author of a paper on "The Early History of Port Nicholson," presses the claim of Mr Parnell as follows . — " 1 shall now introduce to your notice the gentleman who first inaugm*ated the system of eight hours' labour in New Zealand- In the . year 1840 Mr Parnell arrived .in the Orieatnl. On arrival he was immediately, employed by Mr George Hunter, represant:«g the firm of Willis and Co., merchants, to superintend the erection of a large store. This brought him into contact with the labour market, and Mr Parnell established the • eight hours a day system, which aoon spread to the neighbouring colonies, and is the system at the present day. At this time skilled labour was 5s per day. Mr Hunter, who came out with Mrigai/iell in the same vessel, when arrang.ng as toihe hours of labour, said :— ' Mr Paraell, you know the proper time in- London was 6 o'clock in tne morning, when the b^ll fang, and any man not at his work at thstfe hour lost a' quarter 'of a " day.' They had words over it. Mr Hunter and the rest of the Conservative push wanted to inaugurate the barbarous, Rj-stem.. of toil that is .the . curse of England to-day, has been , for .centuries. After a heaf-qd discussion, and,. -taking a,^determined and firm stand' in the mart'er, the English system was altered, backed, of course, by the numerous mechanics imported m the ships that were steadily arriving with the pioneer settlers. Mr Parnell is undoubtedly father of the eighthours system in the Dominion of New Zealand." Mr Keir is wrong on one point here, at least — Mr Parnell did not arrive in the Oriental, he arrived in the Duke of Roxburgh. The second answer' comes from Mr T. W. M'lCenzie, of Wellington :— " Dr Evans brought out a house from England with him, each section of which was numbered -so as to make its re-ereotion easy. In 1340, the survey . of Wellington not being completed, the doctor could not secure a section whereon to erect the house, and on that account he disposed of it to one, Dicky Barrett. Barrett had the house put together on Maori land, where che Hotel Cecil now stands, and it. became Barrett's Hotel. Mr Ticehurst, who had taken note of how the parts of the house were numbered in the docks of London, directed the structure in Wellington. A Carpenters' Association was formed, Mr Ticehurst being the prime mover; the meeting being held in a hut built of manuka, on the beach at Fipltea, just under where St. Paul's Cathedral now sfands. Mr W. Taylor proposed t''af e ; ght hours a day should be the hours of labour; this was seconded by Mr Ticehurst, and carried. A report of the meet:ng and the resolution duly appeared in •the Gazette. Eight hours it has been ever since. Although others have claimed the honour both in Wellington and Dunedin, and it is quite probable the honour w.ll never be given to those who deserve it, the fact remains that the workers of the Dominion have to thank Messrs Ticehurst and Taylor for the eight-hours working day " • The editor of the Chronicle stands for Mr M'Kenzie's version, pointing out that Mr M'Ketnzie haa been associated with the newspapers of the period, end that no man has a deeper insight into colonial history. The editor makes the mistake, however, of accepting Mr Keir's statement that Mr Parnell arrived in the Oriental, whereas, as I have pointed out. be arrived in the Duke of Roxburgh. Mr M'Kenzie (the editor of the Chronicle point« out) arrived in the Aurora, one of the first four ships (some time before the Oriental), " and therefore his statement of the case must be accepted — that Messrs Tioehurst and Taylor were the real fathers of the eight-hour movement in New Zealand." The information garnered by the Chronicle is of value, but it is not Che last word on tha matter.

Mr Robert Womach, the discoverer of the celebrated Cripple Creek goldneld, has just died at Colorado Spring* in a state of almost abject poverty. Womach sold his claim for £100. and it subsequently produced gold worth £56.000,000.