Charity-Settlement and Labor.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 5029, 10 June 1889, Page 3

Charity-Settlement and Labor.

Speaking to his constituents on Wednesday night, Mr Downie Stewart said :—The question of charitable aid was one that presented grave difficulties, and so far only temporary expedients had been adopted. His strong conviction was that the problem of poverty in this colony would bo most effectually solved by the enactment of liberal land laws, under which people would be induced to settle on the lands of the colony, and the monopoly of large tracts of country by speculators woirld bo prevented. For his part ho would like to see the colony parcelled out in small holdings so that every man who wished lo occupy land in the country should he able to do bq. Ho was glad to find the perpetual lease system was popular, though personally he favoured the granting of small freeholds. Still the groat thing was to get the people on the land, and to that all questions of detail should bo subordinated. One thing that was tending to injure the labourers was machinery for workmen were being replaced by machinery to a very romakablo extent in nearly all the departments of industry. Hitherto he had advocated what was called the eight hour system, but he was not at all sure that it would not become necessary to advocate (hat the hours of labour should bo limited to a less number than eight per day. It seemed to him that this would have to be done if the present standard of living amongst the people was to be maintained. The extent to which human labor could bo displaced by machinery I was truly alarming, and the power of I capitalists enormously increased. These were circumstances to whicii attention Vr»u!d bare

to bo directed. It was said that one of the results arising from the facts referred to was that in the largo centres of population in England numbers of children of the pocr were more degraded than were the inhabitants of Western Africa. Sooner or later this question of labor—saving machinery would have to bo solved.