Taranaki Herald. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5,1908. PAMPERING THE WORKERS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13744, 5 September 1908, Page 4

Taranaki Herald. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5,1908. PAMPERING THE WORKERS.

Is our r^ace becoming effeminate? The query is suggested by various recent happenings. There v^as, for instance, the case of tlie Christchurch unemployed who were sent to the railway 6on* struction works at Broken Rfrer. There was no cab in attendance to carry them and ,their belongings to a first-class hotel or board-ing-house, . and their arrival mot having been duly notified, they had to "'put up tt -first with siich accommodation- amd shelter (is aj dry cottage afforded, where, however, they were supplied with firewood. .It does no| appear that much complaint was made by the men themselves, even though they got their feet wet and had to endure a certain amount of discomfort, but some possibly well-mean-ing though altogether misguided individual contributed tb the press a frightful picture of their hardships. Then a -doubt as to whether the race is becoming effeminate is raised by Ine provisions of the SJiearers' Accommodation Bill, introduced by the Minister for Labour. We can scarcely credit that shearers" iraVe "asked for legislation on these lines, although there are doubtless sheds to be found where the accommodation and tucker are not everything they should be. Still, jn these days, when labour is able 'to dictate its, own _terms, there is an obvious course for shearers to pursue if they; are not treated

decently at any particular shed. MIS pillar's Bill provides, among other things^ that the buildings provided, (for the accominodatipn of shearers shall be separate from iihe buildings Used for the shearing of sheep, which is reasonable enough, and shall be .distant therefrom not less than 150 feet iuore than 900 feet!. ., The shearer must not therefore be expected to lodge more than 300 ynrtta from the shed, or say three niimites' .walk. If a "bank to baiik;" clause, so to speak, were introduced into the awards ruling shearing sheds, the ftccomino^fttion house might perhaps be.permitted to be GOO minutes' walk, away "from . the fli^d— or stay, in t^at JjjJjj^JiKe. em^oyeis would probablydbWieitp^oted"^' lirovi^|^|^|%t6 convey the menutpytßieir w«rk*fccaH iAdk. . Th ? ff§r«i»^ kept clean, <.x\iki«l*^iw a^Bteva'^fiit and proi\i J^^J&^r^a^ be ovepwoowr^cl, -v^viejg^ejga^n tis ti«m nine feet .fti^-ianViM^ itiea-surerf'Vthewffl-lf^'-^.' Does •not Mt* Millar know thtvt lofty robins «4re out of fashion? . As a ■taatter^oft fact, ' a sleeping-room eighty feet' high may "be e.v^ery,; bit a^sanitary* perhaps more so, than one, v ten "of twelve feet 3hgli. E^drfthing depends upon the yen- j illation. A room seven feet high may be kept full of pure "Sweet air., w;hile another twelve feet high may have four or five feet; of x impure dead air at the top ready ,to descend 'upon a sleeper during the, night. Again, why should shearers have fires in their b^droomsT . quarters are generally unoccupied during the winter, and anyhow fires in bedrooms are only meant for invalids. "In all bunks or beds mattresses qf sufficient chaff or straw shall, where spring mattresses are not provided, be provided oythe Employer for. each shearer." Why not insist upon feather beds and f orotwaroierß and have done with it? We have some recollection of having slepi — without rocking — on a couch o; fern leaves laid upon half a dozei saplings raised about eighteen, inches above the bare Mother tearth; but then we were never engaged in the occupation o: ! and Had not a, ftenefi cent Labour Department am j Minister to watch over our slum bers. The shearers' sleeping rooms anti dining-rooms must noT have boarded floors, and the mci must also be provided with a bathroom, hot and cold water laid on , "together with the necessary utensils for washing and for wash • ing clothes," Pears' soap preferred, and please don't forgot .some starch for the collars an<l dress shirt fronts. Finally a book of instructions on first aid to tb.3 in jilted and a proper medicinechest must be provided, the pries 'of medicine not to exceed thß nearesit -town rates, with the cost .of carriage added — the eheit cf coursef to contain a plentiful su]> ply of silts and something for ths sore l^ead which shearers sometimes suffer from. Seriously, do shearers require all this pampering ? Are not the conditions unIdeEjWhich thousands of the early settlers commenced life in thijs 'cbloiiyj in which, indeed, Td^nj contented and comfortable people are living to-day, in punga wharas with earthen floors, without fires in, their bedrooms or hot water >laid on to the bathrooms, are ne t these conditions gpod enough fcr shearers who 1 are here, to-day and perhaps over in Australia, camp lin&" under primitive condition i, ? We think they are*, 'md that the shearers themselves have no desire for the Accomodrttjon Bill 'introduced.