LABOUR.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13839, 26 February 1909, Page 3

LABOUR.

AUCKLAND UNEMPLOYED. Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, Feb. 25. The following telegram was sent by the Mayor to Sir Joseph Ward tonight:—"The City Council was this evening waited upon by a large deputation of unemployed, who handed hie lists of 500 men of all trades out of work. The City Council has let a large number of contracts for work, and authorised further works, which have and will absorb some. Would you kindly endeavour to absorb-the remainder on Government public works." BRICKLAYERS WANTED.. WELLINGTON, Feb. 25. This afternoon Mr Rawson, secretary of the Master Builders' Association of Queensland, cabled as follows to Mr Pryor, secretary of the New Zealand Employers' Federation:—"Good demand for bricklayers; any chance men coming if work guaranteed P" As Mr Pryor is away from Wellington, Mr A. W. Grenfell, secretary of the Master Builders' Union, will take the names of any bricklayers who would like to accept employment in Queensland. ' DOMESTICS WANTED. CHRISTCHURCH, Feb. 25. A meeting of those interested was held this afternoon for the purpose of considering what steps should, be taken to deal with the "present difficulty in the way of obtaining domestic servants. There was a very large attendance and Mrs Cracroft Wilson presided. Mrs Cracroft AVilson said that the idea was to petition Parliament to restore the free passage system for women domestics. The whole success of the scheme would depend upon the way it was carried out by the Government. Girls from Scotland and some parts of Ireland were considered to be the most suitable for sending out, while the Scandinavian girls had been recommended by the Hon. Geo. Fowlds, but objection had been taken to the importation of any but English girls. An important reason why the .Government should give free passages to single wo- ■ men was that the girls would be Under more authorised supervision; they would have a special part of the ship arranged for them as in the early days and would have one or more matrons to take charge of them on the voyage and also on arrival. Mr Fowlds has said in answer to a deputation from the Sheen-owners' Union that he feared the liability to be incurred in employment for the- domestic helps as soon as they landed but she did not think that difficulty would last very long. She had been told, by captains of ships that they received letters on getting to Hobart to engage suitable people who were coming out as passengers to the great embarrassment of the captains sometimes, and on other ships the passengers engaged servants who were on their way. to New Zealand before they landed. Mrs Hawdon who had inaugurated the proposal leading to the holding of the meeting moved that the women of New Zealand should petition Parliament to restore for some time at least State free immigration to single women suited for domestic service. The motion was seconded by Miss Colborne Veel who said that she thoroughly agreed with the views of the previous speaker, the school of domesic instruction was giving instruction to the girls in the upper standards, but of the girls trained very few went into domestic service and those were not always the brightest; the others went into factories and shops. The motion was carried and a committee set up to bring the matter before women in other parts of New Zealand in order that a representative petition might be presented. .