The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY OCT. 13, 1910. A FRIEND OF LABOUR.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14323, 13 October 1910, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY OCT. 13, 1910. A FRIEND OF LABOUR.

Beyond its general association with the "eight hours movement,'" we doubt if the observance of Labour Day in New Zealand recalls any particular name deserving' of their reverence to most of those who welcome sports and a procession on that day as an agreeable change from labour. Probably a majority of those who think at all about the matter are quite content to think that an eig-ht hours' day is a good thingwell worth celebrating-, and they do not trouble to consider who the benefactors were to whom they owe the blessing-. The name of Anthony Ashley, Karl of Shaftesbury, is possibly not familiar to the workers of this country, but it should be remembered with veneration and thanksgiving- as often as Labour Day comes round. Lord Shaftesbury was not the founder of the eig-ht hours' movement, but lie was the successful promoter of the ten hours' movement, which in the nature of things came first, and which has ' made the other possible. Although it has been said of him by one observer that "It would be difficult to imagine a more complete beau ideal of aristocracy " and by another that "he wnsj in the truest and best sense of 'the word, a Conservative," the improvement of the conditions <,f the working people of Enn-land was the object 1o which he"consecrated his whole life \„ George W. K.liussell says of him 111 his Collections and lleeol lections, he had, if ever man had, the enthusiasm of humanity ' " Eeform of (he Lunacv Law' the abolition of slavery, sanitary reform, and the promotion of the public health, were objects to which he had already given his best eflorts when, in ]B3f{ hetook up the Ten Hours "HiH \ nv yiously m the charge of MrSadlev. who had now lost his sent He carried his Bill through the second i reading," Writes Mr I{„ssell but it was opposed bv Lo-d Althorp, who threw it out -,nd carried a modified pronos-il i„ 1833. IS 1844 th, iWxS'iiorl

of ii new Mill for Hie regulation of Inhour in fin-lories hrouo|,|, Lord Ashley hack lo his old ha f I lelicid. A desperate slruo-o-1,. was made In amend the I'.ill into a. 'l'en Hours I'.ill, hul I his failed, owim- 1„ Sir lioherl I'eel's I h rea I of resioii,,'ion. In I Slo Lord 'Ashley" reused Ihe ('hieT Sc-refaryship for Ireland in order lo he aide to devote himself wholly- to the Ten Hours I'.ill ; anil as soon as Parliament lose he went, on a. lour Ihroue-h i| H , mantifnclurino,- districts, spenkino- J n puhiie, mediating hefwoeri mastei-s and irjen, and oro-njiisintr i.he Ten .Hours movement. J n 18-17 ihe iiil] passed into law. On .June Ist in that year Lord Ashley wrote in his diary: ']N"ewß that the Luetorv Bill has just passed the third reading. lam huinbled that my liearl, is not hurstino- with thankfulness fo Almighty God—that J can (ind hrealh arirl sense, to express my joy. Wlial 70 wind shall we o-i ve unto the Lord for all Ihe henelils He hath conferred upon us-' (iod in Lis .Mercy prospcr Ihe work, and prant that these operatives may receive Ihe r-up of salvation and'eall upon ihe name of the Lord." 11, was no douht, the example, of Lord Shufieshury thai, influenced the Rev. -Mr "Hums, of the (jt.ae-o Settlement, ;inrl other pioneers of the eio-ht. hours movement in \r-w Zealand.

Wo are f.olfl tlifit, c: iho pervcrvifl_ vein of philanthropic zeal which i s apparent in this extract animated every part, of Lord Shaftesbury's nature and cverv action of his lif'o.'" JTi.s devotion to the cause of labour led him to make the Factory Acts a touchstone of character. '' To the end of his days his view of public men was largely governed by the purr which they had played in that great controversy. ' Gladstone voted against me.' was a stern sentence not seldom on his lips. 'Bright was the most malignant opponent the Factory Bill ever had.' •'Cobuen, though bitterly hostile, was better than Bright.' 5 Even men whom on general grounds he disliked and despised —such as Lord Beaconsfield and Bishop TTilberforee—found a saving clause in his judgment if he could truthfully say, 'He helped me with the chimney sweeps,' or "He felt for the wretched operatives.' " Labour, which before now has set up some strange idols and cast them down again, can safely venerate the memory of this unselfish Conservative and patrician.