The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1874.

Thames Star, Volume VI, Issue 1838, 23 November 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1874.

The telegraphic news published on Saturday gives us considerable details of the progress of that conflict which has raged for some time in Great Britain; between employers and employed—between capital and labor, and the extensive ramifications which the struggle has assumed. It is nolofcger a strike of cotton spinners, or a lock-out of iron workers; the organizations of employees, have been extended to all classes of working men—whether skilled or unskilled. For a long.time patt, owing to the continual drafts upon the population by! immigration, and the extra demand for labour of all kinds, the working men were victors. Their demands for higher wages and shorter hours of labour had to be acceded to. Engigineera, coal miners, weavers—-even agricultural laborers were able to dictate terms to their employers. The principle of Trades' and Laborers' Unions was rapidly operated upon, and the strength which these various organizations gave to the different classes of laborers was such that employers had to concede all, or nearly all, that was demanded of them. A reaction appears to have set in, however,-and the employers of ,lab«r are not slow to avail themselves of the very earliest opportunity to bend afresh the yoke about the necks of their laborers, who have for many years been in a condition little better than slavery. This applies especially to the agriculturalists. Having got in their harvest, they are in a measure independent of labor for a time. At least they can do with much less assistance than during the harvest; the abundance of which furnishes the excuse for a reduction in the rate of wages. These strikes ar« not confined to English counties. In Scotland and Wales the conflict has been carried to extremes, and the consequence is privation and distress. Those who have been in the colonies for a number of years can scarcely realise the effect of a strike or lock out in these days, even though they may have been familiar with such events in the old country a dozen years ago. The combinations of the present day are much more extensive than they were half-a-score years ago. The spread of Trades Unions and Labor Unions, the dissemination of Internationalist ideas—even the improvement of

the means of education—all these have helped to render the combinations of labor against capital more powerful, if nqt more dangerous. The employees now seek to obtain redress of their grievances by a union of their forces, and by a persistent, and powerful, and intelligent agitation ; and although outrages in connection with strikes are not' unknown, they are les3 common than formerly. Instead of boing looked upon as the outcome of mob lawlessness, trade outrages of the present day are regarded merely as the work of individuals. By resorting to argument and persuasion, instead of force, the working classes have gained many privileges, but all their agitation has been powerless to avert occasional ruptures between themselves and their employers. The relations of capital and labor still remain in an unsettled, and in some respects unsatisfactory state; hence the antagonism which springs up periodically between masters and men. Legislation has effected something towards remedying the evil, but much remains to be done. Immigration will have the effect of smoothing the way to a settlement of the struggle, by relieving the ranks of the laborers. The present time will be a good opportunity for the immigrationagents to obtain a good class of people. From amongst the agricultural population of the Midland Counties of England a desirable class of immigrants can be obtained for this Colony. Several hundreds of these, we notice, have already sailed, and the inducements to leave their homes will be all the stronger now that their wages have been reduced to the old standard. The delegate who is now leaving our shores will find on his arrival at home a fruitful soil on which to operate. If he has formed a favorable opinion of New Zealand, the result of his mission will soon be apparent in the impetus given to immigration from the Midland Counties of England and other extensive agricultural districts.