Eight Hours' Day in Melbourne.

Thames Star, Volume XVI, Issue 5084, 4 May 1885, Page 3

Eight Hours' Day in Melbourne.

Were any impartial resident of Melbounre to be nskedwbat is, "par excellance," the holiday of the metropolis, he ' would, as indeed he must, unquestionably reply, the Eight Hours' Day. In sooth it is a day of days, a day which affords a demonsration of wbieh not only the city. but the colony at large' may well be proud; a day which gives, not only well deserved gratification to the active participators in that demonstration, biit also a sight to onlookers unequalled perhaps, if not in magnitude, at least in its social bearing, in any . other part of the world. It is not my in tention to treat the matter from a repor* toriftl point of view, further than to say . that the gathering exceeded all previous - ones in poict of numbers and magnificence and this is undoubtedly due, in a great ■■ measure, to the pregnant fact that His Excellency the Governor may fairly be said to have taken a prominent part in it. Not to. put too fine a point on it, Sir Henry Loch is a man with a level head, and knows well enough where in these troublous times, when the air is heavy with distracting rumors, the real strength and safety of the country ließ. Hitherto it . has been deemed sufficient for the Premier

and other political heads of the people to address the assembled bone and sinew of the country, but Sir Henry, seeing beyond ~ his nose, and as the representative of Boy ally itself, sajs, in effect, " I too am one of you." How far such a proceeding may have the effect of further strengthening the bond of loyalty that attaches us to the Grown it needs no prophet to guess, suffice it to say that it was a bold step, a wise step, a step iv the right direction. ; O£ the aspect of the procession, as a pro ' cession, I'have aothing to say, beyond recording that the day was a truly Aus- , tralian summer's one, the sky was undecked by a single cloud, tbe sun was i , bright, and singular to relate for Mcl- : .. bourns, there was no dust, that the city was rendered gay by a marvellous display ' of banting, and the-welkin rendered joyous by the strains of innumerable. bands of music, more or less harmonious ' or noisy as the case might be, and that! the roadway resouoded to the measured i • ■ march of some 10,000 of the " horny j handed "'who formed the procession. All the familiar flags, banners, and other insignia were there, and some new ones, notably, that of the Typographical Association, who may be complimented on the possession of a banner which is not only a -banner but a work of art in execution and ' - design. Another striking feature was the n appearance, at the head of the tinplate workers, of two mounted knights, iirtocd "cap-aopie" in their glittering of plate armour, a la Henry V., and yet another, that of two stage coaches ' and a drag, filled with the pioneers of the Eight Hours' Movement, which brought up the rear. The first question naturally to arise in the mind of any spectator who saw the procession from several points of vantage was, " Where do all the people come from ?'•' the next, " Where are the poor we hear so much about 1" Both questions are easily answered. To the first the reply is " Half Melbourne and suburbs •re flocked to see,the sight," to the second, "Hidden away in their dismal slums; this bright God's sunshine, and this scene of festivity is no place for them. No, they are not here, but alas ! we have them with us always," If any proof were needed of the tangible' pro . sperity of Victoria, surely the crowd on crowd of not merely well,. but in very many eases, Injuriously clad men and women, youths and maidens, beaming > with health, and radiant with high spirits is amply sufficient. The , gloss of broad-, cloth and the sheen of the silk, so to speak, tbe glory of-purple and fine linen, the glow of rich color, and the glitter of jewellery, not only here, but there, and yonder, and everywhere, far as the, eye can reach over the apparently interminable mass of moving humanity. Surely in view of such a vast congregation of well clad, well fed, well cared for colonists, the veriest pessimist must admit a national prosperity. For once the larrikin element, the curse of our city, is conspieuoui by its absence, that is to say in any force, and even the. few meagre straggling groups that are visible at intervals, seem ill at ease, and as much out of place as they would be at the Governor's levee. The crowd, dense as it is, is orderly in the extreme, there is no ■ywptom of rowdiness, no ill-temper, no foul language, not over much crushing, and, practically, no intoxication to be heard or seen in the thickly packed, lines of spectators that occupy the pavements on both sides the route from the Trades Hall on to the Friendly Societies' Gardens, where preparations had been made for a high holiday. The orderly and obliging, even corteous demeanour and conduct of

the vast assemblage may be gathered from tbe fact that although I and my confrere ' attended the Demonstration from ten a.m. nntil six p.m., and although we together and separately saw men with their wires and families, and women with babies in their arms, and, Oh! foolish mothers, in tbe midst of such a cram and crush, in perambulators, we did not witness, nor bear of a single accident. Tbe only halt made in the procession was opposite the Treasury buildings in Spring Street, where tbe vice-regal parry and the Ministry had the opportunity of judging of the material of the working men of Melbourne. That Sir Henry and Lady Loch expressed themselves delighted beyond measure with the spectacle, goes without saying, and well so too, for there before thgm waß the risible. outcome of some of tke> best blood, bone, sinew, brain and pluck of Great Britain, a body of stal- - wart men who, should war unhappily devastate our shores, would, drilled or ttndrilled, " pro aris et focis," give such an account of themselves as would make the Northern Bear shiver in his Imperial den.