The Star. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 1893. Trouble Ahead and its Remedy.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4581, 1 March 1893, Page 2

The Star. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1, 1893. Trouble Ahead and its Remedy.

That the same causes produce the same effects is as a general rule acknowledged to be a tsqiem. The apologists for capital have for a long time persisted in contending that the causes whioh produced- the wretohed of Labour in the old

.countries did not exist, in these more favoured Colonies, and- tha,t; therefore, no Btepa required to be taken, on behalf of working men herd. In following the; die* tates of their fancies; they did' not scruple to brand as mischievous, agitatora and demagogues all who spoke or wrote in deprecation of the 'wrongs inflicted by capital on Labour. The existence of any wrongs waa emphatically denied, and the poor people, driven to put in practice. desperate meaßutes in order to try. and gain relief, were denounced as law breakers, and brought before Magistrates for the most part prejudiced by what the capitalists' apologists said and wrote. Meanwhile the condition of the labouring classes has remained unsatisfactory, and in many instances what was bad has become worse. Ten days ago we called attention, to the abominable "sweat? ing" that is taking place in Melbourse, where mantle-makers and seamstresses are paid bo little for their work that a whole week's earnings of an industrious woman do not exceed five shillings. The existence of this abominable " sweating" is vouched for by the Argus, which is well known to be a capitalist organ. There can therefore be no doubt about the fact, when thus accredited ; and such a fact existing in one of these favoured Colonies is more than sufficient to justify all that has been said j or written by the most radical of Liberals in ! New Zealand, and to brand as inhumane those who have tacitly, much more those who have openly, despised and thwarted the labour agitations of the past few years. What the Argus has just exposed is no new thing. Possibly "sweating" has nob in former years gone to such an extreme length, but the principle has been acted upon, and those who have acted upon it j have made fortunes, some small propor- | tion of which may, perhaps, have been devoted to subsidising the Press which has upheld the wrong-doing. The result of the working of that inexorable law of supply and demand which political i economists flaunt in our faces has been I brought near to us by the Argus. And now, even the apologists for capital are I shocked. For years the Liberals have been urging that a reform in the laws affecting labour is necessary, and for years the Conservatives have first opposed reform and then grudgingly yielded it inch by inch. But even now, we doubt if Conservatives will admit that sweating, or the equally objectionable cutting down of wages, oan be found in New Zealand. Unfortunately both abuses exist here, and will thrive unleaß efforts are Bpeedily made to check them. The Legislature haß done what it can do to prevent sweating; and evasion of the law will be difficult, provided those who are the victims have the courage to give the neceßßary information. The cutting down of wages, however, is not bo easily dealt with. Competition in every kind of ! business is so keen that purchasers are

sought to be drawn by low prieeß rather than by excellence of quality. The employers who are thus compelled to sell at low prices are not willing to do with smaller profits. They still wish to gain wealth. What they lose by low prieeß they hold that they must make up by low wages. Old employees, already none too highly paid, are told that their services will bo dispensed with. Possibly the employors qualify this by offering to continue . the employment, but at a lower wage. The poor work people know that their fellows in. othnr establishments are subjected to the name treatmont, and Bee no chance for more remunerative employment. As a l-»* resource they accept the reduction in : wage?, and struggle on as beat they can. ': Then there comes stagnation in business A and the process of cutting down is re- . peated utrtil the miserable experience of the Melbourne seamstresses is within ! measurable distance, even in New Zealand. The probability of such a condition of 1 things, nay its mere possibility, points to the uohealfchinesgof business in our towns. The remedy undoubtedly is to be found in : the settlement of our population on the \ land, and this the present Government is j doing its best to accomplish.