DUNEDIN NOTES. [Own Correspondent.]

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXV, Issue 4253, 29 June 1895, Page 3

DUNEDIN NOTES. [Own Correspondent.]

Women seldom overflow with sympathy towards the members of their own sex. Charity and sympathetic feeling with them, as a rule, expend themselves on the members of the other sex. They are to-day satisfied and happy only when they are engaged in the labor of suppressing or curtailing the privilege? of the other side, which they imagine can be most effectually done by increasing their own. , And when they are not thus engaged in shrill warfare against the tyranny of the other side they are always ready to engage in any kind of work that promises their moral or social regeneration. Communication with the other side, no matter whether it be of a friendly or hostile character, seems to be one of the intractable impulses of their nature, and they like to indulge it. Their behaviour towards the members of their own sex is altogether different. Here they are, for instance, for some weeks past, scouring the city for subscriptions in detachments or else engaged all day preparing great cauldrons of soup for distribution among the male unemployed of the city. But there is never a thought for the destitute unemployed women whose numbers are, I believe, very large in the city and suburbs. These creatures are entirely selfdependent, and many of them are widows with other mouths to feed. They come under the generic head of needle-women, and at all times, even the best of times, their lives are hard and their labors and sacrifices heavy. They work long hours, seeing not only the day out but a great part of the night, for they must make up by extreme physical exertion what they are denied by the greed of their employers. Nor can they go out to the streetcorners and proclaim their grievances. There is no labor bureau for them, no public works or ■ co-operative system of labor, no ready Ministerial ear to take in their grievances and promise redress, and no city members to be wailed on and briefed in their interests. And, worst of all, their " advanced " sisters take no heed of them ; they are too busy fighting for the hereditary enemy man or " fending " for him. I am glad to see, however, that an effort is to be made to make some provision during the winter months for those poor wom°n whose sufferings are borne in silence and whose poverty is by preference hidden from the world. Great interest at the present time attaches to the experiment of shipping live sheep and cattle to England. Opinions vary as to the probable success of the venture. The oversea journey is so long, the risks so numerous, and the expense so great that one may very well feel doubtful as to the ultimate outcome of thetrialnow being made in this connection. No doubt much will yet be done to remove many of the causes that now militate against the success of the trade, and thus give sufficient encouragement to permit of the trade being undertaken on a national scale. The New Zealand and Australian Land Company furnish some very instructive particulars in connection with their last shipment of 252 sheep by the Banff shire. It is a good omen for the future that only one sheep was accidentally killed out of the entire shipment. It took fifty days from land to land and the animals were in fine condition on arrival. The prices realised for the lot were 43s for the crossbreds and 38s for the halfbreds, which, considering the state of the market at the time, was regarded as very satisfactory. Ten of the carcases were taken from Deptford, where they were slaughtered, to Smithfield, to test the market, and realised at the rate of 5Jd per lb. The fat, heads, and skins also fetched 4s 9|d per head in addition. The consignment is calculated to bring the company in between 13s and 14s per head after all expenses have been paid. That means about 4s more than they would make had they sold the same sheep in New Zealand. The fodder provided for the voyage consisted of hay, chaff, cabbages, linseed, peas and beans. All this they ate well except the chaff, which they scarcely touched. The bill of costs is a formidable one, but it may be assumed that if the trade were once established arrangements could be made to modify or sweep away many of the items that now tell so heavily against the profits of the shippers. It is, however, qertain that the development of the trade under any circumstances must be slowly and cautiously proceeded with, and as yet it is not safe to say anything of its future. It would be almost superfluous to say that business of all kinds is very dull just now. There is scarcely a drapery establishment of any size in the city that has not been compelled to resort to the device of cheap sales. This is an unerring sign of hard times. And though all and sundry, are informed of the fact that " we are giving 'em away " or " sellat million prices," the public hold aloof, the sales fall flat and bewildered and despairing businessmen wonder how the whole thing is goiDg to work out. Can you wonder, under such circumstances, if there is a disposition to reduce wages and dispense with all but the most necessary labor ? Many large firms, I am told, have been lately trying the experiment of female or, to speak becomingly, lady book-keepers. I have heard of one or two instances of very old employed being dismissed and young lady book-keepers and correspondents taken on in their places. Of- course the latter are content with very small salaries, and that is almost everything at present. The general experience, however, is that women have neither the capacity nor the quality of steady, irjiitf ul industry demanded by certain kinds of work of a responsible and mentally trying kind. But as they are the only kind of cheap labor which the democratic legislation of to-day allows us, their services have a special value of their own just now, aud are likely to be more in request in the future, unless we are to have a business or a marriage boom or something else happens to lighten the labor market. Considering the exceptionally depressed state oi business generally, the liberality with whiph our shopkeepers contributed to the unemployed fund is beyond all praise. To do so it required in many instances, a good deal of self-sacrifice and a good deal of the spirit of Christian charity such as we hear so often professionally preached but very rarely praciised out of the pulpit. Indeed, in this respect the struggling business people set an example that might be well copied by many of the professional occupants of the pulpits. There are many of this latter class whose names one never sees on any charitable list. And, curiously enough, they are a class whom the dull times and the depression never touch, "Wool may go down and the price of the bushel of oats or wheat vanish into space : there may be failures and bankruptcies, unemployed troubles aad soup kitchens, and the butcher and the baker and candlestick-maker may wonder when " that little affair " of theirs will be settled, or if it ever will be, but the gentlemen who give us our weekly dole of Christianity are never disturbed by such worldly apprehensions. Is not theirs the safest among the professions or callings of today ? I often wonder there is not a bigger run on them. What is known in the Catholic Church as a ceremony of the " month's mind " was celebrated in St. Joseph's Cathedral on Wednesday. The ceremony was intended to commemorate the 'death of Bishop Moran, which took place a month ago. The building was crowded. A large number of priests took part in the service, which was of a solemn and impressiye kind, and Bishop Grimes, of Christchurch, .preached an eloquent sermon on the life and virtues of the deceased prelate. Though he said little that had not already been said either in the pulpit or the Press as a tribute to the life and character of Bishop Moran, yet his words were heard with as much feeling and as deep emotion by the crowded congregation as was the splendid eulogium delivered recently in the same place by ' Archbishop Redwood. But ' even eulogy, no matter how well deserved, may pall or, at least, only interest o.r move those who are in a special' way associated with, the life and, vrorss of the perpon/wtjo is 4eex»e4 worthy oi

it. For his services to his church, the memory of the late Bishop is worthy of being honored ; but even his labors and his energies, without the special influences which his position, rather than his personality, enabled him to exercise over his people would have accomplished comparatively little. It is the allegiance, the submission, and the disciplined order of the people rather than the personal accomplishments or the excessive self-sacrifice of priests and bishops that build and endow cathedrals and other religious buildings in the Catholic Church. Did the same influences exist in other religions we should see similar results. I hear that the Catholic community intend raising a monument to the memory of their late Bishop. The Unemployed Belief Committee, as I expected, did not consider the scheme submitted to them by Mr Eawlins of your district came quite within the scope of their functions. That was precisely the opinion I expressed at the time in referring to the matter. Mr Rawlins has since personally interviewed the committee and explainpd at length the nature of his scheme. They looked on the employment of men by means of co-operative labor as a matter entirely for private enterprise. It is altogether foreign to their purpose to embark on co-operative enterprises, the end or the outcome of which it would be impossible to foresee. They are organised for purposes of immediate and temporary relief, and if they succeed in accomplishing that much they will have done their duty well and generously and deserved the thanks of the public. At the same time, if there should be any philanthropic employers of labor in the mining districts who are anxious to do something through the agency of co-operative ; labor, they will find no difficulty, I believe, in getting any number of men here, if they cannot get them in their own districts, who will gladly embrace the opportunity.