The Waipawa Mail. Published Tuesdays, Thursdays, & Saturdays. Saturday, January 30, 1892.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 2715, 30 January 1892, Page 2

The Waipawa Mail. Published Tuesdays, Thursdays, & Saturdays. Saturday, January 30, 1892.

That brilliant theorist, Mr Reeves, was again in evidence last Thursdaynight at Napier, when he enacted tha part of supporter to Mr Buick, which Mr Gannon - essayed but made such a mess of at Waipawa. We gather from our Napier exchanges that Mr Reeves was loudly applauded for his defence of the Government policy—as he represented it. It would be an endless task to follow Mr Reeves through the maze of figures and what he called facts with which his speech bristled. The only danger is that men may be led away by fervid oratory of that kind from thinking out for themselves the probable consequences of the new departures. The mass of mankind are too apt to accept opinions ready made for them, without taking the trouble to reason for themselves. Mr Reeves skims on the surface of things, perhaps fully aware of the danger of attempting to dive deeper. Thus, for instance, he pointed out only the immediate advantages of the Government Labor Bureau sytem of relieving the unemployed, ignoring

the obvious consequence that it must increase the evil which it is designed to alleviate. As our contemporary the Wairarapa Daily puts it, New Zealand stands alone in the Australian group in offering remunerative work to all by the operation of a State bureau. Thousands of men who hang about the streets of Sydney and Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, will endeavour to make for these shores, because in this Colony only, there is a guarantee of employment. They have already begun to land, and their presence will have a marked effect on the labour market. The only thing which will check the invasion will be a reduction in the rate of wages. The Bureau cannot make employment for other than a limited number of men. Once that limit is passed the unemployed will range the Colony and produce a new element of competition in the labour market, which will be irresistible. We affirm that a State guarantee of employment even at six shillings a day will flood the Colony with new arrivals. New Zealand is offering a higher bid to the unemployed than any other Colony, and the unemployed will be knocked down to us. Twelve months hence, if the Ministry continues in power, we shall expect to see wages come down to five shillings a day.