THE POSITION OF THE UNEMPLOYED.

Waikato Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 3483, 25 October 1894, Page 4

THE POSITION OF THE UNEMPLOYED.

Ax exchange has the.following pertinent remarks upon the above subject;- ;' A notice recently issued by three Wairarapa runholders is likely to bring the unemployed -question, in this provincial district at least, to a crisis These runholders given public notice that after the 22nd inst., they will not find food or shelter for swaggers. This seemingly inhospitable and uncharitable action is not to be wondered at, and is, in fact, fully justified by the facts. T ere never was a time before, in the history of New Zealand when so many unemployed Avere "on the wallaby " vainly seeking for work. The swaggers ■ and. sundowners are always a heavy charge to runholders. On many stations the annual ex- . penditure on their entertainment is very large.'- This year the burden has become intolerable. The stationowners cannot stand the cost of finding food for destitute men numbered often by the hundred per week, There is no reason for surprise if at last a stand is to be taken in the matter. The example' set by the Wairarapa three: will no doubt be followed by others all over the colony. Noone can blame them. The colony and', the local bodies, will thus be brought face to face with the real extent of the -unemployed difficulty, of which at present'-, the Government, at least, seems to have no- adequate conception. The .' meii : hitherto obtaining food from'the runholders; as they have trudged from one station; to another, willnow have to: be supplied iwithiW.^'lror,become charge able on the'charitable aid funds.: They must have food/: IfJ it is not found for them bj;-the jronholdei-s.Ut must be foiled by the ■ Government,; or by the local bodies, ori the charitable institutions, ■ If none of these supply it voluntarily, the men will; scarcely, be ; to blame if they take, what; isj necessary to preserve their existence.;' A case of this kind has' already occurred. in the Wairarapa, and the meifwhen brqughtbefbrethe Court were ; simpjy cphyictedand dis-; .■ charged. 5 It-wouldjiayebeen unjust! to; have' dealt ; more harshly witli j them, for their lawlessness' wasin-; spired !*y want 'starvation. 1 At; the same time the rights of;/privates property mifstibe respected; and; .-' protected. The^colony is on. the! eve of Jieirig Brought face to face with; unqmplpyed ; difficnlty! it has ever known; The hundreds -—of possibly the number runs into; thousands—of men now supporting' ,<; .'themselves, by going from;;station: to station food' ; from: the station-owners willncrowd into; the

towns and cities when further reliet of this kind is denied them. The Government seems either" unable' or unwilling to do anything to meet 1 the coming trouble, or to relieve it' when it comes. Parliament has done nothing—it has not'been asked to do' anything—to relieve the depression and find work for those who desire it, that they may live otherwise than on charity. On the contrary, Parliament has been asked to consider measure after measure calculated to intensify depression, to frighten employers from spending money, to lock up capital, to kill speculation, to hamper trade and industry in every possible way, and to renderj the position of the unemployed m'ore hopeless than ever, while every day adding to their ranks. The effect of much of the legislation of the present session, prop sed or passed, has been to ' render work more difficult to obtain, and to throw out of work large numbers of those who are now in employment. Not a single thing has' been done to relieve the workers of the colony, or to improve the position of the industrial population, The cry of those who want work has been met by the proffer of a number of useless and mischievous Bills, The paternal Government of which we have heard so much, has, offered its' hungry children crjing for bread, not indeed a stone, but empty paper. Even now, wheji men by the score and.the hundred are unable to find work-to earn wages for their support, Parliament is sitting night after night Jbbnwiierino a faddish Bill the effect of which; if passed; would be tb throw' additional hundreds of people out of work, and to ruin scores of those

who now, earn their own-living and afford employment to others. Some glimmering of the true position seems to have inspired Mr W. Hutchison's question, whether the Government intends to supplement, the current legislation of the session by proposing some definite and direct means whereby employment shall be assured to all who ,are able and willing to work 1 That such a question should be . necessary after Parliament has been nearly four, months in session, is a sad admission of incapacity and neglect of duty on the part of those who are responsible for the government of the country. The preseut Government has always been loud in professions of regard for the.working man. Its practice has not, however, corresponded with its professions. It has proved his worst enemy, and shown ah amount of callous indifference to his necessities and his interests which is absolutely shameful. The industrial '• classes are beginning 'to realise

the facts of the case, and every section of the community will soon have them 'forcibly impressed upon it.