The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 1886. The Unemployed.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1310, 9 August 1886, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, AUGUST 9, 1886. The Unemployed.

It is satisfactory to find that the laboring men of Auckland have had the good sense to separate themselves from the mere professional labor agitators, and accept employment' on relief works offered by the Government. We have never supposed that a majority of the working men of the colony were in sympathy with the inflammatory resolutions which have been adopted at meetings of the unemployed held in Auckland during the past few weeks, butwhile those resolutions were assented to by a few honest, though ignorant and misguided, workmen they possessed a weight which they could never derive from the support of the selfappointed leaders of the agitation, who, while asking for work, fervently hope they may never obtain it. There can be no doubt there is some genuine distress among the ‘ poorer classes in Auckland and other large cities in the colony. To Auckland, particularly, reports of the prosperity and wealth of the northern city have attracted an unusually large supply of labor, a supply considerably in excess of the local demand, and all but* the most capable men have encountered considerable difficulty in finding employment. With the genuine unemployed —-the men really anxious to find work —we have the most entire sympathy. They are suffering from the effects of political and commercial blunders for which they are not mainly, or even largely, responsible. But for the men who prefer agitation to work, who “strike” against the means of livelihood provided by the charity of an impecunious country, we have nothing but pronounced contempt. Four shillings a day is certainly not a very handsome rate of payment to an able-bodied workman, but it is sufficient to provide a family with the absolute necesaries of life, and is quite as much as the Government can afford to pay for the work performed. In this locality, fortunately, :he unemployed difficulty has recently icen conspicuous by its |ibsence. \dvertisem6nts which appear in our tolumns from time to time show that , here is a steady demand for reliable ’ abor, and we know from our own ex- , icrience that good men can still com- , uand a comparatively high rate of pay, ( The following! are the new clauses in ( he Hospitals and Charitable Institutions , (ill, which were sent down by message ( rom the Governor:— i la relation to district boards constituted t nder the Hospitals and Olaritible Instlntions Aet, 1885—There shall be Issued c nd paid out of the Consolidated Food to ( very board the following sums during t aoh financial year, for five years, com- g renoing from the first day of October in v he year one thousand eight hundred and o

eightr-aix: that la to say, in respect of the •urns received by the board daring Booh year from the sources following—(1) Ten shillings for every pound of bequests, but in no case exceeding five hundred pounds in respect of anyone bequest j,(2) Twenty four shillings for every pound of voluntary contributions and (3) One. pound for every pound ot contributions receivedfrom any local authority. During each financial year after the said five years, unless the Colonial Treasurer shall be satisfied that the boardhas a sufficiency of funds to carry out the administration of this Act, during such year, there shall be paid the like sums or such lessor sums os the Colonial Treasurer shall think sufficient. In relation to the trustees of separate Institutions under the aforesaid. Act— There shall be paid the following sums to each 3 separate institution in the same manner in each year as are payable under the last preceding section in respect of institutions under the control of District Boards, and subject as in the said section mentioned : that is to say in respect of tho sums received by the trustees during'such year from the|sourcea fol- 1 lowing:—(l)jTen shillings for every pound of bequests, but in no case exceeding five hundred pounds in respect of any one beqnest; (2) Twenty-fonr shillings for every pound of voluntary contributions ; and (3) One pound for every pound of contributions received from any local authority, but only In case such local authority has not received, or is not entitled to, a subsidy in respect of the amount of such contribution.