A WORD OF WARNING

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1797, 23 March 1888, Page 3

A WORD OF WARNING

The "Eveninsr Star" publishes the following letter, the writer of which, is, it says, a well-known ex-tradesmen of Duuedia, where he resided for twenty seven years : — Melbourne, March 12. Sir, — Will you allow me a few lines of your spuce to enable me to give a few words of caution to the working men of New Zealand, and particularly to the tradesmen who are about to go over to Melbourne. There has been such a ru j h here of people from Sydney and Adelaide that there are now more people walking about the streets of Melbourne wanting employment than there are people m Dunedin altogether. . I am sure that this coming winter will see things worse hero than they aro in-Dunediu. I know there is a Jot of work going on hero just now, but where a man is wrnled thero are 300 to take tho billet. I advise a'l tradesmen [an 1 laborers to stay m Now Zealand, if they can get c. crust of bred where they are. This place is right enough, but people have been coming, here at the rate of 1000 per week during the past eight months from ail parts, and tbey will take any wage that is offered to them. There are painters here who are working for 6s 6d per day. A first-class painter and grainer is lucky to get 8s per day ; and then he is likely to be two weeks m work and three weeks idle. When the Exhibition is dono 1 can see what ii coming — starvation for hundreds I was speaking the other day to an old friend and ex-Dunedinite, Mr Robert Haworth, who was my employer when m Dunedin. He has been here between thirty and forty year?, and he tells me he can sac what is coming. He says tbat therefKvill be such a collapse here soon that Melbourne has never experiencud the like of it. I would strongly advise people against coming here for the present — Thomas Pearoe (late of Short and Pearca, South Dunedn),