A WILLING WORKER'S EXPERIENCES.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 481, 14 April 1909, Page 4

A WILLING WORKER'S EXPERIENCES.

TOILING AFTER TOIL. , ' He was.an.Englishmaa by birth, but had served several years in .African Government works beforo he migrated to New Zealand. Ho was only a young man, perhaps2B years of age, oyer Oft. in height, and admirably proportioned—a settler that any country should welcome. Some timo ago-ho held! an ill-paid Government position in Wellington, which position ho relinquished tor tho pick and shovel and later the harvesting-rake, as. the possibility of promotion was not to be reckoned on", he was assured -on all hands 'that. tho man with a'strong and willing arm' could command work anywhere. He was well educated, and widely road, enthusiastic, and cheerful. With these assets and a few pounds sterling he set out with the avowed intention of proving the truth or otherwise of tho boast of many New Zealanders that thero is work for.all who are willing to work, and aro not particular as to tho nature of the work. He'was qualified to'tako anything from a secretarial position to 1 wielding a shovel, and took up his swag with characteristic good spirit. In a letter'dated Napier, April 6, tho wanderer .gives some of his experiences to a friend in AVellington as under:—"Sinco about March 12, when I left off harvesting in tho South Island,- I havo endeavoured, to ..get work of any kind at a reasonable return, such as Is. per hour, at Christchurch, AA'cllington, Palmerston, and Napier. At each centre, however, it was tho same old story—'No work I and you'ro not the only one looking for it.' As you know, I'm not a particular sort whe,n it 'comes to work, continues the letter, arid I have tho advantage of being tall and strong, and in tip-top form; but I might as well be a puny, pasty-faced, parody of a man for all tiio chance there seems to bo of. obtaining work at present. As far as a decent fixed billetgoes, such a thing is out of the question, although I>. hold papers for close on ten years' consecutive employment in responsible positions, and most of them under the BritishGovernment" in the colonies. In Now Zealand it seems, these papers are useless, except that'they might havo onabled mo to enter one or,two underpaid Departments of the Government Service. However, to go on again, it has been impressed on mo of late that tho 'busy season' is a myth. In one rospect it is like - 'Doomsday'—it is always j 'coming.' There are a number of unem--' ployed'in Napier, but not a singlo open'ing on the books of tho Government Labour Bureau. I envy the men in charge of that Department, and believe that oven 1 could manage to do the work required. Napier is a 'bad placo for the unemployed who enjoy good health. Tho 6ea, air gives a man a tremendous appetite. Most of the workless

here, some of them habitual offenders, I am afraid, sit on the Parade and apparently dino off; the sconery. At Palmerston and M'astcrlon those who toil not nor spin appear to while away the time supporting tho pillars of tho shop verandahs. From conversations with small farmers in Canterbury I gathered that they aro quite convinced that the Government should encourage immigration so that they may havo all the hands they require during tho harvest season. When harvesting is over, the 'harvesters can go where tliey liko until next harvesting. The small farmer is certainly' no philanthropist, as far as myexperience goes. I beliovo ho has it that 'In six days heaven and earth were made—, on the seventh the,latter was handed over to the small farmer.' However, I whack into anything that offers, and continue to oke' out an existence, so don't imagine I'm going to give up. yet. They say there may be work in the backblocks, and to-morrow I'm off to try my luck. Try as it will I don't believe this allegedly hospitable'conntry can starve mo, and, if I don't got work, well—l may as well get a real fill of tho country."