OUR WELLINGTON LETTER

Evening Star, Issue 3581, 14 August 1874, Page 2

OUR WELLINGTON LETTER

August 6. Lxcept the Ministerial statement about the intended abolition of Provinces (which you had by telegraph), and a short debate on the employment of femaUs, there was only formal business in the Lower House to-day Members were troubled with thoughts of enjoying the Premier’s hospitality, and rushed through the Order Paper as fast as they could (vide the number of second readings, committals, and passing of Bills : all dene in three-quarters of an hour !) There dwell in the City of the plains thirty-two little dears with lingers so nimble, , o y es ‘ght not strong. They admire Mr Bradshaw and his'Bill, but like not the gas, so they ask Parliament to oblige (knowing well that no gentleman would refuse the request of a lady) by altering the eight hours daring which they shall work, so as • ~ em refclirn to their homes before n j Ronton is their champion, and Mr Bradahaw, with his customary gallantry, only too willing to oblige. The proposition is to alter the hours, which are now a,m ‘ ® P- m -f to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mr bhepherd (1. thought he loved the sex too well to oppose so slight a favor) set his face against the thing, and drew a dreadful picture of short hours and starving girls in Victoria. Mr Bradshaw soon demonstrated that Dunotan’s member was talking about some-,

thing of which he had very little, if any knowledge. And in this manner were Mr Shepherd and the House placed in possession of a little useful information.

A gentleman, who was a manufacturer In Victoria, and had recently started a factory in Dunedin, had informed him that 5,000 women were employed in factories and worskhops in Victoria, and out of the 5,000, only 125 had petitioned for the suspension of a part of the Victorian Act. One of the reasons given was that a large proportion of the females employed ware married women, and that they could not earn sufficient to keep body and soul together, ihe answer was, or ought to be, that the factory should be closed at once; that it was quite time to shut them up when people could not earn enough to buy food. In the English aU i? Provision was made for the Saturday half-holiday, but no such provision existed in the Victorian Act. Notwithstanding that omission, the employees, as a rule, did obtain the half-holiday; and he knew of one large bookbinding establishment where the emp Wes asked for the suspension of the 3rd clause of the Act, so as to be allowed to work eight and a-half hours a day instead of tight hours, m order to get the half-holiday on Saturday, A stranger who visited these shores not long ago-Dr Begg, of Edinburgh-had given very interesting accounts, since his return to Sootland, of the progress made by New Zealand in this direction. He stated plainly, not only in °* t Sf O, T? ut x also l n Southland, that the existence °‘.™ factory Act wag one of the benefits of which the people of New Zealand might feel proml, and that this Colony possessed an advantage over the old country, which he would like to see extended to all other countries in the world. T. he Act had worked exceedingly well in utago. No complaints had been made in reference to it; no police interference had been necessary, and therefore it must be taken for panted that employers and employed were perfectly satisfied with it. The only objection to it was, that it might interfere with the hour at which some shops closed; and had he not received the telegrams he had received from Dunedin he should have supported the amendment of the member for Avon. He thought, however, that the difficulty would be met by carrying out the suggestion of the able member for Avon—that the Governor in Council should nave power to alter the hours to suit the trade of any particular town or district. The objection made by the) Premier to the preposed alteration is not an unreasonable one, though it seemed so to Mr Kolleston, and caused him to threaten to abandon his j eight to five » Messrs Bradshaw and Kolleston, are eight hours, it is true, but girls can t starve, and in reality would only be working seven hours, which would nefollowed by a reduction of wages, for which the seamstresses, the tailoresses, and other “esses” whom you propose to help would not thank you. Mr Vogel expressed himseff in this manner

Whilst he thought legislation to protect females from being overworked in workshops and factories very necessary, the House should take caro not to make that legislation too stringent It seemed to him that the difficulty in the case might be met by stipulating that the hours of labor should be between the hours eight to six > and that the eight hours should be taken within that limit. Some propnetors of workshops might not care to open at eight o clock, and if they provided that the )i work should be from eight o clock ta five, leaving out an hour for lunch or dinner, there would be only seven hours left c “i 08 ? to°l )S to do business the proprietors of which did not open till nine o’clock. In legislating upon such a subject, it did not do to be too generous Last year they passed an Act which enabled females to work between nine o clock and six : and if it were the case that some houses preferred to open at eight o’clock, there should be no objection to altering the time to an hour earlier, at the same time leaving it to those wko chose to adopt the hour of mne o clock co do so. The amendment he 8^»S e st was this :to alter the hours from eight o clock in the morning to six in the afternoon, providing that there should nob be more than eight horns’ work in each day. That, he thought, would meet the difficulty. It might be said that this would leave a margin for extending the hours, but employees would be able to make the authorities aware of any infringement of the Act, and punishment would follow.

When the Bill is in committee Mr Brad shaw will propose as a compromise to act' upon the Premier’s suggestion to this extent: the hours named in the Bill shall be from eight to six, and on employers electing the eight hours, their employees shall work during those limits the magistrate of the district shall issue the necessary certificate, which must be hung up in a conspicuous place in the workroom or factory. Apropos of factory legislation in England, there is in the Mail, of May 8, 1874, a leading article and report of a very interesting debate in the Imperial Parliament on the matter of restricting females’ and children’s labor. The speakers were Mundella, Crossley, Bazley (great names now, but who have all worked at the loom), Callendar, Tenant, and Holms (millmen, and competent to speak on the sul ject). Their speeches were practical, as became the men, and eminently suggestive, yet they differed in their opinions of the change in mills and millhands, in th's, as compared with their time. What wonder then that Mr Bradshaw and Mr Vogel should differ also ? But it is creditable to us that the differences between our politicians on this matter are so slight. What an opportunity was lost to Mr Richardson a fortnight ago when Mr Bradshaw moved him as Mr Mundella did Mr Cross in the House of Commons, but with this great distinction : our Minister for Public Works promised consideration only, while the British Home Secretary came down a couple of days after he was questioned with a specific—a Bill to fix factory hours at twelve a day (from six to six or seven to seven, at choice), and six on Saturdays, i e. 56 hours a week for men. Taiaroa is the pattern of industry and perseverance. Hardly a day passes but he places on the order-paper some question or motion having reference to the interests of ms constituents, and he never allows au opportunity to escape him of expressing his opinion on Native matters generally. But, though he addresses the House often, and must be a source of trouble to the Native Office, he speaks very sensibly and to the purpose. On Thursday last he got the name of Mr Sheehan (a valuable ally) added to the Native Affairs Committee, and wanted the House to affirm that the reserve at Port Chalmers, section 402, should be restored to the Maoris, for whom he alleges it was originally made. But Sir Donald M'Leaa, Mr Macandrew, and Mr Reynolds are of an opposite opinion. According to them, the reserve was originally made for another purpose, and properly belongs to the Presbyterian Church; but MrMantell, in his almost paternal love for the Maoris, managed in ways that are dark to get it transferred to the Natives. The Native Department, in consideration of the Maoris, have long occupied the reserve, appears inclined to act generously towards them, for, according to Mr Reynolds, Sir Donald M‘Lean had had the section valued by a Dunedin firm, and L6O, the amount of his award, was offered to the Maoris and refused by them. This Taiarea denies, andl says Mr Watt only offered L4O. As the Native Minister was willing to again submit the matter to arbitration, the motion was withdrawn.

A bon mot in the serene atmosphere of the Legislative Council is such a rarity that when one is uttered it should be chronicled. In the discussion on the C oldfields Amendment Bill, which sought to place in the hands of the Provincial Executive of Nelson the deegated powers held by the Superintendent, one ot the speakers declined to delegate those powers to persons who had no more property than they could cover with their hats, though scarcely applicable, the reference was very plain, and few people will fail to observe that Mr O’Conor was meant. The

Hon. Or Grace, who spoke later in the debate, quietly remarked that there Were some pet soon who had lotaof land, but whose hats covered very little, hot how they got the land the Lord only knew.