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Feilding Star, Volume XIII, Issue 2, 4 July 1891, Page 2

The Labor Party, both in and out of Pftrliament, are now a recognised power in the land,* but that very power which makes their influence a great factor in matters political, is likely to prove ruin-' cms to them in matters economical. Speaking in the Legislatiye Council on^. Wednesday, Dr Grace said the cry for re-^ form in that Council came from the Labpr| Party ;alone, and that there wag -no ,gpn& eral feeling of antagonism to the Councily throughout the colony, He maintained.;; that -the existence of the Chamber^ as it| then was. was the only check they had'oiii:; the wrongful and disastrous legislation pj| 4 the -colony, and that > : the Legislatiyjp Council should not be* subservient tojihgf House of Eepresenta|ives. Meaning,^*} course, the Labor Party, who hol^l-tn^ balance of the voting pow,er f . is. the lattefe assembly. Dr Grace believed, with othersensible men, that labor and; 'capita should, for the good' of all parties,^ Janffl in hand, because labor was the^iipp" aT|c| sjnew of a young country ; waw; also of opinion that there \v,as><* a" corner in labor being oiaeiby ttM L abW^ar-ty, whose injtegest iii^ftS>|p^fe)QQQurageVthe ; e& % ; '^ 'hy^y'*a» not/inade' 'nM^<fM|h^ :^ev<?ral miiuons of'; money in the Savings JBanks to effect that end ? And added- th£ gratuitpus«peace of impertinence that " the oni^;i||ttlement they appeared to put in/ppelaiiion^fwas that under the gaslight's V 6% the' public house and the theatre." Surely DiF&race should know by thisjtime that.it' is neither idlers of the kind indicated, nor political labor agitators, to whom belong the money deposited in the Savings Bank, but to those sober, quiet, and hard-work-ing people, whose voices are never heard, and whose persons are seldom seen beyond the home circle. What the real laborer has to fear is that the loud-tongued and blatant political agitator, who has only his own ambition to serve, will create such a feeling of antagonism in the minds of all employers of labor that the relations between the two must necessarily be of the most unpleasantly suspicious character, and mutual respect and conn- . dence be at an end. In such cases the laborer must be the real sufferer. We are informed on good authority'that at the conference of delegates from the New Zealand Employers' Associations, held in Wellington lately, great surprise was expressed at the tendency pt the legislation now before Parliament to act in the direction of a restriction of trade. The tenor of the argument was to point to the fact that it seemed to be forgotten by the framers of the proposed laws that the greatness of the Mother Country was founded by the encouragement given to commence and manufactures. Instead of the wisdom of our ancestors being followed here, the Labour Bills now introduced would impose disabilities on employers which would be not only harassing and vexations, but would entail such serious and needless expense in most factories as would compel either the closing up of many promising industries or a reduction in the rate of wages if they, are to be worked at a profit. It was surely a reductio ad absurdum to attempt to better the workman's position by first bringing to ruin his employer, Not only were energy and enterprise subdued by the spirit of the Labour Bills but the principal was carried into .the income tax, where the incomes derived from professional sources would bear the maximum tax. An instance was given of two men starting life without capital, but with equal ability and education, one adopting a profession and the other the business of a manufacturer, and both making £1000 per annum. It was difficult to conceive why the income of the manufacturer, should be taxed at Is in the £ whilst that of the professional man should escape with froni 3d to 6d in the £. The professional man would employ no labour at all, and this was but one of the many instances where penalties would be imposed on employers of labour.. Surely, it was thought, it must be apparent that all these charges must finally bear upon the wages of the employed. — Post.