DRINK AND THE UNEMPLOYED QUESTION.

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 305, 29 June 1895, Page 2

DRINK AND THE UNEMPLOYED QUESTION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE Sl^n.: ' Sir, —As a constant reader of the ' Stak, you will exceedingly oblige me if you will grant me space for a few > remarks concerning Mr Pirani. :pk the 21st instant, in moving the Ad-dress-jn-reply, Mr Pirani said that the: question of drink was, in a\ large degreo, responsible for the unemployed. Does MrPirani tbink|tb at the abolition of sal-a the aud manufacture of drink will benefit the worktng classes? No doubt there ia a belief amongst ;m£ny people such ia the case. It is our system of unorganised and antagonistic industry which is as economically absurd/ __ as it is morally abominable, that ia ■ .{, responsible for the unemployed. p Thrift, or the habit of saving; is al-" -j^ wa}B represented by the exporting ■-„; classes as the highest of social virtueH, Vl but it is one they are careful rarely to *1 practice themselves. This, of itself, ! should arouse suspicion in the minds '■£ of all workers, but they are imposed • $j upoo by the deceptive nature of money. : §* The cause of the unemployed'is sttril-. , , ity in administration, accompanied with a lavish expenditure of public money in the past. Teetotahsm, no doubt, will be a good thing for the indi-' ' vidnal, but at bust it is only a quack remedy for po?erty. If all working men were to become teetotaller?, vegetarians, and non-smokers, it would by no means advance their prosperity, that is, under our_«pre'§ r§nt" "system. Because wages <uuld inevitably reacir^'--' that wretched level found in Oriental countries like India or China, where thrift in all its forms is carried to an incredible length. The iron la.w of wages as the recompense of labor always tends to the level on which the worker is willing to subsist. If he is content with water to drink and cabbages to eat, he can rest assured that the means of buying roast beef andl beer will very soon be taken from him. The rent, interest, and profit mongers will speedilly scent additional value and they will have it. Our present ' system allows competition which gluts the labor market, enables the rich i man to take advantage of the necessities of the poor, makes each man snatch the bread from his neighbour's mouth, converts a nation of brethren into a , mass of hostile and isolated units, and, I finally, involves them in one common 1 ruiu. The capitalists own the land?, mines, and all natural agents which «' a:enecessaiy to uan'sexutance. also own those products of past labors which are necessary to the life and well beiDg of all. They are thus en- ■ abied to constrain those who do not share in such possession to work for them in producing for their benefit a perennial stream of wealth. They also T regulate the supply and demand of / labor. Therefore, it is little use-for Mr Pirani and the comparatively few followers of that gentleman to imagine. that Prohibition is a panacea for the unemployed. On the contrary, it would throw a not inconsiderable - army of petty traders amongst .the ranks of the wage earners, and make the struggle for existence keener and fiercer than ever. This the opinion of one who desires the" performance of ,- those laudable actions which destroy slavery and render freedom invincibUv Then we must have equality, which has for its basis two essential conditions—work in commmon and enjoy- v ment in common. _-~- -^-<^~~- —- I am, etc. Patkick. Toohey. Harbor Board Block, June 26th.