The Feilding Star, Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published Daily. MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 1895. PUBLIC TENDERS, CONTRACTS AND WORKS.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 49, 26 August 1895, Page 2

The Feilding Star, Oroua & Kiwitea Counties Gazette. Published Daily. MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 1895. PUBLIC TENDERS, CONTRACTS AND WORKS.

The alleged intention of the above Act is to limit undue competition in tendering and otherwise to insure fair wages and working hours in public contracts. There shall be no obligation to accept the lowest or any tender but every tenderer will be required to embody in his tender a declaration that in carrying out the contract be will observe such working hours of labor each working day, and pay such rates of wages for working hours and for overtime respectively, as are generally accepted as usual and fair in the trade or class of labor to which they relate. The tenderer has also to furnish a list of the names of the various classts of labor which he intends to i employ, and minimum rates of wages I and maximum working hours of labor : for each working clay to be paid and | observed iv respect to each class of ' labor. Tlio contractor will be unable j to make over his contract to another ! person without the consent of the contractee, lior to sublet any part of i

but must employ his own workmen and pay them in wages, but be may v sublet such special portions of the work as, in the opinion of the contractee, * would not be produced or executed by * the contractor iv the ordinary course , of his business. Local authorities may , let contracts on the co-operative sys- c tern. We do not doubt but that Mr Reeves when he directed this Bill to ] be prepared, had an idea that in some ] way or another he was about to bene- i lit the " Pore working man." Yet if < the Bill becomes law it is more than ) possible that a grievous wrong may be ' | inflicted on a class who are already . i suflbring sufficiently from the disas trous cttects of over much grandmotherly legislation. Our reason for holding this opinion is that under the Act only the very best workmen, whether laborers or artisans would be employed. Men who could put in eight hours of hard toil under the watchful eye of a taskmaster whose sole aim and object would be not only to get value for the money he paid in wages but a legitimate profit for his enterprise. Men do not become contractors merely from motives of philanthropy, but to make a profit out of thoir superior knowledge and skill in the direction of the performance of the work, and monetary ri--k they undertake. Under these conditions the inclillerent or weakly laborer would have but few opportunities given him, for the very sufficient reason that no employer would pay full wages to a man who could only give say, two thirds value in work. By a process known as " Nigger driving" no doubt such poor fellows might be kept up to the mark for a time, but nature would soon give way, and the unfortunates h.avo to rotirs from thejob. If the contractor breaks any of the stipulations of the Act, he may be punished by fine, but his employes may olTend with perfect impunity — so tar as the Act itself is concerned. That we are not singular in objecting to the above Bill will be seen by reference to a re solution passed by the Kiwitea County Council on Saturday.