THE LABORERS'STRIKE.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1202, 5 June 1872, Page 2

THE LABORERS' STRIKE.

The following h from the Home News of April 4th. :—; A social movement, that must result in important political consequences, is just ) now in progress. Strikes for wages and shorter hours of workhave beencommon enough and successful enough of-Uite,;but the latest manifestation in this direction possesses features iOf peculiar interest. The farm laborers of South Warwickshirej; a part of the country in 'which benevolence does so much towards pauperising the people, have formed thenii selves; into a union for the purpose of | obtaining the boon v sp. successfully struggled for by the operatives of London and the large" towns. The feeling in favor of high wages and short hoars^has evidently existed for some time past,ibut until a' fortnight ago little notice Jwas taken of it. For the last ten days it [has attracted almost universal attention. The newspapers have despatched their special correspondents to the pleasant Warwickshire lanes, and the private lives of \ the working classes have been described^ with an elaboration hitherto preserved for; the proceedings at seats of war and such -like important ' places. The : ' Warwickshire laborer appears by no means to have been exceptionally poor; indeed, when compared with his fellow laborer of Dorset or Devon, he may be; described as well; off.. Still, ten, twelve,.or fourteen shillings,'a week cannot go far in feeding families of three, four, or half a dozen persons, and so- the. stalwart Midlands men have formed a union, and, i£ words mean anything, intend , to abide by it and .. one another. They have a capital leader, one Arch, a^plain, practical hard-working man, who struck on his own account more than twenty years ago, and by the result of his life's labor^ proved that it can be made to pay. That the men will be successful in their endeavors seems more than probable. On Good Friday thousands of them assembled at Leamington, and a regularly organised plan of.working decided; upon. Already some good results.are apparent. , The farmers are content to concede the' increased wage demanded, but object td the unioni The men, however, are firm, and are putting in practice the policy: of migration. A good number of men have moved up north, and are there readily employed at considerably higher wages than they have hitherto received at home, The railways have absorbed some and New-Zealand is bidding high for others. The - contractors for the New Zealand railways. have opened an office at Learn* ington. They offer to pay the passageto be repaid—of strong healthy men, engaging them for at least two years at. a wage of not less than 5s a day. As a:f urther inducement, the price of provisions in New Zealand is widely published, and has not been without its effect. . A good many engagements have been entered into, and by the 20th of this month it is expected that several hundreds will be on their way to Dunedin.