THE TRUCK SYSTEM.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1487, 10 May 1873, Page 2

THE TRUCK SYSTEM.

A public meeting was hel<| in the Town Hall last evening fop the purpose, as advertised, of putting a stop to the truck system as at present carried on by Government .cpn_tract,QssJnJihis w 4is|ric.i. .. Jn, the absence of the Mayor, who had called . the meeting, jMrWpplcock; jWas called to the chair. There was a very large attendance v ,the hall, being crowded;^ . ,^.^^, The Chairmaw .said,. he must confess that he was in ignorance of the objects of the meeting, but he was always ready to assist any public cause. He hoped/tjfiat those who had taken the initiative in calling the meeting would come forward and explain its purposes, arid place suitable resolutions before them. At the same time he offered an excuse for the absence of the Mayor, who was unwell, otherwise he would have been present to take the chair on that occasion. Mr J. H. Graham came forward, and after some preliminary remarks, said there was a system creeping into the contracts on the New Zealand roads, which was known as the • ' truck system." It had been introduced in England and other places, but wherever it had been introduced it had proved to be a curse to the working man. The system had recently been established in connection with the contract for the Arnold road, and the present meeting was held for the purpose of exposing it. He had not come there to expose any contractor in particular, but to oppose, the system in general, and to endeavor to put a stop to it. He felt sure that two-thirds of t the Arnold and Ahaura road was made out of tools and tucker, supplied by the contractors to the working men. : Owing .to the notice that the railway and Marsden road were about to be constructed, there had been a rush of men to the district, and the contractors on this road had an opportunity of " drafting them out" as suited their . convenience. After working a few -.days, -when-- the account at .the store, for.. the tools and tucker was consumed they were discharged, and a fresh gang of, men employed, who had all to purchase new tools at the contractors' store. , t Many- of the men who had done an honest day's work were, at five o'clock in the afternoon, called to the store to settle up,/ and were discharged with a few shillings, - while those who had worked alongside of them knew that they had done an. honest day's work for their money. He was sure that as many tools had been consumed on that single contract than would have made the railway line from Nelson to Greymouth. k The speaker then described the manner the contractors had of transacting business. The trades of grocer, butcher, baker, and ironmonger, were carried on in a calico tent. Every article required was there, and the workman had no excuse to ask for cash. If the merchants of Greymouth did not sympathise in the movement to abolish the truck system they would repent it, for some fine morning they would find that some of these contractors, who were their customers had skedaddled in the dark. As an instance of the extortion prac-r tised, he was able to prove that one contractor bought bread for 9d the loaf, and compelled their workmen to pay 15d for it. The Railway works were about to commence, ! and sooner than submit to the introduction of the truck system, the young men of -thej working community should do as thehj fellows did in England — pawn their, credit j their clothes, their blankets, and evjjnj starve before they would submit to It.; They had capitalists to gontend with, but if they held together and petitioned the! Government, they must succeed. : All the men of capital were not their enemies] and there were contractors who were not; nigger -drivers, and who could carry outj contracts without robbing the working]' man. The speaker concluded by remind-! ing the meeting that the holding up ,handsj to pass resolutions did not constitute an effective opposition to the truck system ; a little cost would be incurred, and he expected every man who desired to see the movement succeed, to contribute, •something towards the expenses. (Oheers.)j The Chairman here read the clause *o| the Act forbidding the payment for laborj in goods, liquors, provisions,, &c, 015 makinj payments in publichouses, or aij places other than on the works. . : Mr Graham then proposed the first resolution as follows : — ! (( That this meeting is desirous oij abolishing the truok system as injurious: to the community, and especially to the! working men employed on the Govern-! ment roads on the West Coast, and this; meeting is of opinion that the system is! carried on to such an extentf that it is be-i coming unendurable. a ? j Mr John Quinl an seconded the reso-; tion. : Mr Coe spoke in favor of the motion,; and characterised men who? took contracts at too low a price as bandits who -got the labor of working men by means of false pretences to make up for losses caused by a want of knowledge of their business; He spoke of the evils of the truck system, and counselled unity among working men if they wished to abolish it. ! Mr W. J. Coates supported the resolu? tion, He was glad to see workingmeri combine together to advance and protecj; their interests," and- he was especially pleased to see such a meeting, and to observe the order and intelligence with which the proceedings were carried out; The working mon should uphold their own interests, and they could butonly so! by refusing to recognise contractors such as were now the cause of the preseni indignation. If the men would insist upon cash payments for their labor every fortnight they would soon do away with the truck system, because men w,ould tender who could pay their men. . He had observed the evils of the system all over the world, and personally he always opposed it. He had just let a contract amounting to L3OO, and when the suci cessf ul tenderers promised to purchase! goods from him he told them he did not want their trade if they could deal to more advantage elsewhere. (Cheers.) He concluded by advising the working men to be united, and one good result would be that legitimate contractors would come forward to tender, and employ labor on public works. (Cheers.) Mr Webbr said that no man should feel afraid to express his opinion in public! on such a such a subject. He could speak from his own experience of the truck system here and in England. Here a man was put on to work, and the affair was managed so that he got paid in tools or goods, but he would advise the working men that such a mode of payment was

illegal, and ' the contractors could not recover for goods supplied on such terms. He would' advise some of them to turn on the contractors, and insist on returning the -tools and getting paid in cash. A working man here came forward and informed the meeting he was born a navvy, and he hoped to die one ; and he j-^waH ready tb"sweaittb everfth"u^thiei:la*t speaker._and .Mr Graham -,said. ; Mr Margin- KennedY said, as hia name^ haj^^een mentioned- in connection with certain contractorsJ*hV'woul3rfake the opportunity of protesting against the statement that he bad anything to do with the truck system as such. If any person came to purchase- merchandise of him, it was not his business to inquire too closely into the moral character of his customer j if he was assured the 1 payment was secure. With 'regard to -the purchase of tools and other implements, his firm did net trade in -them,- and as the chief complaint seemed to hinge upon tha tool question, he was absolved, from blame as far as those articles werV concerned. The promoters, of the. meeting must have a grievance, because there did net seem to be any contradiction to the principal statements made by the several speakers. The truck System deserved the reprobation of every 'riaari, -for the working man should get value for his labor. r 'If the charges made by contractors were fair and reasonable there would not be; cause for complaint; but if the prices were .extortionate the grievance ; was ' a ; just .!. ; pne. On . the :: other , hand ; the . contractors were not treated fairly -by, the,, Government, for they,! were not - .paid as promptly as ythey should be. •„> Kithe Government was asked to provide a remedy for the working men, the "disabilities under which the contractors were laboring should also be considered, and he" would suggest to the mover: of the' resolution to amend it, so far 'as to make it include^ request to , the Government to deal fairly by the, contractors. There \lere few men in this community who womd tender for a contract to the amfount of, say LSOOO, unless he could depend upon prompt payment.by the Government of the subsidy due in proportion to.the progress of the work; While, it wasr desirable men of reasonable, means and fair intelligence should tender for public works, it was not so advisable that men without any means at'air • to'igo T in forworkl tlfey could not possibly execute. (Cheers.) *. ■ Mr Graham said the remedy suggested by Mr Kennedy would be at once supplied by the appointment of ' a paymsfster on the Coast, who would be authorised to make payments for certified work/I The delays and difficulties of communicating with Wellington would thus be avoided. The resolution wasi then put and carried unanimously. Mr Archibald Leslie moved the following : resolution—" That this meeting is of opinion that a Government officer should be appointed to see that worjeing men on any Government contract are paid fortnightly in cash for their labor, 1 ' The speaker went through a string of prices for goods as charged by the. ; contractors on the :. roads, and showed the difference of. the prices in town. He corroborated the .statement about the extortionate price of bread on the works. Mr Stephen "PA&hs (seconded the resolution. Mr D. M'l&bnna, *hile'agreeingwitH fihe general objects of the meeting} could not let assertions pass as truth when such was not the easel" 'He 1 denied the price of bread was ever as high on the works as stated by the last speaker. The incubus of r the truck system was insiduously creeping into the body politic of the i West "Coast, and it should be strangled in its, birthj or it would; eventually dveirwhelin them. ; ' : '' r- -- Aridther speaker here stated: that riot only was the price of bread 15d for the so-called 41b loaf, but the loaf only actually weighed 3Jlb. • The resolution was supported by several other speakers, V when the', Ohiirmari put it to the meeting and declared it carried unanimously..- ...'.':- ■".'..•.."'.'■]■■'-.',- --, The : third resolution :-^That.a Committee be appointed . to . carry out the objects of the meeting,", was moved by Mr B. George and seconded by, Mr E. Raby. The resolution was carried,; and the following gentlemen were nominated as a Committee :^— Messrs Coates, Leslie, M'Gregor, Maddison, M'Kenna, Graham, Coe, Robinson, and Kerr. . The Chairman put the names of the Committee separately to the meeting. The names of other gentlemen were pro-: posed, . but. they asked.tp. "he. excjLsed_fr.pm acting for different reasons. .Jlr Kennedy declined because" the business element already on the Committee was sufficient, andamix'e'd Committee was preferable) and more likely to.effeot the, .object! desired. '' ' '■''' ' '. '''' Mr Geo. Glenn, in declining, said it was next: to impossible to abolish • what was described as the truck system, for if . put down in one direction it woufil be sure to crop up in another. : The only remedy lay with the working „men ..themselves, who should, by acquiring economical arid thrifty habits render themselves independent of contractors and : other | employers, who would attempt to introduce the truck system. Mr James Kerr said in consenting to, act on the Committee, he did so for the purpose of investigating the truth or otherwise of the serious charges* made as to the manner the public' works-. ;.were carried out. Seeing, the. number of working men at the meeting, arid the earnestness with which the subject was' taken up, he was convinced something was wrong. A letter on the subject was sent to the Amgus, and the assertions made were 110$ credited, but from the absence of all com tradiction at the meeting, t the .allegations must have a foundation in fact. The system of truck was most; iniquitous, and must not be permitted to take root in a country like this. ■ 7 - : Votes of thanks to the Chairman and to the Borough Council for %he use v df the Town Hall terminated the proceedin S s - ' ' ' ' : ~