The Hastings Standard Published Daily. TUESDAY, JULY 28, 1896. THE LABOR DEPARTMENT.

Hastings Standard, Issue 79, 28 July 1896, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

TUESDAY, JULY 28, 1896. THE LABOR DEPARTMENT.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

The annual report of the Department of Labor presented to Parliament on Friday lasts, is the best proof of the usefulness of the new creation of the Seddon Government. Since the founding of the department the number of persons assisted, including dependents, is 55,579. While on the one hand it is to be regretted that so many have been without work, on the other it is gratifying to learn that the Department has been of practical service to the workless. The number of men assisted by the Labor Bureau during the past year shows a slight falling off, which ought to serve as a crumb of comfort to those who believe that the prospects of the colony are improving. In this respect the report refers in cheering tones to the outlook for the future. The laboring classes have reason to hope that work will be more plentiful, and we have proof of it in the fact that the present winter has not been so severely felt as in the past two or three years. When the money that is flowing so freely to the colony for mining enterprises begins to tell its tale on the pay sheets there should be no complaint of the scarcity of work, for we believe the goldfields north and south will absorb a great deal of the surplus labor of the colony. Industrial activity must follow in the wake of the mining boom, and.the prospects therefore are decidedly cheering. The working of the Shop and Shop Assistants' Act is claimed by the report to have shown a marked improvement, and also that the health and comfort of both employers and employed has greatly gained by the relaxation afforded by the passing of the Act. The weekly half-holiday is undoubtedly a much prized boon to the shop assistants, and, although it will not be admitted, it no doubt has a good effect on the shopkeepers. The Truck Act comes in for special recommendation in the report which says it is one of those strong silent measures which has for its province the upholding of the bases of modern industrial life, and perhaps there would be no greater calamity to the working classes than the withdrawal of the Act or the reversion to the old system. The report reviews in strong terms the several cases where employes have been guilty of defrauding their employers through the medium of the Act. These are described as disgraceful prostitutions of the Act, and the working man la

warned in his own interests against such tactics. Mr Tiegear, the head of the Department, who, by the way, is the best man to fill the position, strongly advocates the establishment of a place of detention and discipline for that portion of the population -fahose position oscillates between that of, the loafer and the criminal. According to Mr Tregear, the members of this class should be liable, on conviction before a Magistrate, to removal for a year or two to a farm, where simply food and clothes would be found in return for the enforced labor. The proposal, which practically means an application of the industrial school system to grown-up people, is worthy of serious consideration and a fair trial, for if it can be shown that the criminallyinclined can be diverted from their descending course and taught selfrespect and self-reliance, the community will be the gainer. Taken on the whole the report of the Labor Department is a very able one, and conclusively proves that now that the Department has overcome its initial troubles it is capable of doing great services to the working classes, as it has already done them much good. The success of the Department reflects creditably on the Government that had the sagacity and courage to authorise its establishment. We congratulate Mr Tregear on the comprehensive character of his report and the successful working of his Department.