THE KAIKOURA STAR. KAIKOURA, MAY 4, 1894. A Living Wage.

Kaikoura Star, Volume XIV, Issue 735, 4 May 1894, Page 4

THE KAIKOURA STAR. KAIKOURA, MAY 4, 1894. A Living Wage.

Differences of opinion regarding the remuneration manual labour is entitled to in exchange for services rendered have ever been fruitful in occasioning disputations. In recent times the question has been discussed on lines expressed in, what has become a prase, ‘A Living Wage.’ Not only is it sought to be shown what labour should receive, but what is absolutely required to maintain the labourer and those dependent upon him. An old English saw has it that, ‘ He who serves well need not be afraid to ask his wages.’ True ! But how few there are, comparatively, who get what is a just and equitable reward for their labour —this has reference, particularly, to the Old World and to the United States. It is asserted that workmen are discontented. Is there any wonder that they are so in many cases ? Have they not good reason to be so tn numerous instances ? And after all, ir is not for themselves alone, that men are expressing their dissatisfaction. The aim they have in view is the improvement of their condition—a most laudable aspiration and a desire to obtain better food, clothing and bousing'. In this Colonists, who are essentially producers, should wish them success, as it means a greater consumption of Colonial products. It has been demonstrated by Adam Smith that higher wages mean a greater amount of work done. He says : ‘Not “ merely does better living increase “ the strength and efficiency of the “ labourer, but the prospect of yet “ higher earnings and a yet better “ position is the sharpest spur which “ can be applied to his energy. Nor is “ his discontent to be taken very “ seriously, for the better his surround- “ ings are, the more likely be is to “ acquiesce in existing institutions.” That is to say, when men are enabled to improve their domestic and social conditions, rendering their families more comfortable and their homes brig titer, they become a force in the conservation of the better interests and the welfare of the commonwealth. Experience proves that where the status of the toiler is improved there i the stability of the State is the

stronger. Wherever high wages obtain there industry is the greater, whether the locality be viewed as a people or simply a single town. It has been shown that in vears of plenty, when food is cheap, labourers are better fed, more robust, and less liable to sickness than in years of scarcity, and consequently their labour produces a greater result. Since Adam Smith addressed himself so earnestly to the question of wages, and showed himself such a master of his subject, a great change has taken place in public opinion on the matter. It is shown that the axiom that low wages mean cheap work thereafter disappeared from the writings of English economists. The people of countries where the wages are uniformly small are not more industrious than the higher paid Englishman, Dutchman or American. Further, the cost of product ion in France, where wages are relatively lower, has been shown to he greater than in Britain, where wages are higher. Comparison of the same industry in the two countries shows that a larger amount of capital is required, for the same production, in France than in England because more labourers are needed, with greater superintendence and larger buildings. A well known English contractor proved that while the cost of unskilled labour is practically on a par in the majority of cases, what, he saved in wages he lost in efficiency.

Everything, therefore, goes to demonstrate the value of improving the status and general condition of the toilers. This applies equally to the reward given as wages, as it does to the comforts and enjoyments of the masses, the members of which certainly deserve their share of the good things of this world, just as much as those ‘ who toil not, neither do they spin.’