The Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Dally Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER l2, 1885. DEPRESSION IN OTAGO.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 1504, 12 November 1885, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) The Oldest Dally Newspaper on the West Coast. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1885. DEPRESSION IN OTAGO.

The special correspondent of the Otago Daily Times has been interviewing all kinds of public functionaries, with the view of obtaining some valuable details as to the extent of the depression among, and its effects upon, the working classes. The result of these enquiries shows that numbers of skilled tradesmen,, carpenters, builders, &c, have left Dunedin for Australia during the last twelve months ; that many houses are empty or let for half their former rental: that many workshops, &c.,areclosed altogether, or only working half time. The "rate of* wages: is not materially les* sened, but the men can only find employment for three or four days per week. The revelations says' a writer m a Southern paper, should prove to Sir Julius Yogel and his friends that the depression is not sp imaginary as they seem to think. The worst part of the business is| that the good, hard-working men emigrate to seek employment elsewhere, while the loafers remain, to; swell the ranks of the " unemployed " who torment the Goyerni ment for work which they will not. take when it is offered to them; Another contributor m the same paper makes the following remarks : — " The depression is becoming more and more severe every day, 1 and unless something turns up before long a wholesale system of pri-i vate, and perhaps public, bank-! ruptcv will be the inevitable result. Local bodies will be unable to meet the demands made upon them by mortgagees. They will have to re-; pudiate their debts", and thus entail' an expensive collection by the' mortgagees themselves. The residents of the Taieri are now begining to feel the weight of themselves m this matter of borrowing for roads, bridges, embankments, and so on,< and the demands made upon them ' for interest, public and private, is nothing short of extortionate, and before long will tell its tale. I notice that the Hon. R. Stout m his address said he did not consider the present depression so b>id as that of 1869. Whether he is correct or not I am not m a position to say ; but this Ido say, that if the

present depression were much severer than it is there would not be a solvent man m the country. I am not one of those croakers who think the palmy day 3< — dear old days— are gonei never to return. No, I < think there are brilliant days m store for vs — and not so very far distant either, but it requires a radical change m our ways and means of producing to usher them m. The cost of production is too greats and workmen will have to" submit to a reduction m their hire. It must be .done,, and the sooner the better for all' parties concerned. A reduction is only what ,is ; 'just and fair. A few years agoi when oats, wheat, wool, and other products Were a third higher than thejr are at present, wages ..were... no .higher,* abd now that the receipts/of the employer are reduced, it is only fair that the employers* should also be reduced. Why should he not also bear a share of the reductions? It is plain enough that m the good times we lived up to our means, if not beyond them, and have laid by nothing for the proverbial rainy day, and as a consequence we are ;now suffering for our past foolishness, and extravagance, blaming everybody and every thing, but. the right thing and looking everywhere for prosperity rather than put our shoulder to the wheel and help to hasten the return of the days that we now prize so much. It is verily a truism that we " Never miss the water till the well runs dry."