The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 1879.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 33, 5 March 1879, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 1879.

No doubt most/>f our readers are aware that a difficulty has arisen m Wellington between the master printers and newspaper proprietors and' their employe's, and the public have been regaled with different and very conflicting versions of the question at issue. On the one hand it is alleged by the men that* the High rate of living and the exorbitant item of j house rent makes £3 per week m the capital-^-the standard wage of compositors— no better than £2 10s. elsewhere; while the masters allege that a demand for an increase at present is most ill-timed, owing to the very great commercial depression experienced. There can be no question that so far there is reason upon bott sides, but m order to judge fairly it is necessary that other facts should be examined, and something more than a superficial knowledge of the struggle obtained. In dealing with the disoute we feel it is a subject upon which we are warranted m offering an opinion and proffering a judgment, inasmuch as the writer of this article took a rather prominent part m the struggle of the printers of Dunedih tfgaiirst the contemptible conduct of Mr. Gbobge j MoCulloch Rbbd and his Anckland satellites. Although, as it were, our interest may now lie wit'i those of the employers, we confess our sympathies :^^im^i-%*e? l 'wfll-*trwleh- the side ' upon whicn we have alway«jtaken- part i still m pur. remarks we wiltendeayor to set aside sympathies and prejudices, dealing with all the aspects of the case m a calm, fair, and impartial manner, directed and aided by the experience which nearly quarter of: « century's acquaintance with all its bearings should let m upon the^suKjec 1 . Briefly then, the compositors of Wellington^ receive £3 per week for day work of eight hours ; and the piece-hands" -on the morning papers* receive Is, 2d.-> per thousand. We will take the,, matter, of the regular or " stab "hands first, and m doing so. have no hesitation, m saying, that the request for an advance to* £3 6s. is a reasonable and just one. , Indeed, so far as we can,, learn, the masters have not said that £3 6s. would be too much ; what they urge is that the present is an inopportune time for the demand. Now, although jWe readily believe there is much' truth m the last "assertion; and that the men ohave ac^edUnjudioiously^, m now preferring a olaim which should have been urged— and would have been granted— -twoyears ago, still the masters must not lose sight of the fact that although the request comes, at a time when the pressure is more severely felt, they have reaped the benefit of the remissness of the employes, ..and have had the prosperity to themselves* This argument will hold good, with the Post more especially, arid the jobbing offices. But there are always two sides to a question, and although we believe that the one demand of six shillings' rise to the day hands might have been given without serious effect, we firmly believe that— excepting the Post— the Epnny advance per. thousand could not aye been given with, safety by the other journals. Take the New Zealand Times, for instance » which,, according io itslast balance-sheet >( was some hun* djreds fo< the bad on jbhe year. If the,, programme snbmifted by" tKe^Assoeiai tioi\ were agreed to, further expenses ]to about £500 per year would be incurred, and it is! jus| poasible/the direeItors— who ihavej been for a long time carrying on the paper at a loss—wpuld 'get thoroughly i. disgusted andt dia,conttinaelits publication. Matters witti the Chronicle ire yeory ljttie better; *hil* jwith ihe New Zbalandep they have been a great; deal worse. For a cbnsider'a.ble itime the fate of Ithat journal hung lay a thread,^ and la compulsory increase vro,u.ld -without doubt furnish a weapon for its severance. It is., to'- be regretted, tbeni with Justice on their side, the men, should: have brought^ ■"matters to a colllision by their ill-advised raShrioßSx and it is a pity that the spirit which seemed to actuate, both masters and men ai the outset was hot allowed to continue.. -We imagine if wiser ; Counsels and cooler heads had been brought to the subject, the masters won|d have agr^d the following compromise : s Thja tb .the • {day handt to to t af pneo, and the increase of bHe p^*nny i tie > r^housan ,)* tale plhce 'three nipntns^ Jfro|ni the date of "prppositibn. ; "TlVat; would ajloiy' the master to pht otn a percentage to, to their advertising charges and other work equivalent to the increase to be met, and at the end.of the^ quarter the money would have cqme.out of the pockets of the public." "Had the men. 'made such a prppp^itionivtwe feel certain it would have been ace eptetl, as it would 'have exhibited a graneful,oc>nfidence m ttfo honor of thbtr pitJplttyers which would have borne goq^frMifc,. Of course,iU will be siud' that a step it Wpujd give the matters ■?& : opportunity

of securing hands'in the meantime, but we refuse to believe that a single one would" act so contemptibly, and we are borne out m the opinion by the kindly spirit m which the advance was met at the outset. . Now with regard to the earnings of piece-hatids at Is. 2d. It has been stated by the CJironicU— and we 'fijfmly believe the 1 statement^that compositors at that rate can and do earn £5 and £5 ,10s. per week; but when making the fact known the Chronicle did not state the number of hours which the unfortunate workmen had to toil m order to make either of the amounts. New Zealand can boast with pride of its Eight Hours' movement, but it is a blessing m which the unfortunate moming paper compositor does not participate. No; his hours are never less than twelve, more likely fourteen, so jthat although he virtually works nme days, or a week and a half, he very often does not average £3 per week, when the numbers of hours are taken into consideration. For this, however, we must confess, compositors are themselves -alone to blame, and the misstatements which employers repeatedly make as to the large amount of money taken by their hands, while doing the trade a gross injury, makes the whole profession suffer for the avaricious grasping of a class. One of the first things the Typographical Association should do would be to make it incumbent upon morning paper hands that they did not work more than eight hours, and if the distribution occupied two hours m the day, the compositor at night should be limited to six hours. It would then be seen whether m an ordiuary week's work they could cam more than £3, and the effect would be that they could consistently make application for an advance per thousand. Although this would give them more time for rest or recreation, and place a powerful reason at command to show that Is. 2d. per thousand is not enough, we feel convinced there are some amongst the craft who would decline to adopt it. Such men are a curse to their class ; fellows who so long as they themselves can grab the lion's share, do not care, who may starve ; who do not consider those who are^rto- come after "them^or even those who are associated with them ; who toil and slave night and day to the injury of the craft, and the destruction of their own health. If such men have no care for themselves, it is not likely £hey are going to have it for thoir fellows, and consequently the Association should deal with the matter. Let morning paper printers be put upon a footing with other branches of labor m the number of working hours, and it will soon be found that the employers will not bo able to quote £6, or £5, or even" £4 per week as an average. By this course a true estimate would be found as to whether Is. 2d. was sufficient remuneration or not, the hours of toil would be lessened, and for every twelve men now employed there would be work for sixteen. '