THE SYDNEY UNEMPLOYED.

North Otago Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8166, 22 April 1895, Page 3

THE SYDNEY UNEMPLOYED.

When ono contemplates the. magnitude and auuteneaa of the distress now being e\pcncnccd by tlio working classes of New South Walca, tho unemployed trouble of our own colony sinks into insignificance. What arc our few scores of workless men by comparison with tho thousands who are in vain seeking remunerative employment m Sydney ? According to a recent issue of tho Telegraph, there wore on a recent day 03S mon employed on tho relief works at the Centennial Park reserve, and as a fresh relay of *' half -day mon " wero to come on in tho afternoon and join thoso who woikcd the day out, ono might saf»ly estimate tho total at over 1000 men. From these 1111111bcis, and from tho fact thai in less than a month between 2000 and 3000 men have been ticketed on and off there, an idea may bo formed of the volume of distress in the city ; for these mon are only paid in rations — it is a caso of working for food. This is the scale of employment and payment : Single mon work half a day for one ration (tlbs bread, 31bs meat, 21 bs sugar, and 40/s tea) and rcceivo one tin of milk j married men without family work ono dayfor two rations, one tin milk and 21bs rico, sago or oatmeal ; married men with ono child, one day and a half for threo rations, ono tin milk and 41bs rice, etc ; with two children, one day and a half, throe rations, ono tin milk and Gibs rice, etc. ; with three children or four, two days for four rations, one tin milk and 71bs rice, oto. ; with fivo children or six, two days and a half for fivo rations, two tins milk and 71bs rice, otc. , with seven children or eight, threo days for six rations, two tins milk and 71bs rico, etc. Tho object of tho work is, primarily, charity. Indeed, many of tho mon who go there and put in a half-day or a day, accoiding to their right, are, tho Tolcgtaph nays, as unfit for the work as a pig is. unfit to swim. .Such is tho present state of affairs in Sydney ; the position is certain to bo much worso as winter advances, and we may rxpect a further influx of population to tins colony in tho couiso of the noxt thvco months.— Lyttelton Times.