New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4525, 21 September 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21.

Messrs. Wilson and Richardson, in a letter which appears elsewhere in our paper, direct attention to a substantial grievance. Their complaint against hastylegislation is by no means ill-timed or unnecessary. While we are prepared to give every credit to Mr. Bradshaw for the great service he has rendered to factory girls, we cannot shut our eyes to the fact'that the law, with which his name is honorably associated, may become an engine of oppression in various directions. Our correspondents indicate pretty clearly one direction in which the trading classes suffer from it. We understand that the police recently intimated to the drapery houses in town that they were infringing the law regulating the hours of female labor, and although no prosecution has taken place, the uncertainty is hurtful to business. An information may be laid at any time, when the penalties provided by the statute might be enforced. Now, we hold that every interference with the freedom of trade is hurtful, and that the less the State interposes between labor and capital the better. Bearing this in mind, we cannot but regret the enactment, in this new country, of a law which ought not to be necessary, and which in truth and fact is not applicable, without undue straining, to its industrial condition. There may have been overcrowding in some ill-ventilated workrooms, but sanitary regulations would have met the requirements of the case. As for the Saturday halfholiday, competition and the scarcity of labor would have determined that matter in the interest of the workpeople. The employer would have been compelled to give way. But the Act went much, further than was necessary, and arbitrarily determined the hours of labor and relaxation, with the utmost contempt for the exigencies of trade, or the mutual dependence of employer and employed. The Amending Act, however, completed the system of State interference, and would, if put into operation, have a ruinous effect upon more than one branch of business. But if the Act, as amended, was called for, it should be rigidly enforced. There is no possible excuse for encumbering the Statute book with a law which is intended to remain inoperative, more especially as it is directed against the industrial development of the country. In England, such a statute may be necessary, not that even there we would defend its principle ; but as the law has hedged about capital in every shape and way in the British isles, it is but just and expedient that it should step in to save labor from a few of the consequences of its own abuse. The Factory Act and similar kindred measures, are simply a protest, by the growing intelligence of the nation, against the tyrannous abuse of legislative power by a governing caste. Free trade was a protest on a larger scale, but in a precisely similar direction. But here, in New Zealand, where class distinctions do not exist; — where labor is highly paid, and unhampered by any legal disabilities, it is somewhat anomalous to find trade fettered by restrictive laws, and the growth of manufacturing industries nipped in the bud by anticipatory legislation. In Victoria, where Protection has taken root, and monopolies have been created by State intervention, a law regulating the hours during which females may be compelled to drudge for a bare living may be necessary ; but we most positively deny that any such necessity exists in New Zealand. What we want in this country is complete immunity from State interference with trade and manufactures. Let the State take precautions against accidents by machinery, and enforce sanitary regulations with a view to the preservation of health; but the less tho law has to do with contracts between capital and labor, the more satisfaction will be felt, and the greater the measure of progress made in the industrial arts. Touching the subject-matter of our correspondents' complaint, we really think another amending Act might be added to the New Zealand statutes. They have pointed out a substantial grievance, created by hasty and ill-considered legislation, and in the interest of capital and labor alike, we think it should be removed. But the task should be undertaken by the Government, and not by any private member. We think, if the Government took advice on the subject from men practically acquainted with the trades and business operations affected by the existing law, that a Bill might be drafted and passed this session which would meet with general acceptance. The law, as it stands at present, is manifestly unfair and onesided, and if enforced must operate injuriously to trade.