The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1876. WORKING-MEN AND THE PRESS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 123, 12 September 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1876. WORKING-MEN AND THE PRESS.

\V fl have, on more occasions than one, drawn attention to what we have considered the unfair conclusions arrived at in dealing with the working classes. We have pointed out the avidity with whicli the metropolitan journals seize upon every opportnnity to misrepresent and calumniate that body: bnt we were in hopes that the ungracious spirit which we condemned traa confined to a certain section

Press. We regret to find, however, that auch is not the case, and t jatthe feeling of hostility is far more wide-spread t ;an we had imagined. In our issue of last evening, fterc app-.-ared an indignant repudiation of the reckles3 assertions and groundless charges of laziness and improvidence which liave been made against a class, w ose only crime is their inability to obtain an hone3t livelihood. Our cor- | respondent lias not retailed his grievances | in cither vjry graphic language or powerful ! rhetoric, but his statements are made in a I manner which carry conviction, and bear j the impress of truth. The tale of refusal t after refusal in his weary search is oie with which, unfortoinatcly, too many ai'e conversant, and it cannot be denied that the sad experiences related are those of hundreds of others within the I limits of this Province alone. We were yesterday *l'.own a petition wJc'.t has been prepared for presentation to the Mayor, to which were attached no less than sixtylive sirmntures. The memorial prayed thai his Worship, in his official capacity, | would take steps to provide some temporary J work until the shersring sets in. We can 1 assure the gentlemen who sit in their sanctums, and from their easy chairs inform their readers that there is no lack of employment for tlio.se who realiv seek it, that they would change their opinions had they seen the l.alf-dozen stalwart fellows by whom we have been interviewed, and heard their earnest demand for employplovinent. ft has been alleged that only ?ho«n are idle who " instead of being able | to * turn their hands to anything,' hang | about towns, doing work when they can | get it at eight shillings a day. and idling | hopelessly when they can't—waiting for • something to turn up. until the wolf is at | tlx- door, and then abusing the Govem-

im-ht, or denouncing iuimigrr.tion as the catisc of all thrir wops." It is lurther said : " In most cases they have spent in drink what would have tided fcliern i.vt-i- a did! period, and even wliere this i.-< not- th<? case, liave somehow failed to * lay i»y against a rainy day.' The accusation is as unjust as it is untrue. for the writer must know t':at perhaps by no people in t!;c world is that " tunii.tg the hand to anything ' more gc-nerally practised than by colonials ; and although fie charge of improvidence might have been substantiated in the past, times are altered now, and the reckless sweating down of cheques are happily things of a bygone age. T.ie great dramatist must have read human nature pretty accurately when he asserted That

which in the captain is but a choleric word, in the private is rank blasphemy." There is an amount of paternal care exercised on behalf of the working man which should claim his eternal gratitude, did it only emanate front a commendable ino.ive. He earns Lis wages by t've sweat of his brow ; he toils at labor which tries every muscle, and leaves him weary and tired at the day's close ; but should he be guilty of an over indulgence, or live to the extent of his means, he is characterised as drunken and improvident. We are by 110 means defending his right to be cither the one or the other; but should he unfortunately be thrown out of work unprovided for, he i 3 taunted with not "providing for a rainy daj\" Should he be a mechanic, and unable to obtain work at his own trade, he is told he is to have "no false pride about him," " labor ennobles the man, "and that feelings of delicacy should not prevent him from accepting even stone-breaking—if he can

get it. He is supposed to be a creature who should consider it a boon to work for a living, no matter what the occupation ; and in nine cases out of ten he does so, thanking Ci>d for the privilege. Now, how is it with other grades of society 1 The merchant or the banker are never accused of giving way to such a vidgar thing as drink. Oh, no ! their weakness is told in choice language—" they live welland with regard to " providing for a rainy day," that little foresight is very often practised at the expense of their neighbors. Though they meet with what is politely designated reverses—that is, when they have nut the length of their tether —the law generously comes to the rescue, spreads its /Egis over their fallen fortunes, and they resume their places in society on a firmer footing than before. We are actuated by no maudlin sentimentality, but in that spirit of fair play which is the boast of the land from which we all hail, we enter a protest against what we consider to be a grievous injustice. We admit there may be a few black sheep, but where is the class or community which is exempt. The taunt has been thrown out that none who wish work need be in want of it, and whether there be truth or falsehood in tae statement will soon be proved by the step taken by the sixty-five.