The Oamaru Mail WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1251, 21 April 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 1880.

We Lave to-day received innumerable visits from men out of employment, but who are desirous of going to work on the Windsor-Livingstone railway line. The burden of their complaints, as may be readily understood, is the unreasonableness of the offer of employment made by the Government. 'Numbers of these men have wives and children, and they complain that the i rate of wages otiercd by the Govern- | ment is not sufficient "to provide food |for their families. Their complaints, too, are well grounded, as will be seen by a reference to figures. According to the announcement made by advertisement, the Government intend providing work for the unemployed at piece-work at rates which, in the case of married men, will enable them to earn 2Ss per week. In addition to this the Government provide tents and tools, and supply rat ions at Is 3d per day. No w, let us take one of a number of ease 3 that have come under our notice, and it will at once be seen that the rate of payment lias been fixed too low to avert starvation. The case in question is that of a married man, having in addition to himself and wife, seven children to maintain. He must remove his family to the scene of the work and place them under canvas, for it would be madness to suppose that the small balance he would receive, after paying for his own rations, would support his wife and family in town. To yeniov e his family to the works would entail theexpenditure of no inconsiderable sum of monev, and even after he had overcome this trouble the poor fellow would knowthat it would be a matter of impossibilitv to earn enough to pay for the rations supplied by the Government. He would have to pay 2s 6d per day for rations for himself and wife and 7id per day for those for each of his children. This would make a total of 6s 10id pei* day, or a total of L2 8s lid per week. In other words, supposing that lie could work the whole of the week, which is by no means certain during winter, and that he was a capable workmen experienced in the use of the pick and shovel, lie would earn LI 8s per week to meet tue Government's demand for rations amounting to L2 Ss IA. That is to say that after working'hard all the week he would find he was indebted to his employer when settling time came round to the tune of LI Os lid. Let us add to this the fact that the Government make no provision for firing, and that neither coal nor wood c;ui be found "within a miles of the works, and we think it will be generally admitted that the prospect held out by the Government is not so satisfactory us the fi-amers of the terms and our contemporary would have people to belies e.