The Oamaru Mail. WEDNESDAY, SEPT, 15, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 15 September 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. WEDNESDAY, SEPT, 15, 1880.

Tin: Go-.-orr!!!!-.:;: his a great victorv. Charwomen and subordinate railway officials have been subdued. The 10 per cent.—aye, even a 20 per cent. —reduction which the Government forced upon Parliament h:ts prevailed, at least in the case of railway emploves. and the inconveniences attendant upon the initiation of such a reform have passed. So says the Commissioner of Railways for the South Island. How satisfactory. No longer will the female cleaner of offices be rendered fat, gouty, and independent by the high living superinduced by a munificent salary of L 25 a vear. No longer will guards, linemen, and others of their class, be enab'ed to wear a superabundance of clothes. Clothing, after all, is only an adjunct which unhealthy civilisation, whose luxuries are productive of reoiinality, has instituted. As for boots, they are the friend of chiropodists. An experimental acquaintance with the advantages of a vegetarian diet, too, will be forced upon them. They will no longer re vol in palatial residences, choice joints of butchers' meat, poultry, and liquors. High living is injurious for the common human constitution. It is onlj 7 adapted Ito the individuals who have been deli- ! cutely nurtured at the Colony's expense for a course of years, and who have become inured by systematic training to its palatable yet injurious, effects. Like the bacchant/or the opium eater, if they were suddenly deprived of their luxuries, they would he in danger of collapse. A paternal Government, seeing that there was imminent danger that tne railway employes might, by means of a profusion of cash, fall "victims to the bad habits of a luxurious life, deemed it prudent, when necessitated to turn their attention to retrenchment, to curtail their wages as far as possible. The permanent way laborer, for instance, now receives 0s instead of 7s per day. Thirty-six shillings a week ! Who will say that there is not a bright future in store for the man with the ability and will to work in this young and rising Colony 1 V» hat a pity it is that we have not elective Governors, so that these men might aspire to the highest position in the land. Then the Government have not been unmindful of the artisans in their workshops. A young man who wielded the hammer was in receipt of 5s per day. This was too much. Youth is liable to indulge- j» follies if entrusted with such an amount. Tne cause of humanity demanded that his salary should be reduced. The Government spurned the idea of making invidious distinctions. Thev did not single th'.3 young man ouk They adopted the H-rodian method of indiscriminate slaughter, and thus they reached him, and wno knows but that they arrested that young man in a downward career. Nur'wero the Government unmindful of a "head" carpenter, who was being ruined and soul by the luxurious wage of J2s per diem. He is now in receipt of the mora reasonable sum of 9s (id. and thus he and his fanjlly will be tuight a compulsory lesson of frugality. The} r cannot go to the Cape, or, indeed, anywhere else, because they will never be able to save to pay their passage money. Here they must remain, ami perauVenturo c-nsole themselves with the thought ti'.afc the uses of adversity are sweet. When tempted to ponder over the imaginary hardship of their wages being reduced by y0 per cent., or more, wiuist fat salaries of from LSUO to LOGO a year are only to be reduced by 10 per cent., let them seek comfort in a remembrance of tiie parable of the rich man and the poor man. Moreover, let them be prepared for the worst. The Colonial Treasurer may find it necessary to call upon them to make further sacrifices next year. If this should bo the case, we hone that they will bear the cross with Christian resignation, and not be covetous of the positions of those to pay whose fat salaries they are being subjected to grinding taxation. Tho rich have their portion in this world, the poor in the next They may yet learn to bless the Government upon whose head they have lately hurled, their imprecations. Occurrences akin to iniracle3 do sometimes occur, even in these matter-of-fact days.