South Canterbury Times, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1880.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2364, 14 October 1880, Page 2

South Canterbury Times, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1880.

The Local Industries Association of Christchurch have adopted a highly practical method of facilitating the object for which they became organised. Not content with demonstrating the oppressive inequalities of the New Zealand tariff, keeping a watchful eye over the working of our railways, and generally defending the interests of the small capitalist and artisan, the promoters of this important movement are taking an active cognisance of the doings of the local bodies around them. We use the term " active ” because there is a vast difference between active disapproval and passive resistance. It is the habit of local bodies in this colony, wrapped up in their own self-sufficiency,to parade their contempt for outside opinion. If the hide of the local rhinocerous is to be penetrated, the measures taken must consequently be of an active character. The Local Industries Association is an institution which, at a time like the present, when the New Zealand artisan is under the heel of almost despotic influences, must necessarily gather strength. Just as Phoenix grew out of the ashes, so from the debris of starved-out workshops and factories, this organisation is likely to gather nourishment. Already it is gaining a footing among the industrial orders, which can hardly be despised ; its opinions are consulted by Royal Commissioners; its views are treated respectfully by members of the Cabinet; and the smaller orbs—Cathedral Commissioners and Harbor Boards—can only venture to ignore its action by imperilling their own constitution. The association, wo are told, have passed resolutions adverse to the conduct of the Lyttelton Harbor Board in allowing boilers for dock engines to be made at home, and of the Cathedral Commission for sending home an order for 800 chairs for the Cathedral. Now this is just the kind of action which an industrial organisation, to be useful, must take. They should not be content to depend on the chances of a political crisis—although it is well that they should recognise in Parliament the fountain head from which industrial privileges must flow—but they must exercise an active supervision over the proceedings of trust bodies. The repri raand which the association has administered to the Lyttelton Harbor Board and the Cathedral Commission may be disregarded by these bodies, but it will relegate the members to the contempt of all right-minded and patriotic colonists. It will do more, for it will arouse general attention throughout Canterbury to the manner in which public trusts are betrayed, and to the unscrupulous kind of adminis tration that characterises the proceedings

of public trustees. Here we see men sitting on public Boards, in a city where soup kitchens have been in existence for months, who have no hesitation in shipping to a foreign labor market the money that would bring food and comfort to the wives and families of the starring artisans around them. Even the picture of Dives and Lazarus—of the rich man wallowing in wealth, and the poor man feeding on his crumbs—presents no greater anomaly than that of a Cathedral Commission sending Home an order for 800 chairs, while the wives and children of unemployed joiners and carpenters are crying for bread at their door-steps. And yet these are the pillars of the Cathedral—the living corner stones I Surely humanity ought to blush. But if there is need for a Vigilance Committee to watch over the interests of local industry in Christchurch, there is equal need for such a body in Timaru. The operations of our Harbor Board are at present being delayed for want of a simple piece of machinery which was ordered several months ago, but which, instead of being made in the colony, has been ordered from Home. A small scoop dredger is wanted to clear away the sand and silt from the face of the Breakwater, prior to the laying down of the blocks, and forthwith, in the face of offers from engineers in the colony the Board Board resolve to order the article through the National Mortgage and Agency Company from England, The work is not even tendered for, but the Board buy their “pig in a bag” at the manufacturer’s price. For several weeks past the prosecution of the Breakwater has been at a standstill, and all through the non-arrival of a simple piece of machinery that could have been made in any of the Christchurch or Dunedin foundries. It is hardly necessary to suggest that in connection with the Timaru harbor works time is a most important factor—that every day is of consequence. Lately the weather has been all that could be desired for blocklaying, and were the dredger on the ground the works would now be in full swing. Instead we have a contract delayed, workmen out of employment, and a public work of a most important character, hung up, all through the determination of the Board, to wreak their vengeance on the big crane, by totally ignoring the colonial manufacturer.

Since the dredger was ordered, a second order has been despatched to Great Britain for anchors, chains, and moving tackle, a great part of which might have been manufactured in the colony. At the next meeting of the Board, a turn-table, which will probably cost £IOOO or £I2OO, will have to be decided upon. The Board’s engineer has already recommended that it should be obtained from England. AVe believe there are manufacturers in Dunedin and Christchurch quite competent and ready to turn out the apparatus required, as cheaply and far more expeditiously, than could be done by any engineering firm in the Old Country. It remains to be seen whether the Timaru Harbor Board will give the colonial manufacturer a chance, by inviting tenders, or whether they are determined to send all the money which they possibly can abroad. We trust that ns sensible colonists they will see the prudence of encouraging the outlay of capital on workshops and manufactories, and that they will prefer relieving the destitution which unfortunately prevails among the artisans of Now Zealand to feeding the insatiable merchant princes of the Old Country.