A COLONIAL TOUR. THE REV. J. S. HILL INTERVIEWED. HIS VIEWS ON LABOUR AND THE CHINESE QUESTION.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 276, 27 June 1888, Page 6

A COLONIAL TOUR. THE REV. J. S. HILL INTERVIEWED. HIS VIEWS ON LABOUR AND THE CHINESE QUESTION.

Auckland, .Juno 20. Ture Km. >l. X. If ii. i,, who hur< recently returned from «, tour through NVw Zealand a nd sevcial of the chief hownh of Australia, takes a groat intercut in matters nob only religious, bub ulko social and political, and a briei lecord of Ijm irnpre-irfioriß cannot but prove of interest. Mr UiJ) \vu« interviewed by a St\k representative ychtorday. 110 said: "Jn Sydney and Melbourne 1 met a good many Auckland young men who were doing very well, especially thoao whoweregood vtorkmen, engineers, builders, and mechanics generally. I found Kcvcral who had bettoiofl themselves hi many ways, but also a gieab many who had made I a mibtake in leaving this colony. Of course I there are Mime people who will never get on anywheie." "Do you think this state of things will la.st in Melbourne?" "I think the) c must be a reaction byand by. There is a tremendous rage tor bpeculation just now, and 1 suppose that 18 what makes lawyers' clerks in great demand. J have seen in Cullins-.stroet, .sometiineb, th>ec thousand men, drawn thither by npecuJative excitement." "Would you advise young men to go there in search ol work ? ' "Well, there h a demand foi labour in Melbourne, but it i-< no u-se for unskilled labourers to go there. The hours of labour in many trades aie very much longer than in Auckland, and wages a* a rule are lower, except in trades protected by unions.' " Do you know how the early-closing movement is progtesaing in Australia ?" "There appears to be a tendency in Sydney and Mel bourne towards keeping bbops open late at night, and competition is .so keen that I doubt if the eaily-ciobing movement will prove a success. In Melbourne, unfortunately, they have not a Factory Act like ouis, and girlb employed there are burned out into the streets from factories as late as 11 o'clock at night. You will find sometimes as many as 1,000 girlb turned out from their places of employment at that hour, This is only when theie is a. tush of woik on, and dining slack time? many are out of work. In Bullaiat I found that the fcliops had a half-holiday on Saturday." " What is your impression as to the prospects of tiade in this colony V "I think things are looking better. I visited the Mosgiel factory, and found them working as hard as they could on full time. They were not only supplying the local market, but were exporting to Australia, and they are making a fine ela^ of materials now. I noticed that the actory employed a very large number of girls and very few men." " Did you \isit any other important induchies':'' " In iUllaiat there i.s a great iron foundry called the Plumix. It is worked on the co-operati\e principle, all the men employed — ahoul 2,000 — having shaves in the profit*. They have ju&fc obtained a contract for thirty huge railway engines for the Melbourne Government. The men seemed to work together most satisfactorily. ' " Did you tee anything of the Chinese agitation in Australia ?" " Ye-5 ; there seems to be a tremendous feeling amongst the working classes against Chinese being introduced into the colony. 1 think the New South Wales Government were wrong in what they did ; they ought to ha\e co-operated with the other colonies. There were a good number of men on board the steamer which was detained who had every right to land, because they had complied with all conditions laid down by the law. As far as they were concerned, the action of the Government was unjust, bub at the <ume time it is true that a good number of those Chinamen were frauds, and some who held naturalisation papers could not speak a word of English' There is, no doubfc, a great rush of Chinese to the colonies just now, and it would in crease considerably if there were no re strictiono/' "And what restrictions would you Bug - gest, Mr Hill ?"' " I think we should adopt the American system. Some places in the Chinese quarters both in Sydney and Melbourne are awful, and I am sorry to say that some of the English women who go to their places are just as bad. It is very desirable indeed that these Chinese hovels should be prevented, and sanitary measures rigidly enforced. 1 saw something of the misfeion \»ork that is going on amongst the Chinese, and it seemed to be pretty successful. At Ballarat there were sixty Chinamen attending an unsectarian mission service, and three Chinamen were baptised in the Presbyterian Church whilst I was there." " Were there any other matters of public interest that you came across, Mr Hill ?" ' I found that in Ballarat they adopt the boarding-out system in regard to their old and poor people, instead of keeping them in one large building 1 , and this system has been fouzid to work very successfully. It is found that cases that are not very serious can be put out with widows and others, who themselves would, in any case, require some charitable assistance, and in this manner the old people are made to practi&o a sort of mutual help. The old people thus provided for are properly looked after by duly-appointed officers, and also by the Ladies' Benevolent Society. I found in Wellington a strong feeling that something should be done in regard to the larrikin element amongst young girls, which has assumed very serious dimensions." " Now, your views on the tariff, Mr ! Hill ?" " I'm a free-trader still, and I'm right against the tariff, and I think that the leading politicians hold that it would be better to still further reduce expenditure than to increase she tariff. As far as I can understand public opinion, it is that the Government must retrench still more, and there also seems to be a prevailing opinion in favour of local government, excepting in the question of education. In the matter of inspectors, is is thought it would be advantageous to have them removed from under the influence of Boards, with the view of greater efficiency and reduced expenditure. " After some further conversation on general topics, our representative thanked the Rev . Mr Hill for his courtesy, and withdrew.

The mother of the great apostle was a Paul-bearer. A guest who had been duly bidden wrote to say his " aunt had just died." An3wer wired by would-be host, "Some mistake; I didn't ask your aunt." Criminals are to be electrified out of existence in America in future. We opine, however, that in the far west Judge Lynch will continue to administer the law on oldfashioned principles. Pass the kerosene tin and we'll parody the "Mikado."