THISTLEDOWN.

Te Aroha News, Volume XI, Issue 1719, 9 March 1895, Page 2

THISTLEDOWN.

“ A man may jest and tell the truth.” —Hokace.

It is too niufii the fashion in these days of ultra-liberalism, Boev ism, and so foith, to slate capitalists as the sole source of the working mev’s sorrows, but I fancy the working 1 man is, himself, in this country responsible for a large share of. them. On>y the other day a bush-clearing, contract at Te Akau was taken for .£79 old, the highest tender being £395 15s, or- five times as much, and in this district cockatoos cut out genuine working men by • taking contracts at the' price of a slick of tobacco a day. Thompson’s track is, however, the most conspicuous ' instance of workmen s selfdamnation. The Paeroa railway has of late been reserved for married men with families and after several months’ remunerative work, some of these gentlemen, want a monopoly of Thompson’s track also.

Their ringleader is the most discontented individual I have ever had the misfortune to come across in my life. One month in which they admitted they made 7s 9d a day, he growled that co-operative work did not pay for tucker; he has a herd of some twenty cattle on a public run and they don’t pay; and half an acre of potatoes which won’t cover cost of seed and labour. A captious critic might say that if your cows were starved, your calves reared on homoeopathic doses of milk for a couple of months and then turned out to get their own living, inferior seed put in undrained and half-worked land, and then but casually attended to, neither cattle nor potatoes could pay. I am content to say that a gentleman with the large family ot one, might be content with several months work on the railway, a ranche on the hill, and enough acreage for a respectable market garden on the flat, without going out of his way to take the bread out of the mouths of poorer men than himself. If he had a marriageable daughter, perhaps even he might see some necessity for unmarried men getting a living.

I trust New Zealanders have by this time learned the folly of going to Coolgardie in search of work, and if the typhoid epidemic there does destroy a lot it will probably be beneficial in the long run by hammering that conviction home. Rumours are, however, being circulated by persons evidently not quite disinterested, that when the protection term is reached a sufficient amount of laboui*’will not be available thei'e. -'lt is therefore well to circulate as widely as possible the experiences of a correspondent of the Thames Advertiser. Tenders were called by Bailey’s Reward Co. for driving a trench 40 chains long, 4 ft wide at top and Ift at bottom. 1£ feet deep. There were 19 hungry applicants and it was taken at 8s a chain. A dryblower promoted to the charge of a,condenser-and boiler, whose hours were from 6 a.in. to 10 p.m., thought himself lucky to get one pound a week and tucker. *j* * * I am' glad to see that the Dunedin Women’s Franchise- League has taken up Boxall’s case at the Thames. I claim no credit for being the only Pressman, bai* the Thames papers and-Southland Times, to expose the grossly inadequate sentence passed on Boxall, but it gives me a very poor opinion of Auckland fathers and mothers that they have left Dunedin to take the irit alive in the protest. ■X . / ,' it- . Te Aroha is just now consumed with anxiety about the new departure in business licenses. As the matter soriously aflects all business people in the place, it ought to be fought out seriously on a common basis. It would not be fair for one man taken at fandom to bear the brunt of the legal expenses, not could he afford to engage competent counsel, nor again is it wise to be beaten in detail when massed battalions carry the day. ' Not only the question of Crown or native land is at issue, but also what constitutes a business, whether for instance a man who takes an order for, a pair of boots is a business man or not. I understand a subscription has been started to fight the question and I trust it will be thoroughly supported by all interested in the town, the best available legal talent secured and the fight carried out- to a successfxd issue.

The Auckland Province has always been unfortunate in its relations with Government. Even when the great majority of her. inembers. were Ministerialists she never got her fair share of the public money, and now the leading journal appears more concerned to damage the Ministry in any possible way than to serve the interests of the people who have made it the best profityielding concern in New Zealand. Even in a case where the stability and prosperity of our goldfields are concerned, it is not considered unfair to impute improper motives to ministers. It is reported that Government will take legal steps to test the legality of the patents under which the Cassel Co. extract such a comfortable income from our mines, and our leading joumaPsWellington correspondent at once suggests that the Government is playing up to Mr Thos. Russell’s lead.

Considering that both Cyainde of Potassium and Zinc were used in gold saving long before this company was heard of, that an English court of jnstite has decided against tho validity of the patents, and that the company reduced their percentage to 2} in South Africa rather than fight on a bare threat that their rights would be disputed, the unprejudiced _ observer .can hardly think very highly of the Herald’s action in the matter. Nor is the question new even here; not long after Mr Cadman’s assumption of the Ministry of Mines he was approached with a view to Government purchase of the McArthur-Porrest patents, and he declined, on the distinct ground that their validity was open to dispute. If the offer came from the company it is another instance of their little faith in their own claims. If the anticipated Government action resulted ho more favourably than inSouth Africa, it would mean to us the working of numerous mines now either idle or trembling on the verge of liquidation, and with the bulk of mining companies, small and feeble, only Government can undertake the struggle with such a Avealthy and Influential corporation. . ■ . laypx. Things woeth knowing— Men’sColonial, suits, 21s; trousers, 6s lid; cricketing and tennis clothing, cheap, and in great variety Colonial tweeds from Is lid yard; boy’s serge and sailor suits, 7s 6d; tweed suits, 7s Od; washing drill do., from 2s 6d. Straw ■ oats, grand selection ox new goods; men’s and boy’s shirts and unuerwear, very cheap. Men’s suits to measure, 35s to 455; trout ers f^ s 6 i.nrst-class fitting. A dioss: —FEW Zealand clothhng factory, 158 and k;o, Queen-street, Auckuanu. Agents 'for Fismarck Sewing M-C iues, 2s j ->d u-wc.k, time pay incut.—Advt. ,