The Daily News TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1. THE COST OF LIVING AND PARENTAGE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 212, 1 September 1908, Page 2

The Daily News TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1. THE COST OF LIVING AND PARENTAGE.

in tne Legislative Council recently ine Hon. d. iitirr suuwiiU-u a motion ui"iu" uie Government to again .De-stow Ui'ir attention on uie important subject of* the eost 01 living and the que.-.uoii of parenthood, and 111 so doing we delivered a very analytical speech. It is assumed that the question ol parenthood is closely associated will, mat of labor, and the consideration ol umu questions should be taken together. So I Jar as labor is concerned, the subject naturally divides itself under two | deads, namely, tile eenaiuty ol obtain in" employment ana tile conlnmousuess of employment; then follows the value of the purchasing power ot the wa"C« derivable from! such employment The Hon. -Mi". Barr advocates the establishment by ihe Government of a system of labor bureaux similar to the system that obtains in Germany, where, practically, all private registry oiliees have been swept out of existence. The modern facilities afforded by telephones and telegraphs lends it self to such a system. A man in the country wanting labor communicates with a Government labor bureau, ami at once a man, or men, receives a ticket and is forwarded to him. In every case preference is given by the bureau to married men.

This preference, in the important matter of obtaining employment operates as a direct incentive to matrimony. As reported, the Hon. Mr. Barr did not put the sequel in that way—he obvi' ously left it to be inferred; nor um he enlarge upon the fact that in every" land the tendency of marriage is to raise the moral tone of the community, in addition to its highly important bearing upon the increase of population. The question is the giving of a substantial preference to married men hi all matters associated with labor, and the State, as principal employer, should lead the way. Going beyond; the departments and the engagement of men for employment on public works, the Government is asked to. take the whole qucsuon of human em-', ployinent under its benign charge so, as to ensure that all through a real and substantial preference should be given to those who nave undertaken responsibilities and burdened themselves with ties. Labor goes to capital seeking for -employment, and capital, imbued with commercial instinct, very naturally picks 'tllie men that will suit it. best,' being now, as ever, perfectly indifferent about the burdens eonlinumisly falling upon other people. Asl a general rule it is the ni.ig.c i..«n wnl secures the preference, the married man going to the figurative wall. It is a question whether the establishment of Government labor bureaux will result in t'hc advantages which the Hon. Barr seems hopefully to. anticipate: Iml. however small ihe advantages iu practical working may prove, it might he. just as well that they were secured, and, as far as it is possible for the Stale to act, the burden of one of the most serious of the troubles of labor be adjusted to the shoulders of those most able to bear it.

Having, in 'this way, done his best to ensure employment for the married, the Hon. Mr. Barr takes the liberty of walking into his home and Has somep thing to say about the troubles which beset him there. Last year the duty was wholly removed from sugar, a relief designed in tihe interest of the workers, but what is the extent of the advantage the working man has derived from this sacrifice of the revenue of the country? There are jams, and numbers of other little Uiings in connection with which sugar plays an important part, and they enter largely into the domestic- economies of the home, more particularly those having relation to Uie children. What variation, it is asked, has taken place in the prices of them? Passing by, as we must, the prices of pots and pans, cut-, lery, crockery, etc., the Hon. Mr. Barr arrives at the cost of school books, which with a family of five or six cum dreu falls as a heavy burden. Then there is the good lady of the house, discharging her duty to husband and State. Again, there is the doctor to pay, and lie ought to be paid at other times Ifliau when the dark shadow of sickness faffs upon the house.

Naturally, this leads to the question of State doctor, a very large and important theme indeed. As, admittedly, prevention is better than cure, "the doctor should visit the homes of the children regularly, instead ol having to wait to be called in at the very jas;t moment, when all the skill he possessed would be unavailing." Then, "in tire years between fourteen and sixteen a girl should get some practical education, so as to lit her to take her natural and proper position in life and raise up a healthy population in the Dominion." In addition. there is ihe question of insurance, but the whole issue in that connection will shortly come ti|) for revision liefore the Legislature in connection with the Annuities Bill. Enough has been said here to show the nature of tllie roviuw en-' (ered upon by the Hon. Mr. Barr, and most people, no doubt, will agree that, in affording food for thought, it is vastly different from what has been experienced lately from those who masquerade as leaders of labor.