The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1884. THE UNEMPLOYED.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1250, 9 October 1884, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1884. THE UNEMPLOYED.

At the present time the cry of the unemployed is heard from end to end of the land, and, though it is frequently raised by persons who deserve very little sympathy, noone can deny that a great many hard-working, honest, industrious mpn are now most anxious but unable to fin' l means of earning a livelihood. The fact was proved recently in this district. The unemployed were given work here, and a great many men took advantage of it and worked hard to make fair wages. It sod to think that there should he distress, and wai>t and misery in a colon) so favored by Nature as this one is, and with only one twentieth of the population it is fit to support in comfort and plenty. But so it is ; the fact stares us in the face, and there is not the slightest doubt but the scandalous mismanagement of Government after Government is the main cause of it. Tin-re is no use in talking of Liberal and Conservative Governments, for such party lines have no existence in this colony, and the Liberals are only so while fighting to get into power. One party is not more to blame than another, and one is neither more corrupt nor more pure than another. Ihey are all tarred with the same brush, and the chief idea which governs them in all their actions is to get into office and stay there. We pointed out not long since a way in vbich the unemployed cry might be hushed, and many industrious men placed in comfortable homes. We held that on every 200 acres of land in this colony there is room for a farmlaborer, and we suggested that the Government should buy from the present owners out of each 200 acres about six acres, and lease them to agricultural laborers for life at a rental of 5 per cent, on the purchase money. There are, we are told, between 14 and 15 millions of acres of land alienated from the Crown, and it would be very easy to settle on this land about 50,000 families: that is, about ten times the number ot men we have available for such work. We have consulted many farmers on this point, but not one of them ever raised an objection to it. It was the other way, in fact. Now, if £IOO,OOO were appropriated for this purpose, the flouting population and the unfortunate men who have families and live in towns could be settled on the land, and we phould immediately hava room for a great mauy more laborers. It may be said that the colony could not afford £IOO,OOO in the preßeut state of her finances. To this we reply that Sir Julius Vogel proposes to borrow between £600.000 and £1,000,000 to purchase District Railways for no other reason than to benefit the large landowners, who built them for adding to the value of their lands. These District Railways will be a tax on the people of New Zealand for the benefit of a few, but the working men would pay 5 per cent on the purchase money of their little plots of land, which would be a source of revenue, Sir Julius Vogel proposes to spend the best part of another million on making harbors on the West Coast for lbe benefit of coalmining companies, and another million in developing the South Sea Island trade. Surely with these facts before us it cannot be eflid that to devote £IOO,OOO to the settling of people on the land is beyond the ability of the colony. The advantages of this plan would be enormous. What js wanted in this colony is cheap labor ; farmers cannot pay high wages now when the price of produce is low, and

the only way in which labnr can be cheapened is that which we have pointed out. If a laborer gets six acres of !nnd tor £2 or £3 a year, he can afford to work much cheaper for the ftinners about him than he. can under existing circumstances. For instance, what good is £1 a week to a married man who has a fam'ly and house to keep in town? Every penny of it is gone at the end of the week, and lie can never expect to be a penny above a beggar. If he bad such a home as we propose he could work much cheaper, support his family in comfort, and save money that would enable him to get a larger farm in the course of time. As it is there is no hope of bringing down the wages, for men will not work in the busy times at a low rate. Besides, the other colonies are borrowing immense sums rf money at present, and for the next few years work will be abundant in New South Wales and Queensland. The result will be that after next harvest os many men as can raise sufficient money to take them across to the other colonies will go, and we shall very soon again find ourselves driven to the necessity ol paying for bringing laborers from Europe to supply our wants. The same thing happened a few years ago, but we feel confident it will be on a much larger scale now, because there are some 30 or 40 millions of money to be spent on public works in the other colonies now, whereas this one is going to the dogs every day. There will be an exodus of laborers from our shores so sure as we have existence, wages will go up again, and immigration will have to be resorted to on a large scale to supply our wants. This calamity could be averted by adopting the plan which we have laid down.