The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1884. THE UNEMPLOYED COMMISSION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1272, 2 December 1884, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1884. THE UNEMPLOYED COMMISSION.

Ax the request of the Royal Commission on the Unemployed Question, Mr J. M. Twomey on last oaturday gave the following evidence. After having admitted that there had bpen want of employment in the district he continued as follows :— '* I think, however, that system which obtains in this colony is as much to blame as scarcity of laboi, and it is to direct the attention of the Commission to a rempdy which I have been advocating for the past nine or ten months, that I have decided to tender you evidence. Under existing circumstances landowners, except in rare instances, do not provide homes on their lands for their workmen. Married men have to live in towns in consequence of this, and single men have to go to public houses when out of employment. Thus married men have very frequently to keep two homes : one for the family in town, and a camp for themselves where they are at work. It is a mistake to think that when out in the country they are fouud in board and lodging by the farmer for whom they work. It more frequently happens that they have to find themselves in everything, because work is generally let by public tender, and the employer finds nothing. The keeping of two homes renders it difficult if not impossible to save anything, and when the men are thrown out of work they have nothing to fall back upon. As regards the single men they ruin themselves and waste their money iD the pub)ic-h»uses. It will thus be seen that when men get out of employment they have to crowd into the towns, because they have nowhere else to go to, and this has two great disadvantages ; first : the farmer or employer has to lose time in coming into town for men wh°n be wants them; and second, the men lose time in going out into the country to the work. I am given to understand that it frequently happens that farmers leave work undone rather than go into town searching for workmen, and this leads me to conclude that more work would be done by farmers if workmen were near at hand. I have been frequently assured that there is always work to be got by one man on 200 acres of land, and the scheme which I have been advocating is that Government should buy out of every 200 acres about six acres of land, and lease it for life to an agricultural laborer at either 5 or 1\ per cent, on the purchase money, It would not be necssary »o put a man on every 200 acres at present, because the population is not dense enough. For instance, the area of the T>muk» jukl Gernldine Road Districts is, rtughly speaking, about 200,000 acres, and if you were to put a m>.n on every 200 acres you would settle 1000 workmen on the land, which h far more, than is available. I cebsider that one man to every 400

acres would settle those desirous of securing such homes at present, and there is not the slightest doubt but that good workmen thus situated would find plenty cf employment all the year round. The State could not possibly lose by this because the tenant would always pay interest on the purchase money ; the farmers wculd be benefited by having a better class of workmen always nearathand, as men settled down in such homes as suggested must necessarily be better than " swaggers." As regards the married men, they wculd have the advantage of living in the midst of their work and be always at home ; they would have six acres of land for one-tenth what they pay for their homes in towns ; they would rear up their children accustomed to country life, and they could put in their spare time in cultivating their own few acres. 'I think a frugal nlan could pioduce out of six acres what would very nparly keep his family, and that in course of lime he could save out of his earnings sufficient to enable him to get a farm of his own. My scheme would enable the single men to settle dov?n and get married and share the advantages enumerated above. Calculating that the land Tvould cost £lO per acre, £600,000 would settle 10,000 laborers on the land in such homes as I have suggested, and if this were done the unemployed cry would not henceforth be heard." In addition to this he said in reply to questions that he had spoken to several farmers on the subject and that he scarcely met with one who disapproved of the scheme. The members of the Commission expressed themselves highly pleased with the suggestion, and promised to give it prominence in their report. There is therefore room to hope that something may eventually be done with regard to it, and if so we teel convinced both farmers and working men will be greatly benefited. During the two days the Commission sat there were altogether 18 men who represented themselves as unemployed, and their evidence betrayed a state of things, which, to say the least of it, showed that the " unemployed cry " was not an empty sound. ' There were amongst these men whom we know of our personal knowledge to be honest and industrious, and the spirit in which they replied to questions proved it. Borne of them ivere asked did they want relief, and they replied they did not. " I want no relief," was the manly reply made, " I want work at which I can make six or seven shilling? a day, ani lam ready to go where the work is, provided I get a tree pass to it." These independent replies convinced the members of the Commission that the men were ia earnest, and that want of employment actually existed. It is to be hoped that something will be done. _o THE HERALD'S POLICY. It is a remarkable fact that on all occasions the Timaru Herald fails to sympathise with working men. Its policy has always been to look down on them and call them " loafers," and otherwise treat them contemptuously. Consistently with this it stated that the inquiries of the Royal Commission in Timaru recently resulted in eliciting that there was no lack of employment in the district, and the member of its staff who acts as Press Association agent, telegraphed to all the papers in the colony to that effect. In contradiction of this, Mr E. F. Corley, a member of the Commission, writes as follows to the Ashburton Mail : TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I see by your issue of this morning that the above Commission is reported to have sat at Timaru, and the Press Association telegram, which announces the fact, gives some statements which I must ask you to contradict, as they are deceptive. The telegram states that only a "few men in Timaru could not find work, and were principally skilled artizans." The fact was, sir, that there were 34 good laborers, mostly men with large families dependent on them, who h<tve, up to the last two years, bad a veryfair amount of work, but who, owing to the absolute want of work now, were on the verge of distress, and in some cases short of the bare necessities of life, and on seeing the Co rem ssion were bound to admit that if they did not soon get work they would have to apply for publicrelief, but to avoid this tliev would accept work at Little River, Waiau, or anywhere. The agent of the Press Association in Timaru was correctly informed of the proceedings of the Commission, and why he should distort the facts which were clearly given to him to make it appear that Timaru was the only thriving town in the colony, when, in fact, it is exactly the reverse, is peculiar, and certain!} 7 is not the way to inspire confidence in the Association of which he is the representative. It is, however, on a par with the evidence given by the Mayor of Timaru in the morning, who informed the Commission that there was "no necessity for anyone to be out of work at tl.e present time," and that " the Commission might expect to be interviewed by one or two loafers," but there were no good workmen • out of employment. Fortunately, at the request of the Chairman of the Commission, and very mnch against his will, the Mayor remained iu the room during the greater part of the day, and was quite taken aback with some of the sworn testimony given respecting the state of the working ciass, the only relief he experienced, being when a witness admitted in reply to his (the Mayor's) question, that he lived outside the Borough boundary, at which the Mayor would complacently shrug his shoulders, as if to say "that is none of my business."—l am, etc., E. F. Corlby. Ashburton, Nov. 27th, 1884.

Comment is needless. It shows the Herald never loses an opportunity of hitting' at the workiug men, who, no doubt, will remember it in their daily devotions.