The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1887. RETRENCHMENT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1627, 30 August 1887, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1887. RETRENCHMENT.

Mb S. Buxton, in his excellent speech at Ashburton last week, put the retrenchment question in a forcible light. He said—

“He thought "that as regarded the farming community they had gone about to the bottom of the matter. The farmers had retrenched tremendously, and the farm laborers had also been subjected to the catting down process. When ha came to the colony twenty-one years ago a farmer paid £1 an acre for ploughing, and ho bad known a man pay £2 an acre and be thankful to get (he work done. Now the journaymen farmers were only too willing to plough for 5s an acre. If that was not retrenchment he did not know what was. When h* first came to the colony farm laborers received 8s for a day of 8 houra’ work. Now they were paid 5a a day, and were glad to get that, because if a farm laborer got out of employment it was difficult to regain it. He instanced a case where a steady and industrious farm laborer getting out of work had the greatest difficulty in finding employment, and was ultimately thankful to accept a situation at 10s a week. He thought that farmers and farm laborers had retrenched as low as they possibly could.”

Sir Julias Vogel said lie was shocked st hearing that the price of labor bad come down po low, and yet the cry is “We must practice economy.” Now the fact is we hare economised enough, and if we were (to retrench to starvation point we could not improve matters. Still the cry is “ labor is too dear, and local industries cannot prosper nntil the price of labor is brought down.” This is altogether erroneous. Low wages mast lessen the purchasing power of the wage-earning classes, and consequently they will not be able to buy the goods when manufactured. For instance, let ns take the examples given by Mr Buxton, He says that whereas some years ago men were paid £1 per acre for ploughing they are now glad to do it for ss* That means that ploughmen hare now only one-fonrth the spending power they formerly possessed, and consequently cannot live so extravagantly as they used to do. They must therefore “cut their cloth according to measure,” and must do with less clothes and less of the necessaries of life generally. Who has gained by this? Has the farmer ? No, he has not; he was far better off wht>n he paid £1 per acre to his ploughman. Cheap labor and cheap goods will never save the colony. There is nothing to sate it except one thing, and that is to keep the money in the colony by making goods which we now import.