CONDITION OF SYDNEY.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1662, 19 November 1887, Page 3

CONDITION OF SYDNEY.

The following account of the state of trade in Sydney will be found interesting reading for Freetraders : The state of trade in Sydney at present is anything but satisfactory, and things are very much depressed indeed. Firms that have been able to employ from two to three hundred men are now almost at a standstill, and their employees are walking the streets. The number of men out of employment is very great. The Govern* ment took up the question, and hare given employment (6 a large numbar on works that are not reproductive, such as clearing scrub, etc. The men, however, who are taking th's work are chiefly of the labouring classes, and large numbers of them are being drafted off on works of this description in aU parts of the colony. The mechanics, however, are holding out in the hope that a change for the better will take place ; and in addition to this, many of them are physically incapable of undertaking the work that the Government have provided, and great numbers of them have made no application to the Government for work. This loaves the number of unemployed still in Sydney very large, indeed, and the question now assumes a i very sorions aspect. At the present time there are no less ihm four thousand bouses unoccupied in the suburbs of Sydney. This is caused by the men leaving the colony through the dearth of employment, and through two or three families joining together in one house for want of means to keep up bouses of their own. The rents are at present abhut on a level with those of Melbourne, but are coming down. When the present Parliament was elected it was generally considered that things would be much improved, but the hopes formed in that respect have not yet been realised, and trade has not increased in any single particular. It ia not only the manufacturers and working men who are feeling the depression, but it naturally affects the tradespeople very heavily, and some very large failures, chieiy in the grocery line, have been the result. In some of the establishments considerable reductions in wages have taken place, notably in that one of the largest implement and manufacturing firms in AustrHia, whose men had to consent to a reduction of 10 per cent, all round in their rate of pay. A very large portion of Sydney people wonder how it is that Tictoria makes such rapid strides in progress, while New South Wales, having such superior resources, is so entirely different. In fact, a great many ore now awaking to the question as to whether or not the fiscal policy of the country has not a great deal to do with such a state of affars. The question of Protection is receiving a very large share of public attention, and tho Protectionist party is gaining in strength .and numbers very rapidly. It now includes one who was the Freetrader of all Freetraders, the Hon. Dibbs, and the Hons. Abbott, Haydon, Barton, Fletcher, See, and many other leading politicians, who are advocating the adoption of a Protectionist tariff for the encouragement and protection of local industries. The woiking classes also now begin to recognise the fact that it is impossible for them to compete successfully agaiust the cheap labour of foreign countries. With them it is now a question of either adopting a Protectionist policy or having a decreased rate of wages. The importation of Chinese has been the ruin of the csbinet-making trade in Sydney, as it seems to hare been with the same trade in Melbourne. A thing that strikes one very forcibly, and is very surprising, is the 'fact (hat after we cross the border of New Louth Wales, Ohinese are to bo found at every Railway station. At every place we stopped at it was noticeable that all the fruit stalls were held by Chinese. There is no doubt the Chinese swamp everything they are allowed to taka up, and ia the c ibinetmaking in Sydney there are shops where over one hundred Chinese are working—and working all hours, not simply a legitimate day’s work. As yet they have only touched the cabinet-making trade, and do all the market gardening ; but although no decisive steps for their removal have yet been taken, there is a decided opinion, and there ia likely also to bo a movement in the direction, that Chinese should be n holly excluded from the colony, as they are without doubt undesirable colonists. The question, 1 must ssy, is one demanding immediate attention, and conferences of the kind we are now going to hold may help to promote any desired steps for the removal of the evil.

It is being advanced by the Freelrade party that the wages paid in Sydney are tea high, and must be brought down t« meet the time*. The rale of wages is Just about the same, if not lower, as is paid in present. The coachbuilding industry in Sydney is almost a thing of the past, through the importation of American prison-made buggies. It is compulsory that they be sent out of America and they are exported in large quantities to Sydney, and are sold at very low prices indeed. In fact, Ido not hesitate to say that a buggy of the description sent out can bo purchased for a lesser price than the material bought in Sydney would be. The woodwork and ironwork of a vehicle can be bought at a warshouso, and it only requires that they should be put together and painted. The couch manufacturers, who used to employ a large number of hands, have had to abandon the building part of their business and now pay all their attention to importing the kind of material already stated. Thsy have converted their factories into storerooms for the foreign goods, and now only do a little work in the repairing. Th Protectionist party are pretty sanguine of victory at do distant date. At the last general election it was erroneously considered that the fight was between Protection and b’reetrade. The cry really was Purkes and good government uersu* Jennings and bad government, and the sect man element was largely brought to bear in the contest.

The Mount d’Oc Company, Hokitika, washed up 2500z5., valued at £950, A dividend of Is psr share was declared. The death is announced of Sir William McArthur, head of the well-known English and colonial firm of McArthur and Co. Sir William was thrice Lord Mayor of London.

A fatal accident occurred at the Collingwcod coal mine at two o’clock on Thursday morning to Peter luverson, who was killed by a piece of rock falling on him in the drive, it required eight men with levers >o remove ihe rock. Inverseo was heard to call “ Help, help,” but be was dead when released. The poor fellow was married on the 3rd inst.

The working men have established a Labor Union at Christchurch. The Otago University Council will have to reduce the salaries of Professors shortly on account of falling revenue. “BuCHP-PAm.”—Quick, complete cures, all annoying Kidney, Bladder and Urinary diseases. At Chemists and Druggists Eempfcborne, Prosser and Co., Agents, Christ* church, I The Pukaki has left Greymouth for Melbourne with a trial shipment of upwards of 1600 tone of coal for gas purposed If this shipment turn* out satisfactorily, Melbourne consignees promise to take Greymouth coal permanently. "Bough oh Bats.’’-— Clears out mice, rats, roaches, flies, ants, bod-bugs, beetles, ineoots i skunks, jack-rabbits, sparrows, gophers' At Chemists and Druggists. Kempthorne 1 Prosser and Co., Agents, Christchurch. 1 A child three years old, named Albert Small, was killed at Invercargill on Thursday by a window sash falling on him. His mother was intoxicated at the time, and does not know how the accident happened.

Holloway’s Ointment and Pills.— Abscesses, Erysipelas, Piles. Unvarying success attends all who treat these diieass s according to the simple printed directions wrapped round each pot and box. They are invaluable to the young and timid, whose bashfulness sometimes endangers life. Though apparently local, diseases of this nature are essentially blood diseases, but a little attention, moderate perseverance, and trifling expense will enable the most diffident to conduct any case to a h appy issue without exposing secret infirmities to any one. The intment checks the local inflammation and alleviates the throbbing pains. These directions also clearly point out when and how Holloway’s Pills are to be taken, that their purifying and regulating powers may assist by adjusting and strengthening the constitution.