THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1893. HOURS OF LABOR.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2500, 9 May 1893, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1893. HOURS OF LABOR.

Mr Gladstone persistently refuses to recognise the necessity for shortening the hours of labor, but says that future Liberal statesmen, who may attach less importance to individual liberty, may be of a different opinion, Notwithstanding his repugnance to the measure, however, he hag voted for the Miners Eight Hours Bill, but that pannot interfere with trade as much as it would if it became general. It is not to be wondered at if Mr Gladstone cannot see his way to support this measure when the workers themselves are not unanimous on the subject. The majority of them are, it is true, but large numbers, especially the operatives in the cotton factories, oppose the Eight Hours movement. The chief ground on which objection is raised to shortening the hours of labor is that under such circumstances competition with the Continental firms would be impossible. The Continental industries are protected; the hours of labor are longer, and there is nothing to prevent them sending their goods to England, and underselling the English manufacturers —in fact; a great deal of that k done sow. The operative? therefore fear that the result of shorter hours of labor would be that the Continent#! woods would cut the English goods of the market, that the English factories would /.hen be shut up, and that their occupation be gone. It is not that the opora*ivfcß‘ v want more work, but that they are afraid they w,?«l fl not haVO SUV work at all. We confess there is a «eV* to be said on this point, and that any iner@as§ ifl the cost of production inust be regarded as risky to a certain extent J* would undoubted'y be very hard for En-Ush mmiiffnm* to compete with their Continental rivals if one were working only eight bouts a uay while the others worked twelve or fourteen, including Sunday in some places. Here is where the difficulty arises, for nation is now competing with nation as intensely as individual with individual. And yet there is not, in bur opinion, any remedy whatever for the terribly depressed condition of the world except the shortening of the hours of labor. The products of the soil have not been so cheap for 300 years; so many have not _ been idle for ages as at present, and in our opinion the cause of this unusual social condition is enforced idleness. There are very few in the world who would not work if they could get it to do. There may be some who would work badly, and others who must be well watched to wake them work, but, taken allround, men wifi work sooner than starve. The fact that they stand all night at the gates or the docks in London in order to be first in the morning, proves this ; the fact that they are ready to accept work which is dangerous to life proves it: in short, wherever one turns the evidence is altogether on the side of those who hold tfiat the vast majority of men would willingly work if there was any work for them to do. But there is not, and hence the trouble. It is no use to say it is ail tlicij? own fault. It may be the fault of individuals that they are idle; they may bavQ neglected their opportunities and

ost their employment, but if they had I been at work others would have been idle,) so that it comes to the same thing in a national sense. To give an illustration of this, let us suppose that there is employment for half a million men in New Zealand, but that there are three-quarters of a million men in the country. That means that a quarter of a million must be always idle. If some of those who are at work to-day lose their employment some of those who are idle will step into their places, but the quarter of a million must remain idle all the same. Now the idleness of this quarter of a million men is a national loss. Let us suppose that a family is earning wages, and some members of it fall sick, their total income is decreased, while the expenses are increased : in fact, the working members are taxed to keep the invalids. It is exactly so with a nation. In a healthy condition all people should be profitably employed, and if this were so taxation and destitution would be reduced to a minimum. Throughout the world at the present time there are millions who have not sufficient food. There are over three millions in Europe, four millions in India, and, of course, we all know the condition of Russia. If all these teeming millions got enough to eat or to wear, wheat would not be sold at 2s 6d per bushel, and all the factories would be working day and night to overtake orders. There is nothing to do this except to shorten the hours of labor—not to eight, nor seven, nor six, but to whatever number of hours is necessary to give employment to all. Employment for all is what is wanted, but it is hard for any nation to accomplish that while competing with other nations which will not attempt it. The British Empire could do it by shutting her ports against foreigners and foreign products, and living within herself ; America could do it also by adopting a similar policy; but we are not within a measurable distance of this, and so we must continue to listen to the cry of starvation and take low prices for our products. It is indeed very hard for England to adopt the Eight Hours system, but, whether for good or evil, she will have to submit to it before long, and she will] also have to protect her industries irom foreign competition.