QUEENSLAND.

West Coast Times, Issue 306, 15 September 1866, Page 5 (Supplement)

QUEENSLAND.

THE UNEMPLOYED NAVVIES AT IPSWICH. (FROM THE QUEENSLAND TIMES, ATra. 25.) ' By the five minutes to three goods train from Helidon yesterday afternoon, 'about 200 of the unemployed laborers on the line between Ipswich and_ Toowoomba came down en route for Brisbane, to lay their complaints before the Governor. It does not appear that the men obtained passes ; they simply helped themselves to places' on the trucks 1 , and wheu they arrived here, no demand was made on them for tickets. The Minister for Lands, . Mr Bell, was at the- station when the train came in, and he at once got the' men together and addressed them. .Ho told them that they^ might submit their wants to him with quite as much, expectation of their being supplied asif they went to Brisbane and saw the Governor and his other responsible advisers. He told the men that the Government had , determined on doing all in their power ;' that they hoped in a few weeks to carry on the railway works much more vigorously than of late ; and that, in the meantime, relief camps would be established on the Brisbane system, for all those who were unable to obtain work. He said further, that free immigration had «been entirely stopped, the Government being of opinion that there was now a sufficient population in tho colony to carry out- all the public works likely to be executed for many ycarg to come. He thought, under- the circumstances, that the -men -would do well to return, at once .to their homes ; if they consented to do * that, a train would be at their disposal that evening. •In the i meantime, however, he said he would be happy to meet the working men's' committee, and go into the matter more in detail. Mr Bell's remarks, being delivered in a frank, kindly manner, were well received, and shortly afterwards he met the committee in one of the railway offices. The spokesman of the party,. Mi" Strachan, of Fountain's Camp; evidently a very intelligent, superior man, and one whose selection reflects great credit on the whole body of the workmen, after hearing some further remarks from Mr Bell, agreed to hand to that gentleman the petition intended for the Governor, and look to him, as the representati.ve. of the Government, for a decision. He said, however, that' he did not think the men could return that evening; ar.d Mr Bell thereupon anriounced that rations, and a place for their accommodation, would be provided. Mr Bell further endeavored to impress on the committee . that, in a time of general depression, the workmen must not expett to be alone exempt from its effects ; all had to suffer more or less, from the highest to the lowest — none could altogether escape. He thought, therefore, that the relief camps he had referred to ought to be allowed to meet the difficulty .temporarily, and that the men, being thus sure of a sufficiency at least,- would do well to refrain from further agitation ; for they might be assured that the execution ' of the railway would not be delayed. one day longer than the necessities of the Government rendered absolutely necessary. Mr Strachan said the relief camps referred to were very unpopular with the men, who considered it a kind of pauper relief, the acceptance of which degraded them in the eyes of their fellows. . . A man who had worked for sixpence a day and 'his rations could hardly hold his head up afterwards among his -mates who had earned fair wages. Mr Bell said" 1 he could quite understand that feeling, and he . sympathised with it ; he .would be very sorry to cause the working man to do anything by which he would forfeit his self-respect. But it did not spein to be remembered that he had spoken of relief tamps similar to those lately established in Brisbane ; the system there was — not sixpence a day and rations, but one pound per week and rations. He did not think such an arrangement as that — although it was considerably below the current rate of wages — involved any degradation. A man might live, upon such an allowance comfortably without denying himself any ordinary indulgence ; and then^ when better times came, which might lie in a few weeks, he would be in good spirits and health and strength to enter on more arduous and more remunerative labor. Mr Strachan then said that that was the first that any of them had heard of the Brisbane system of relief-camps. He did not doubt but that the offer wfculd be generally accepted by those for whom he was speaking. He, then, as the committee were about to retire, expressed on .his own behalf and that of all the unemployed, their sincere thanks for the very kind and considerate man•ner in which Mr Bell had received and sympathised- with them. Afterwards the spokesman of the committee addressed the body of the men outside, informing them of the result of the -interview. .The statement of the speaker, whose remarks to liis fellowworkmen were conceived and delivered in excellent terms, was very well*received, and at its conclusion three cheers were given for Mr Bell. The men then dispersed about the town, and between five and six o'clock they were served with dinner at the Railway Hotel, the goods shed being assigned to them for shelter foi\ the night. In the evening, at eight o'clock, a meeting, convened by the bellman, was held in front of the Railway Hotel, the landlord, Alderman Chine, being in the chair on the verandah. v ' The crowd

numbered .about 800 persons. The principal speeches were delivered by Mr 4 Strachan and the secretary, Mr

Goskin. The former stated that, in company with some other members of the committee, he had just had another interview with Mr Bell, who had promised to send him n xt morning a written statement of what the Government were prepared to do for them. The secretary made a financial statement, from which il s appeared that the men had nearly L I OO in hand to the credit of the common fund, the result of subscriptions at Toow'oomba and elsewhere. He also stated that Messrs. J. and G. Harris had offered them LSO, either in goods qr money, and that it | had been* determined 'to take it in goods. He expressed the gratitude of the men for the kindness they had received up to that time, and his belief that the people of Ipswich ' would not be backward in assisting them if necessary. Several addresses of a, rambling character were delivered by other speakers, including one or two by the chairman, who recommended- them not to accept Ll a week, and not to leave Ipswich till they obtained justice. The meeting, which was very orderly, then dispersed, after giving three cheers for the chairman. New Copper Mtne. — The " Queanbeyan Age" says: — "To-day (27th August) the anticipated copper mine was opened, under the direction of Mr G, W. Walters, mining engineer, who . arrived yesterday at Royal's Inn with a staff of miners, and this morning commenced operations.. The lode was un- r , covered and traced to the extent of 150 feet, and we understand that Mr Walters has stated in conversation that in all his great experience in miuing operations he never saw any that promised better success.. Average specimens of the ore, which is very rich, have been forwarded to Mr M. C. Stephen, Sydney. Various analyses ha.ye been made of the Ore. -Carbonates produced 47-9, grey and/red oxides from fifty to sixty per cent." The discoverers of the new mine, ,we . have ascertained, are two brothers named Thomas and a third man named M'Naughten, formerly of Mac's Reef.

The Mail Service via Torres Straits. — The " Port Denison Times " of the 18th ult. thus comments on the delay in the departure of the mail steamer Hero". — "The non-arrival of the Hero Avill cause great inconvenience •and possibly serious lbss to many here who have been dejiending upon- her arrival. We are not in a position yet to say whether this is attributable to malicious neglect of .our interests, or to mere bad management. Whichever may.lje the true solution of the mystery, our loss and inconvenience are the same, and the responsibility still rests upon the shoulders' of the Government. When we know for certain which it is we shall have more to say about it. At present, we can only observe that, in our opinion, the harbor of Port Denison is, for many reasons, the best port for the Australian terminus of the Batavian and Australian- mail route, and that the mails can be delivered at less expense and with more certainty by distributing them hence by a proper service of coasting boats than by the present sy_* tern of making the steamers of the trunk line run 2000 miles out of their way by going to Brisbane and back."

Missing- the Maiii. — The ",Brisbane Courier," of the Ist instant, says: — " It will not be gratifying intelligence for the public to learn that they might have spared themselves the labor of writing by the supplementary mail via Panama. Owing to some mismanagement on the part of the postal authorities, all the mails which should liave been despatched hence by the Telegraph were not put on .board, the newspapers only -having been shipped. The letters were sent down to the A.S.N. Co.'s wharf a few minutes after the steamer got under weigh, although she did not cast off from the^pier unt^l after the advertised hour of starting This being the case, the despatch clerk, whose duty it is to see the mails put on board the steamers, started for Breakfast Creek, with the view of overtaking the Telegraph, and shipping -Che mails at that place, There was every chance, of this desirable end being accomplished, for the steamers in going down the' river do not usually perform the distance in less than three-quarters of an hour' while by the t road the creek can be reached by half an hour's smart driving. Sueh t a display of common sense on the part of a Government official, however, could not be permitted, and a messenger was sent after the mail cart, with orders Hoy it ' to come back, which: it did. Thus was lost the opportunity of forwarding commercial and other correspondence to a great number of places, including all the eastern group of the Australian colonies. New Zealand, America (North and South), England, and many parts of Continental Europe."

The Unemployed in Queensland. — The ultimatum of the Government with reference to providing relief for the unemployed was made known on Thursday morning to the deputation from the public meeting held in the town-hall on that day. Mr Bell stated then that he could only "offer them 15s for three days' work v in the week, ar.d thaf all other, applications, except ' based upon that offer would be in vain. Since that date about sixty requests for employment on these terms have been made. 'The Gqvernment, howSver, , have been compelled to refuse employment to all those who have not -been at work before, until some better arrangements!, for the distribution of the men can 'be made- ; the overseers of the existing 'relief parties having been flooded with men to svkch an.oviont thnt they did not know whai I • .f ! li 'them.— " Bris-

bane Courier," Sept. 1.