The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 1888. The Dunedin Unemployed.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2878, 20 April 1888, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 1888. The Dunedin Unemployed.

On Thursday last two hundred unemployed working men waited on the Premier in Dunedin to ask for Government work. There are now unemployed men more or less all over the Colony, andevery centre of population in proportion to its size, can furnish its contingent. If Dunedin can assemble its 200, a place like Masterton could probably ' produce its 20. The plague spreads from one end of New Zealand to the other, and before the coming winter is over, we may expect the numbers who are now on the border of hunger and starvation, to be increased. The misery of the thing is that most of the men who are suffering from want of work are heads of families having wives and children dependent upon them, and they cannot clear out, as single men are doing, to the colonies where trade is brisker. The case of Dunedin men is the case of Christchurch, Auckland, and Wellington men, they are out of work, their wives and children are suffering. They appeal to the Government for work, but Sir Harry Atkinson says No! the duty of providing for your needs falls by law on the local bodies, and till these fail to discharge it the Government cannot step in. The Premier is right in this, for past experience has tested the valueless character of Government relief works, nor could the Ministry adequately supply the needs of all parts of the colony, which would have an equal claim for consideration. The problem of dealing with the distress of the unemployed on the most economic basis, and with the best results, is one that will hardly be solved, but we have some hope that in practice it will work out fairly well. Settlers in all parts of the colony, whether town or country, will not permit women and children to suffer'for want of food. Colonists may possibly have their faults, but they will not allow starvation in New Zealand. Local bodies will no doubt, try to discharge conscientiously the burden imposed upon them by law, but even organisations of this kind often fail in the administration oi charitable aid. The forward and clamorous applicants may get too much, and the timid aud weakvoiced ones will be passed over. A good deal of the burden will inevitably fall upon private efforts. Looking forward to a few trying months which lie ahead, we have not much apprehension of all difficulties being tided over if those who are fairly well-to-do remember that their neighbor is any individual who happens to cross their path, and who needs a helping hand, or possibly a helping word. Thoso who, unfortunately, are [ now in want, will have to bear in mind that the Government are unlikely Jo help them, and that the amount of assistance which local institutions may accord will necessarily be limited. They must, to a great extent, depend upon their own efforts to obtain work of any kind or at any price, In times like these the men , who endeavor to depend upon self help are the best off. Within a few months at the most, we may again expect some little re-action in the - labor market, more work, and fewer idle hands. The corner will be turned, we trust, in this district, without any widespread distress or privation, and when better days come, people will remember the lesson of today awl profit by it.

Mr J. 0. Boddington last evening announced his retirement' from the chairmanship of the Masterton School Committee—a position which he has filled with credit to himself and advantage to the community for a period of eight years. Mr Boddington's services to the cause of education in this town are so generally recognised throughout the Wellington Education district,that it would be idle to dilate upon them. He has been regarded as a model chairman, and Masterton has been envied by other districts for possessing so able and so successful an officer. And yet after the last annual meeting of householders here, it was only by a | fluke that Mr Boddington retained his position as chairman of the committee, and very many settlers will only realise the value of his services when they have lost them. We may fairly congratulate the" party of progress" in this town upon having shunted Mrßoddington andalso upon having killed the second' school, and wo await theirfurtherachievements with a full confidence in their capacity I for more mischief.