The Wairarapa Daily TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1891.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3913, 15 September 1891, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1891.

When we referred in our last issue to the new method of the railway construction, we had not read the full text of the Public Works Statement. The Minister in his official address explained the position in the following terms:—"lt should be arranged (1) that the men form themselves into parties voluntarily; (2) in case there are more men than work can be found for, the men of equal capabilities should ballot amongst themselves as to who is to get the work; and (3) that a classification of men be arranged beforehand, so that the abler and stronger men and those accustomed to work might receive the largest share of the profits, the next or second class men a slightly lower rate, and the older and weaker men somewhat lower rate again. By so doing tfie feeling of a man working for his fellows would be avoided, also the feeling on the part of others that they were dependent on their fellows. With a suitable classification on the lines that I have indicated the system could, I am satisfied, work on the whole admirably." Apparently the Government has adopted the moat advanced socialistic platform on this question. If the dwellers in the bush and the unemployed who throng it were uniformly angelic in their disposition ouch a scheme might be pra'cticabla, but human nature is we fancy still human nature, and we can hardly imagine the spectacle of a number of men voluntarily enrolling themselves in the second and third-class pay-lists. Had it been possible to arrange for one all round rate of wages the cooperative railway construction project might work, but the getting up of class distinctions by giving one man perhaps six shillings a day, another seven, and a third eight, must generate discord amongst the workers. We would very much like to see a co-operative movement of this kind a success, but it is quite evident that the conditions essential to such success are wanting. The argument by which the Minister supports his proposal is yery flimsy. He contends that contractors make large fortunes out of railway undertakings, but we believe that the average profits of contractors are small, and very many of them have gone to the wall altogether. The source from which the Government has got its new idea is obvious. A secret society "the Knights of Labour!" in its preamble demands tlis abolition of tlie contract system on National Slate and Municipal works. It is evident that the Government has succumbed to the influence of a secret and irresponsible society, and accepts dictation from it.