Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 1893. A WORKING MAN UP TO DATE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4446, 16 June 1893, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878.] FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 1893. A WORKING MAN UP TO DATE.

SECOND EDITION ? 1 " J " '

J It was &• tall fine looking man who e accosted us the other day, a big i brawn; giant. He wanted assistance |'for his boots were worn out, and his ; ' feet all bat oai the ground, " With boots he could go anywhere, would . we help him to obtain a new pair ?" ; He said he was a steady, sober man, 4 he did not even smoke, and he ) glanced, almost reprovingly, at our ] cigarette. He looked healthy and we ' accepted his statement as to his ; ' temperance and abatinenoe. Still we , were puzzled, for we had never, in a i longOolonial career cameacrossateady i sober men who were beggars, His 1 looks so much in his favor that ! we began to take an interest in him J and to tell him that we would help him to get work, and so enable him • to buy boots for himself. We wouid ! put him in our own garden for that , afternoon, and then ascertain about ] the town someone who wanted a sober 1 steady man. WegavehimameaUs ' aaort of fair start for his employment, ' and then put a digging fork into hi 3 I ' hand and sot him io clean a small < patch of ground. But. as we ■ watched ■ him at his work, the idea gradually dawned upon us that we had made a mistake in offer, ing him a job. We noticed that he , endeavoured to sink his fork into the ground, without bending- his batik, I that he lifted each sod, slowly, ' antly and unwillingly,' that when ho | had to break up a sod he seemed-to hang fire and after considerable hesitation to try whether a gentle, an exceedingly gentle patj would do the trick. Then he.7would draw, himself up and gaze despairingly at his (ask, j

Hflwas evidently doing: ponance and looked like a man in purgatory. It 3 was cruel to keop lum tied to « dig" I ding fork and after he had - fen pil- j lorjed for an hour or two, a wavo of „ compassion overwhelmed us end c we decided ' to ' releaee hira. So we handed him a little money t and told him that we had \ come to the conolusion that wo could c do no more for him.' " May I knock ' off now cried our giant eagerly, and when we replied in the affirmative • his face brightened, he looked twenty I years younger, and his manly form ] once more became alert as he stepped J joyously from the scene of his punish- r ment. Then we explained to hiiu , that as a wage earner he was unlikely to "shine, but that a paternal Govern- 1 ment had instituted n new' system of co-operative. industry in which he ( might succeed. We begin to recog- j nise that there are sober, deserving ] men in this Colony who are unable < to earn wages in the open market and I for whom a labour bureau and a cooperative ooutrnot. is a special provi- ' dance, Wo trust that our giant 1 has now been admitted. into the ranks of on-operative workers, or if ; this position should prove too trying • that he will be welcomed at the Home in Wellington where, we understand, men who are dissatisfied with cooperative contracts find repose, There 1 are some men who, it is said, give the \ Home a preference, We wish the man well, and if we had possessed the intellect of tho Minister of Labour we should have known how to help ' labourers of bis stamp, As it was we failed, utterly failed, ai d so hand him over to the Minister., for Labour, who doubtless knows how to provide for him. The next man we set to work digging will require to have a pipe stuck iu the corner of his mouth and to wear a little red paint on his nose.