Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878] WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21 1894. THE GRIEVANCE OF THE COOPERATIVE TOILER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4654, 21 February 1894, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [ESTABLISHED 1878] WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21 1894. THE GRIEVANCE OF THE COOPERATIVE TOILER.

With the Co-operative Labourer it is not" all boer and skittles," for we republished a letter from such a man the other day which tended to show ; tbot (ha chief grievance of his olun . was a little compulsory beer and skillies imposed upon it by that friend of publicans and sinners the illustrious Seddon, Once a. month these co-opers-tivea have a pay-day, and they are tempted by the peculiar arrangements of the department to convert that payday into a birthday, The pay is distributed at certain centres where Licensed Victuallers' establishments are available, and aoute forty liitle parties north of Eketahuna averaging about five men each, make a pilgrimage to the said ceutreß, and in thirsty weather (and the weather is said to be thirsty all the year round in those parts) they also pay their devotions to the Bacchanalian shrines, and leave a portion of' thejr tod earned jnotiey behind them, Pay-day means file loss of a day's work', the disappearance of no per ptntage of fihoir earnipga, and Home inaptitude fqrtoij qa tho morrow, '{heir wives in Masterton Bnd else-Brju-rp M<l a twgi after each pay-day when they' nceiye or do got teoeive, as the case may be, their diminished allowances. We ' learn from Mr Hogg, M.jj,!}., {hat he fully ' repogpjsea thjs grievance and that, for the past twolye months he has both verbally and jp writing urged the.Premier and tho Under- i Secretary for Pubjio Works to remedy ' it by paying the men at their camps., Wo trust Mr Hogg will persist in his j effortb and insist upon justice being done to these poor men and-women , who are the victims to a temptation j whioh no Government ought to put in their way. We never thought Mr | Hogg would deserve a blue ribbon, but i if he aucceeds in redressing this wrong be wifl have done more to deserve one | jtban maDy'ybQ'prbufly wear the I bange and' scorn Jiueir fellows. % ! Hpgg assures pe tM abouj a fortnight ago he palled at the Pjiblio Works t Office to reiterate bis ponjpiaipt on i this score- though it js more of a pasjj transaction than a score—and that the t Under-Secretary gave Urn one of those offioial promises which Under- 1 Secretaries find it so easy to make and s so easy to forg.-t. Mr Hogg estimates that the men have lost in wages alone two thousand pounds, during the past twflh/emonths, by knocking off on pay days, Th'oejipeijmeotwas, we.believe tried of one man out of each party o: five going into a township and bring i'ng the wages of jbe whole gang, bui it' (di,d not answer.' ,Of course thi integrity of a cp-operativp'Jaborer » beyond' auanicpj , j)ut tften' ,tbj messenger might quench his thirst aj the jlirjne lij} beldame an unreliabh guardian pfhis niatee'feggs, §0 now all five go in together aw} yatc|> one another nnd have "a ■birthday and each sees the other home, andi the wages by degrees/grow small and beautifully less while the jolly publican waxes fat and cries" Dick Seddon for ever I" •

.( In the Wellington Education Dia» triot Sohool Committees occupy a .efflt.o/nlly humiliating position which does ilpt plitfljn;ajs.§wlierfl. It ia only 'ih -this 'i3ißtriot 'MMropifcte'esare the 'boortlacls &ts& Buperfoftody, We were .talking "to a Canterbury teacher the other day who informed us' IJjat jlowp! furj.Gtjo{)s 'ifjjpjemipiiHi'tioo;' : Iti'ey

pay teaohors their salaries nnd when ! a vacancy occurs the Bond merely reports to them what applicants are qualified for ilie position and from this list ;of qualified persona the' ooratnittee and. not the Board makes a selection; We never were impressed by either the wisdom or the fairness of the Wellington Board,'there hate been petty grievances attending its administration, which have extended over years dimply beoanse it possesses more power than discretion. The time has come. when committees should assume the responsibility and ihe honorable position wliich they occupy in othor parts of the Colony. Literary culture is'ac a low ebb in Masterton, the multitude ate content with tennis, afternoon tea and cricket, and though there may be here and there a man or a woman who takes delight in ths study of good books, we know that they are few.in number, and that the most eminentauthor of the day, if he were to appear in this town would not draw as large an audience as a comio vooalist or a circus horse, A n effort is to be made this evening by a few enthusiasts to stimulate literary oulture in this town ; by the formation of " Home Reading 1 Unions." Such Uniqns arn familiar to the Mother Country and somewhat strange to us, but there is much in thorn, Supposing half a dozen ladies, instead of gathering for afternoon tea and scandal were to assemble periodically to discuss some literary work, even if it were only a cookery book, or better still a manual on hygiene, there would be a mat'crblgain. Orsupposing some half dozen men instead of meeting to talk horse, gathered together to discuss and read some masterpieo of English literature there would be a_ decided advantage, There is uo disputing that metal training is muoh neglected in our Country districts, and that " Home Reading Unions" could be made extremely profitable to the community, Those who feel an interest in the subject and desire to know what T "Home Rending Unions" aro, and what they can do, would d„' well to attend at the Temperance Hall this evening, Mr Ilmohibon, who admittedly possessrs literary unlture, ia to preside over a " Home Reading" gathering, and will doubtless do justice to his sut.jeofc We fancy however that frivolous amusements are not likely in this town to give way- to literary culture, however desirable suoh a change may be,

The editor of our l-<oal contemporary who said the other day thai he had no money to pay for a buggy, now offers to give a hundred poundß to tho Masterton hospital if we can prove fomething with respect to his own intentions. We do not think that on this occasion ihe hospital will benefit by his generosity, fs the Association, of whioh he'is the putative parent about to take part in the Licensing elections ? He has given us no information on this point, but is beating about the bush and calling names in his characteristic manner. Is our contemporary prepared to give a plainopeu aßsavanoo that his peculiar association is not going to take port in the coming elections? If so, we ; are quite prepared to admit tbat : it is as innocuous as the author of its being, aud almost as ridiculous.

A Faibprotpr liberal association has been formed u{ Carterton, and a Pownall liberal association has been formed at Masterton, on the eve of Licensing elections. JTairbrotker is the St. George who prances, lanee in hand, to slay a certain demon dragon, and Pownall is the champion who defends ihe said dragon and defies St! George to ibe contest, All true liberals are invited to follow Mr Fairbrothcr and all' true liberals are also inviteti to follow Mr Pownall, and hie trusty Squire, Mr A. Vile, The public are a little puzzled tb know how true liberals can 6gtit on opposite sides after this fpbion, Are the Fajrbrotber liberals the true liberals or have either sides a right to olaim the support of true liberals, or is there such a tbipg as a true liberal ?