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Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4681, 2 April 1894, Page 2

UNKNOWN

Something departure ever sinoe a as made (hero hag been disire on tbe part"'of the hlat something as to tbe no Voi6 *? wlat are;her qualifications polsition in which she has been plaoed, • * ao| wbat experience jhe has had ia labjour ana industrial affairs, Evening Post representative, whljse duties bring him in to dailycontract with officialdom, made enquires as to the new Government offioer, and made it his business to cSjll upon her, He found Mrs A MR, the lady in question, to be '' |«»l and graceful women with al»je conversational charm whoh coB of wide ooltare and widen . s;Athies. : He found her ready talllnd to talk cleverly and npa»ear}y ;? garner from her, other soirees, this sketch is written,. Mrs.leill's intorest in labour mat. tera was! first aroused when as a girl . she listened to the earnest outpour- ' ings of Joseph Arch, to bis fellow, labourers in the villagessroundßugby. Her fathtjr was a Warwickshire landed • pi oprieto|, who took'keen interest in the welfare of-his employs and of work-people generally, and he there- j fore encouraged the strenuous .efforts I of. Arch to teach the somewhat tkiok- ! beaded and slow Hodge "to better his I condition, and with his daughter frequently went on the summer evenings to hear him addressing the villagers. A labourer like hia fellows in appearance, Aroh strovn to sow the seeds of unionism amongst the field toilers, his ' forceful, unpolished, words oarrying with them a power to penetrate the most oustom-hardened brain—and Mrs Neill says he did noble service, Mrs Neill is oonvinced that' there ,• should be no publio charity for whioh I i a return is not made in Work, for only JJt so o&Q Ub recipients DresGtL o *'-*^*I** 1 ** ■*" eelf-respeol, BheJpJkiifcarry- I V ingon yjntt'sftuggletiUabsoluta inability J obtain work or food compelled em to accept the publio dole, and moment they did S3 tbey lost s .raspeot, and sank lower «nd lower, ver to rise again. .j But M Neil's knowledge of J| labour mat j was not confined to B'. England. : r investigations of the 1 problem bight her in personal I oontact wiilmany of the leading I, Socailists J the Continent, and V especially oftertnany and France. 8 She some yeara in Ger- J

many, auriojiart of tue time euiting | and conducti the English journal at Dresden. Finally dei ing to visit Australia. Mrs Neill ceo out to Queensland, where once i re bor investigations among the rkers brought ; her in contact with 11 Labour leaders. In 1890, she ass eJ Mr William Lane, tbe founder f New Australia, in < establishing a Union for Women Workevs in Bi bane, but the troublouß times o the Western etrike, and other cau is, brought it ta an ' J end. Lane, Mrs 1 all describes of great ahilii, and but impractical Ho was proprietor of tl i Queensland Boomed \ i ] rang, prior to li 3 disposal of it to Mr : Greeley Lukio,!now in Wellington,. ! and he gained mich of his influence with tbe workes by his successful organisation of \he ebearers' campa at the time of be strike, Every man's hand las against the shearer then, an I tho local papers teemed with his :iiquities and atrocities. But the w rst charges were, Mrs Neill says, in (entions. However, the shearers, feeliig that all that re* presented capital iad authority was arrayed against ttem, lent ready ear to the splendid dreams ol' Lane, and so New Australia was conceived. But 1 for the success of that scheme, Mrs Neill can see little hope. It was tbe dream of a visionary, foredoomed to failure, for William Lane, notwithstanding his great ability and earnestness, is a wire-puller rather than a j leader of men. The gloomy outlook J in more to be .tsgretted, as- Mrs Neill / says swtfe very fine men haw igono ?3cf are going to Paraguay—men tho ! iolonies can ill spare. jf The Queensland Government bq|v pelted Mrs Neill's grasp lab Br problem and sympathy/TO) the workers and so she was appointed 1 member of the Royal Coraoußsioa i to enquire into the condition of shops I and factories in 1893—the report sub- \ mitted to the Queensland Parliament \ ;hows what a large share she took in ) its investigations. It was tbe inton- 1 lion of the Government to appoint her | [nspeotor .of Factories, but tho throes into which the colony was thrown aver the black labour and other quca- 1 lions prevented tne necessary legislation being enaoted, Tbe moral effect af the Commission, however, proved jf great value to the shop and factory employes, It was a time of great distress in Brisbane. Many thousands were out of employment, and tbe Labour Bureau was distributing obaritable aid at the rate of £7OO a month, The Government specially retained Mrs Neill to personally enquire into the distribution of this aid, and'the condition of the women and children of the necessitous unemployed, What : . she saw in the coarse of that investigation more than ever convinced her 1 that suoh .charity destroys tho objects... it seeks to relieve, for Bhe is vinced that if men or women retain their self respect, they^^^^^^H earn the bread they eat, wanted is work, not Neill, as a result of /* politan experience, wild employ .the necessitous poo&n public —hot V'havexjhemi begging joaßferL' - their food, and in so (fog losing self respect which Wents themlfflM V from dropping down \ mere pensioners on the State Unty, Tbe loss of manhood Mis Nal saw during > her Brisbane investigates, shocked ?' and pained her. / Desiring to visit New [ealand, and { hearing that it was (iioposed to y appoint a woman as nspector of j Factories for the oolony Mrs Neill ••! came ever to Wellingtonund applied I for a position which would be a con' J tinuation of the work in) which Bhe • j had taken so much interest. A j. - personal -acquaintance soon vinced.the Minister for Labour that / tbe visitor would admirably fili the' 1 requirement of a somewhat difficult jLjtl aid delicate prat, and bo' thement'wasmaije. ""■ • PqsseWt} of broad Apathies. ~ Wide culture; sound common sense! ■> exoeptiontjl experience, and Admirable ■ tactr Faotory' lMpeotor should eflect mook good both' for ; employers and for, female employe - - to whom, tb^ r usefulness of a

r The season was openefflHßM ton on Saturday by thai Red Stars ~ turning out in geod forct/on the Oral, ana indulging in a first-daft practioe, The ground, of course, was. extremely ; hard, and the players were soon pumped, Brilliant play ™ out of the question, but the form slown by dome of the younger member] augurs well t for the oomtng season, iSev. r«l new men donned the colorspr tho first time in Masterton, aifd, with their help, there is no doubt the Stars will , / hold their own in football circled this year. ( mi-;; Tbe Masterton Club commence k,' Operations neit Saturday on the f{ Worksop Road gronnd, and a gocd muster is espeoted. The Petone Football: Club wants to play a match with thoCarievton F,O.

■ Oil Queen's Birthday, but the looal A team consider the Petoneites too good them, and will try to arrange a Hfißmore even matoh. JSo doubt the wig|jra* c j)biain a moral H for their opetflpfefflff, s n <l therefore wB issues a challenge to what was only a ■ junior team laat year, Probably the ■ Masterton Club would then he ablo to B judge more correctly as to the reW puted strength of the Petoneites this l season.

It is to be hoped that more raitohea Will be arranged this season between the looal oluba and Bush representatives. Masterton Clubs were very slow last year, and very few foreign matches were played. Probably they will have more spirit in them in the future. " Diok " Wallace, a bright little three-qoarter, who played vrith the Bed Stars several seasons ago, is | coming back to Masterton,and should prove a great acquisition to his old I Club. J. Emmeit, an ex -captain of the Club, will aho don the Star I J colours, I Dr. Bateraont, one of the vicek Presidents of the Stare, lias presented medal to be.comptku for this t/a gam l ), and nas pre* O 1 jn Saturday, injggg un/ging in {be pnatimo wrthue boys, H Atid gi'iug good-natured !}vioe all BH round. He thoroughly unerstands WB every point of the game, ad should H prove an excellent refereifor looal H W.J, Le Oren, a briliantfootHB bailer, well-known all o'er New B Zealand, and who visited Master ton H with the Canterbury reprsentatives in 1890, iB now one of th< foremost in the Hartlepool Rivera Club England, At the meeting of the Marlborough HP Rugby Union laßt week, itwaß stated Bv that an effort would bi made this Br year to return the visit (f the WaiB& rarapa representatines, I • Canterbury Joins the Hew 9 Zealand Union, ■ (By Telegraph.—Freas Association). H Chiiistohuboh/ April 1. IB The Canterbury Rugby Union at a night, decided by e large BKftijtii the New Zealand j^Bpnion.nfcr