Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1895. THE BOILER MAKERS

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 4949, 12 February 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1895. THE BOILER MAKERS

I li AVi; take sonic comfort in an a-ssur- i mice given by Mr Seddon io (he '• Wellington boiler makers Inst week 1 llwt the country is not ripe for more ) . labour legislation, and that if it were ' .. forced too far a revulsion of feeling ' might be created. It is known that our " undesirable bill Reeves" is J anxious to force more labour legislation in the coming session, but lie c may possibly be restrained by the superior common sense of his chief. T Mr Seddon admits that Labour a legislation has for the time being , gone far enough. He is a shrewd mail uiul possibly finds that it has j. gone too far. We sincerely trust „ that in this matter he will act as a o brake on h isindiscreet colleague, w 11 o 1 in Labour matters has been a bull <' in a china shop. Mr Seddon apparently recognises that enough j crocks have already been broken and 3 even for the sake of the boilermakers will not allow a further smash. The boiler-makers have not J much to complain of. They have <j exercised considerable political inllu- ] ence and one of their number has t even been made a Legislative Coun- v cillor. The mistake they have made r is in trusting to the Government in- a stead of to themselves, in depending upon political pap instead of private j enterprise. They thought that a t working-man's Government could be t made to give them 10s a day and t work all the year round. Hut no j| Government could do this and they have had to put up with less than five shillings a day and to pay out of this their contributions to trade j, . councils. At fclio present timo out of I a roll of thirty-live only two or three r Wellington boiler-makers are in em- s ploymentand like allother men out of ' work, they make the grcvious bluni der of looking to the Government t' for aid. The State can only help y one body of men by injuring another, n and this uncomfortable truth seems 11 to have come home to Mr Seddon. c The boiler-makers threatened the g Premier with the vengeance of the ], ■ Trades Unions, but even under this 5 pressure, they did not gain their 3 point, Mr Seddon offered sympathy 1< and counsel, but 110 substantial help. c The timo has arrived for men to be S disillusionised, and to learn that they ' must depend upon themselves, rather j, than on State aid. _ The working i, man's Government is played out, ti and class legislation has proved to (i ' ho a hopeless failure. There are not ci ■ jyapting signs that shew us that as ap labour legislation is concerned, <j '"tho potato is cooked," Mr Seddon t ( ie not tho only man who lias die- w : covered that it has brought about a a

diminished wage fund, and destroyed that spirit of self-depondance, which was onco the divining rod of the New Zealand settler.

Thb teaching staff of the Masterton Public School will not accept the I responsibly of currying out tho proposed School excursions to Wellington, and it lias been decided to place tho cares of looking after the children upon parents, '['ho projected trip is mi experiment, and we trust it will realize the anticipation of its promoters. The weak point seems to be that it will not be subject to the control of any organised body If tho teachers, wont accompany the children, tho School Committee should take part in the excursion. Shelving the difiicuUy on to the parents without first ascertaining whether the latter are willing to accept it, is taking a risk.