Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1871.] FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 1895. "WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH OUR BOYS."

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5045, 7 June 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1871.] FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 1895. "WHAT SHALL WE DO WITH OUR BOYS."

p It is understood Unit in the coming session the Hon. W. P. Reeves will rc-iutroduuc his " Musters and Apprentices Bill," mid in view of the existing; depression in the labour market, the outlook for boys in this Colony is a poor one. The principal features in the Bill in question aro said to be : 1. That no boys shall bo employed under the age of 10. 2. That they must hold a 4th Standard Certificate. 3. That after Ihey have been in the factory one month they must either belndentuml or dismissed, i. The Act specifics the rale of wages to be paid from the first to the last year of the term, irrespective of the apprentice's merits, and the pay ranges at double tlio rates usually given. 5. The Government shall appoint Technical Experts in all trades to travel through New Zealand to hold Annual Examinations of apprentices. G, 'When an apprentice lias been tec years in the factory he must come up for examination and every year thereafter till the expiration of his Indenture. V. If the apprentice fails to pass he shall betaken from his employer for a time and placed under a "proper" course of instruction, ' at his employer's expense, till such time as he can pass the required standard of excellence. The persons who are usually most anxious to solve the problem " what shall wo do with our boys" aro the very poor, Many a widow in the land will be saddened to learn that the Hon. W. H. P. Reeves is endeavouring to prevent licr boy from obtaining the employment sbedesires for him. If her boy be under sixteen years of ago ho must not work for her, if ho lias not passed the foui'Lh standard lio is boycotted, or after a month's trial in a factory, he is liable to be dismissed and rejected, Mr W. H. P. Reeves' Act ' is nn obstaclo measure to prevent boys from obtaining and retaining . employment! His trade unions are evidently afraid of boy labour competition, The Abraham of the trade unions cheerfully offers np bis son : to protect bis own wages. In the \ Celestial empire,the problem of what ' to do with -with superfluous boys and girls is solved by the head of tbo family drowning them in the first pond, Public opinion is not quite ripo for this in New Zealand, but it. is • sufficiently far advanced to bar them out of the labour market, aud by an ' arbitrary . enactment, .to deprive 1 them of thoir fair cbauce of getting 1 on in the world, Tho Chinese 4 . • " .' ' '

method of dealing with the difficulty "' is, at fivst sight, the more brutal, to but really, when we come to consider the matter, it seems CI to us to bo almost as lnvmnno m as Mr W. H.P. Reeves' Bill, which, if it becomes law, will «} throw lialf the boys in the colony 1( out of employment. There is only room for a few boy's in Mr Reeves' C social scheme, the rest must take c their chance with rabbits and other social pests. \