Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1895. MERCIER AND HIS PATRON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5151, 9 October 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1895. MERCIER AND HIS PATRON.

k IheWuirnrapa, very many people know Mr Merrier, tho labour agitator. On moro than one ocension he hns been- through this district, where employers and employes get alqngi fairly well together, collecting! nioney and trying to set people by the ears. Even the Liberals gave him the cold shoulder here,,as n profcssioi|iil agitator wjio was raisubievous and who was not wanted. But a Moruier meeting has just been held in Wellington, aiicl the Minister uf Labour has been indiscreet enough to attend it i\s tho patron of Merrier. Jn the course of his address, ho is reported by the N.'/j. Tims, to liavo declared that a majority of the memboiscf Parliament were elected by the country districts, and the country members could, if tliey chose, always control the House of Representatives as against the town members. Therefore, if the advanced Liberals who wore elected by the towns were to be successful in that House, they must recoivo support and co-operation from • the country, and if the Lajiour mombers of the towns wore to go oi| pasaing labour legislation and keep in ppvyer this or that Governnimi). yvbjph wa.u ready to pass labour legislation, thqy must be backed up from the country districts. That could only ha done by the workers in. the country banding themselves together and by

takiiicr as active and intelligent an interest in politics in the country as labour unions of the towns take in politics in tbe towns. He appealed to those whoso work lay in the country, to push the labour cause in the country, and to stand shoulder to shouldor with their brother unionists of the towns. The Minister of Labour makes statements at a Mercior meeting, where there is no one to answer thorn, which be would hardly dare to advance in the House of Representatives. There are Labour members in the country, as well as in the towns, and these members have a somewhat indifforent opinion of Mr Mercior, and do not think very highly of his patron, Mr Reeves. We believe that even country members aro of tbo opinion that it is high time that mischief making between man and master, should cease. Wo have heard, that when Mr Mercier was " running " tbo Wairarapa, be was anxious for Mr Hogg, tbo member for this district, to support him at a public meeting, and that the member for Masterton would not consent to bis wish. No sane person doubts that Mr Hogg is in touch with tbe Labour party of his electorate and is anxious I to benefit it, and if he held aloof from Mr Mercier, it must have been bicanse ho considered that political Paul Pry was unlikely to benefit the working men of the district. Tbe Labour party in the country can, we boliovo, bold its own without either Mr Mercier or Mr Reeves. The Minister of Labour declares that it is necessary to shut out of New Zealand, coloured people, barbarians, cheap labour, criminals nnd lunatics, but in tbe opinion of many, we could stagger under all these evils, if only wo could keep professional agitators nt arm's length, " Labour day" is upon unto us; it is New Zealand's pa v. " All - fools - day," ami should be treated as such. Before it was instituted, there was no ijiiiislion about eight hours being tbe established length of a day's work; but since it was proclaimed, . we are told that employers show a tendency (o encroach on the timehonoured limit. It is one of those foolish innovations which creates tbe trouble which it is supposed to allay. We don't want "a labour day" in this district. If there is to be a celebration, a day of fasting and ' humiliation with Messrs Seddon, Jieevus, and McKcnuie, arranged in penitential sackcloth and ashes would be the thing. We fancy that colonists dislike " humbug," and " labour day" is so highly suggestive of it, that it is generally regarded as :i sham.