No. 1.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2099, 19 December 1885, Page 4

No. 1.

Tiir fust thought wlmh mint incur t<> a ii"\v .nuvnl after a si\ m -ulh ijoiirn n tlm c>mihy, thitna,f(ei h" Ins. hid smnp littlr tune lo look ah nit I mi and inquire int't mater-*, nun', b° t «ci unto i-> .unl in ,1 gieit in" mil" iinni'r; ss u v de\ i 1 >pm <nt of the sy-iti'in of ni'rlilicui'Mi whic'i per v.ide. and 1 imi'ii'H tlmxi'h <»mij nook and cranny of the o dc\ot"d i land-". To what extent Uk> 111 1 ■wi > r p ipulaMoiis lino giown in proportion to tli it of the country ' And this t'n, in spite of th re being no 1 irg>' iiMinifactim s to account for tlii< ,il)nortn;il state of the cmntiy. How i. this? And by uh.it aie the towns sup poitod in their mateiid .ui'l pii>gres«i\e welf.uo? Appni\innt"ly theio ,ire about ."iO,O 10 people in Auckland fn .1 to>wi ri the old country having <i like popul itioti would be soon annlnb'r of luge nunu faetnrers of one sort or anoth i, <md t'i;ipli>jiiij? a large, number of lni-n, who with their wive*, families and trwk'->ni"ti supplying their wants hhiiM aecownt for .-.limit tluer fouiths of the population. 1* a quarter of the population of Auckland ropieseuti'd by skilled and uii"-killrd woikmg vi"ii, woikimr their eight hmus per day, togothci with their wives, f hiiiliuh, and the fe.v tradesman supplj'ing their wants ? I think I would bi? near the mark if I n-,o<J the word " ,ib >llt." So al) nit 12,500 people out of r>0 r OQO represent tho producing opacity of Auckland, nnd even this is .ill nving a wide scope to the wmd "producing.', The tuab «r nnd building trades will ab-ioih tho pirt, the no\t jjirntost portion will bo taken up by piodneers of public works of eery description. The nevt question is, who compose thu lest of the, population ? And how do they lno? V short tiun> back there appeared m tho Auckland papers somo letteis owning on this question, I know not whether they were written m grim earnestness oi in fun, but they asset ted that half thu population of Auckland were "land agents," and the other Inlf I think would 1)C taken up by "auctioneers." Joking aside it must be admitted by all right thinking and sensible men that there is no need whatever for fully two - thirds of tho business men in Auckland ; for there arc inei chants, land agents, auctioneers, commission agents ami tradesmen of almost every r)escri(>tion, who live solely on thp ftlundrr obtained from the country population and the working men. This stato of affurs is a disgraceful blot upon our col<inti»l civ ilisatxiu, and has but too truly and too surely helped m a great measure to hi ing this colony to t!* 1 d"presiod business stito in which we find her. We must not lone sight of tho fact that the real producing power of this colony neesenti.illy agricultural, and that " three- fourths of om exports are tho products of fanning ;"' thu n outside of the internal supplying of the wants of our own population, which must also be enorniou". The firming is tho very life, the \cry mainstay of tin*, country. What need of railways, rmdn, and facilities but fur the opening up of the country, and the bringing of that country's produce to nurkets, home and foirini Sap th° life out of this iudustiy and \im ,it once bring the business of the eoli n\ to a state of stagnation, and deprive it of its very foundation of prosperity. And but too suiely is this industry being cupphd, nay, almost deprived of life thioiigh thr inodium of this dangcroun and overgrown wysteiu of middlemen and inono|inly com panics. Surh a, tiling— c\oe|>t in trifling matters— as direct transactions between farmers and " legitimate '" ti ide^ni'Mi is un known, certainly in the pie-ent d ty he-tory of New Zcaliind. Poor deluded Mnglish farmers lenve Kngland to come heie t« farm, and think probably with great thank fnlne-s that they have for ever left all rent paying behind. They little imagine that here there is not one rent only to pay, but many. C»n a hor^c, n, beast, a *>hcep, a blado of grass in the '•hape of hay, coin, chaff, potatoes, cheese from faclono,,, or any of the larger productions of agriculture b(J disposed of but there is this infamous distillation middleman process to be gone through ? Silver goes through, an extensile process ot purification ; only m the end you have the pure article. What portion of the amount paid for farmer* produce by the consumer passes into tho pocket of tho farmer? Ho has tho proud satisfaction of knowing, that after tho process of riddling ha* been gone thmigh, he pockets the coppers, while others pocket tho gold and silver. Yes, his heart must beat with unmistakf! ible satisfaction, at knowing the unalterable fact of the day is, that othois leap tho harvest, while he " must " bo content with the stubble. Again, my fncnd>, I irpe.it, 1 wi-h I could arouno yon from your piesent dangerous lethal gy into a. full appm.i ition of your utteily untenable position, Hemember yon do not live ; you only exist ; and in how many instances is this <<\isl<>ncc ono of actual poverty ; whilst otheis out of your hard labour live in comfort and luxury ; you, they have sumptuous houses, hired Horvnntst and drive their carnages ; and all obtained from tho .sweat of the farmers and tho working man's brow*. You toil from early morning to Into at night, not for your own but for other people's benofit. ]<"or how long will you Buffer this? It nerd not bo longer than you yourselves desire. For you farmers iiro people who havo maintained and still support this H3*stem. ft is for you to pull it down ; to root it out of the land. Yon will find it a treo of n< >er. r ul and mighty giowtfo, so don't anticipate that your work in this matter will be light, for I toll you it will not. You have unscrupulous oxtortioneis to deal with, who will not give in without a terrible struggle. A power far beyond it is more than equal to the task. I mean that which I havo previously tried to impress upon you, the power of " unity." Union is ctrcngth, not [only phyhical, but moral strength, for have jou not light, honesty and justice on your Hide ? < )ne of the bot.t. J <<>stems of socialism yet propounded in any count i y is that commonly kriown .is " FouiieriHiu," a mini featuie of which is that, by a geneial community of beings hung together in one pile of buildings, the whole of tho buying and selling operations of tho commnnity being l>y "One Agent," the enormous portion of theproduoa*rf industry now carried olFhy the system of middlemen might bo leduced to tho "smallest amount," possible So that great thinkers of a few years back, fully nicogniscd the piioiuuly of the evil existing to day in this colony to a i unions extent. I might just observe that the above mentioned systom of soci ilism does not withdr iw :my of the motives foi individual c\tejti««e which exist in the pre-ent state of society. Ur Pkosim.