QUEENSLAND SHEARERS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2905, 26 February 1891, Page 2

QUEENSLAND SHEARERS.

Sm.—To an\ one ae.piainl. d with I lie general morale of the I'pndand sheaiing community Ihe I'l-es-n'. altitude a-lo; i. ;d by that, holy is a milter of no surprise. I' tt.ir lawle-.s'i'j.-. ; , :seif indulgence, and an entire nisiegard for (he well-being of c.ther.s marks the. way of the inieensland shearer. Ih-av/n ciiielly from the criminal ela-5..-, or frou! tho,,: who are in urgent 11:■ j:ii.-i; i •:i by lh-. police for some more than -.v-aiMy alroeious oli'ence agaiu-.t, ti.e law-> of flji.-ir colony, it. -vonilb . ;i>.s„r.l f-.r one to e-.-ppti ,i lawl : lhan i-; u-ualiy eac nir.t.aed in a bai.-ii-bloek slieai itig shod. The furthc.r from tl-.e populous centres these me.n are able to !ind employment Ihe more ..alici'.J ant they with their en; igoment; tu not, do-iring io court observal.iou, there they can lie, 10-t, and be in littl-' danger of apprehension by Ihe authoii'' -s. A itranger, unaccustomed to the charactcr of these men, will, on arrival at a shearingshed, be cniiously impressed at < bserving some half-.i-doz'ii, in ashed of, nsrhips. twenty sheirers, tn-ik; precipitate retreat to their " hnnipies, " i.e., huts, where they remain until the stringer has passed on. On iii'iuiry it will be ascertained that every new-comer is looked up m as a minion of the law, and, without unnecessary hesitancy, those who are eariiastly "wanted by Ihe pol ice ' make themselves searce. As a rule these men are a most ininrovident sot, for, though in receipt of excellent wages, they usually srpnuder the whole of their earnings within a week or so after a shod has " cut out.'' Nearly every shearer is the owner of some sort of horse, from a wretched •' brumbio'' to a thoroughbred, and just before " cutting out," the publican of the neighbouring township inaugurates a raee-moeting—presumably for the benefit of the shearers : actually for his own ; a--, before the week has expired, both cheques and horses are in the possession of the publican, who, perhaps—in his bounty - -gives tho men a few shillings with which to push on. Managers of large station-, even before unionism assume 1 its nreseut proportions, had extreme dillicultv, in many instances, to control their shearers. A case came under my personal notice about eighteen months since at one of the Australian I'.lateral Co.'s stations, Gnoolooma, where the men employed on the shearing-board were all unionists ; the " ringer," or quickest shearer in the shed (wdio is generally looked upon as the leader) being likewise the delegate to the Shearers' Union. This man had been repeatedly warned by the overseer against cutting his sheep, thrm;gh carelessness, and was at longlh threatened with dismissal were lie not more careful in future, but without effect. He, ultimately, received his cheque and discharge, but rofnsed to quit tho shed, where he prevailed upon the men to shear not m >re thin one sheep per day per man, promising them union support in the meantime. The station manager sent for the police to have him removed, but, in tho meantime, the she irers bad appointed him ■' co' k " to the .-lied, which they were legally entitled to do, and the constable could not. compel him to leave. In consequence of th ) del ly the wool was con-ider-ably rlauiagod by the burr, and redised very poor piices. This i.s one of the many arbitrary actions of (Queensland shearers, the truth of wl|ich Ic<n vouch for. Personal violene • ag o.ust owners, tu angers or over-seers of stations is of more general occurrence than is known to the public, and, in in.my instances, it. is impossible io communicate wiili a police centre before the miscreants have managed Input considerable di.tine.j betwoci. themselves and the subject of then' noil-treat meat. Sunday is a day set apart by these, nioii for ribaldry and blasphemy, and I could describe scenes which I have witnessed in a shearing-shed—when an itinerant clergyman has been endei vor.ring to preach to the men—which would sieken and di-gust any human being with the slightest mora! perception. These are the men who are now threatening—and with full intention, I am conlidenfc from my kno-.vlcdge of iheto- -to devastate homestead-- and out-station--. —Yours. &c., WVSNK C. S. GUAV,