The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2936, 9 May 1891, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

lCiju.il ami exact iu:>Uce to all men, Ot whatsoever ii.ili-. or persuasion, religious or political.

SATURDAY, MAY '.), 1801.

At a farewell bauquot, given recently in Melbouiuo by ti large liumbor of gentlemen representing the commercial aud pastoral interests, to Mr E. M. Young, to whose exertions the successful establishment of the Pastoralists Union of Australia are mainly due, that n-eivtlemau, in the course of his speech, said: " Tho irreat question of tho hour, not only in tins part of tho world, but all over Europe and America was, 'is labour rereceiving' its fail- share of tho profits of the trado of the world ?' lie (Mr Young; could speak with authority of squatting in those colonies, and he asserted, without fear of contradiction, that labour was nt present receiving tho lion's sliaro. Tho clip and tho byeproducts of squatting in Australia proper, leaving New Zealand out of the question, were valued at £ 18,000,000. He would undertake to say that of that amount, labour received £8,000,000, and of the remaining £10,000,000 provided a

rcifiim amount of tin* interest for th>? snj[u:itt«'r iiml tlw British monoylendi'i', h" would stiv, witli nit iVar of contradiction, fli:it tin; capital, ho invHstoil, iliil not pvuiluco tliu saint) amount of interest that it would earn it'deriositod in any monetary institution in tho world. Unluitiimilolv. tht-y hud in the cuiinniinit.y leaders of ineu who asM!iU;d that labour was not receiving its faro share, and they would not bo coutont, as their utterances, their letters and their manifestos dearly showed, until they had control of the .squatters' propnrtios and he supposed afterwards of their lives as well. What was labour now contending for, simply for control. There was no quostion of wages.— no question of hours—no question of terms in any shape or form. All the employers insisted on was that they shouid be allowed to conduct their own busiuess ; they cared not whether a man belonged to a union or not. If tho workmon were wise and prudent enough to get men into unions well and good, but it was no business of tho squatters. What they said was: Work if you like and stop work if you like, but if you enter into an agreement with us, obey tho law of tho land.