Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-11
DISTRESS IN AUSTRALIA,
Thousands Out Of Work and w,tho.,
Money.

A victoria, B. c.. correspondent Of the
Giobe-Democrat writes: An object lesson
Tor the whole world is afforded lust now
by the social conditions in Australia
where. amid the unexampled splendor OF a
few and the comfortable competence of the
many, there are tens of thousands ahso-
lutely without means to obtain a niebt,s
shelter, sleeping in the streets or squares
of the great cities. and wherever covered
spots can be found around the public buiId
ings. scantily clad and able to beg little
more than enough food to barely sustain
their miserable lives. This condition of AZ
fairs is about eight years old, but has not
improved with age. At the outset govern
ment ana municipal relief works on a gil
gantic scale provided honorable employ
ment for large proportion of the desery-
ing poor. but the collapse of the banks and
the general financial stringency compelled
of relief, which had been carried on by
means OF borrowed money, and now there
has been substituted the less expensive ex-
pedient of maintaining relief bureaus,
through which food is doled out to the
needy applicants and tickets of admission
are issued emitting the holders to a nights
rest in the penny doss houses MAIN
tanned by the efforts of charitable organize
proportion of expense of maintaining the
lodging places which the charge of a penny
per head per night does not meet Though
this sad story of distress is old and familiar
In the colonies the marked increase In the
victims of poverty has of late forced the
press to give TO the matter publicity which
has hitherto been avoided as far as possi-
pie Die, SIt travellers ave arriving by the Austria.
yond even those mentioned In the news
papers. The plain facts are that there are
Infinitely more people in Australia than
there is work for, and that there is little
rln
surplus labor until there Is a radical
change in the economic systems of the
colonies. In New South Wales for exam
pie. nearly all articles of manufacture are
imported from the old world, and though
the prices of these cheap products of En-
glish or German or other continental labor
are very low this is small consolation to
the thousands Of idle and pennfless persons
who might have found employment in max
ing them at home. In the country the con-
dition of affairs parallels that in the cities /.
the good land IL given up to the raising
of sheep by the million at the rate of one
acre for each sheep, and the number of
men employed il infinitesimally small COM
pared with the occupied area which in
cludes the best and most accessible farm
ing lands in the colonies. The arrogant ar
titude Of labor and the high rate Of wages
demanded has undoubtedly had much to DO
with making home manufacture an fmpos
sibiiity and has been q main cause of the
present deplorable condition Of Affairs. hut
1t is the effect. not the cause which now
engages public attention The Royernment
has already established a number Of ex-
perimental Village settlements" where
men work small patches OF land under Of
fetal inspection. and thousands have been
equipped with tools and supplies. SO that
they may 'fossick' for gold in abandoned
fields, which will still pay fair wages. The
steady increase. however, in the distress
makes 1t more and more apparent that to
secure permanent relief they must adopt
a policy which will make II possible for
the men Of wealth to probably employ the
willing hand that now can And nothing to
do.