Little Falls weekly transcript., 1894-07-06

81 0ourf and also that the enforcement U
such a law would be an Infringement
! Of the liberty of the subject AS to the.
i merits Of this contention I have Of
course nothing to say, but if the bill
| will accomplish even one half what is
claimed for it Is Is q pity it has not be-
come a. law. .
/ The labor organization are quite pre-.
pared to accept the bill as it passed the
! Legislature, but the capitalists and en-
ployers, pretty generally appear to be
very antagonistic, preferring to continue
! as at present and take their chances Of
making. terms with their employees or
even rum the risk of strike, with all
its evil consequences, rather than sub
NIT to, conditions which they might
i deem injurious to their business and re-
pugnant to their long established ideas.
But nothing is more certain than that
they will ultimately have to submit to
the new order of things. They have
! fought every measure that has passed
| parliament during the last three years,
both; in the house and outside, when
they considered their prerogatives were
in any way infringed upon, but in near
~ every instance they had to fall back
beaten
! Through many Of the laws that have
been placed upon the statute books of
New Zealand during the last few years
/ have been characterized as ''socialis-
tic' and Revolutionary, they are all
working admirably, giving the utmost
! general satisfaction. 1t can be truly
j said that the tendency Of legislation
has been to reach the landless class
and to teach them their rights and how
to obtain them There has been no at
tempt to tear down established inter-
ests, but at the same time no effort has
been spared to elevate the condition Of
the masses by placing within their reach
all that rightfully belongs to them or
that would tend toward their education
and material prosperity. Every unselfsh
and unbiased person must admit, no
matter What his personal predictions
may be, that the country in the short
space of three or four years has made
wonderful progress. This is, I think,
largely owing to the beneficial effect of
recent legislation and also, of course, to
the recuperative and productive capa-
bilities of the colony
The government owns and operates
the railways of the colony, the post
offices and telegraph and telephone
1 lines, out Of which there is made con-
siderable annual profit that goes to
swell the general revenue, thereby re-
lieving taxation to that extent There
is also a government life insurance de-
partment, which enters into spirited
competition for business with both local
and foreign companies. There is also a
government savings bank, which, with
the insurance department., yields a
handsome profit every year: All these
profits are available to assist in defray
ing the expenses of the governments
All these state institutions are satisfac-
torily and economically conducted ex-
cept the railways, to the management of
which, whether i'll or we'll founded,
some exception is taken.
The public works of the colony are
now conducted on the cooperative prin-
ciple. When a railway or highway Of
any kind is to be constructed, govern
ment engineer makes a survey and esti-
mate Of the cost. Upon the basis Of this
estimate the work is given in small Sec
tions to gangs Of men, who each receive
an equal portion of the money earned.
There is no calling for public tenders,
thus dispensing with the contractor al
together, whose profits, if any, are di-
vided among the men. The government
supplies tools and necessary material if
the men are unable to do so, charging
first cost only for whatever is supplied
in this way. The work is conducted un-
der the nominal direction Of the gov-
ernment engineer, whose duty it is to
give measurements and levels and gen.
orally to see that the work is properly
done. The men work very hard and
earn good wages. By this means they
are enabled to pocket the profits that
would go to the contractor under the
old system, and the government gets
the work done at no greater cost than
formerly. One peculiar feature Of this
method is that young, robust and mid
die aged men work together, while the
weaker and less vigorous are formed
into gangs by themselves. The younger
and stronger men object to the older
and necessarily weaker brothers be-
cause they are no longer able to per-
form their full share of the work. The
old men are, however, perfectly content
to have the opportunity to earn a iveli~
hood in this way, and they do SO very
comfortably: The cooperative system
has given great satisfaction and has to
large extent solved the problem Of the
unemployed in this colony.
Another excellent system which
!: works in conjunction with the cooper
ative principle is the ''labor bureau. -
There are several Of these bureaus i'll
charge Of government agents through
out the colony, where employers of Ia
Dor can send orders for men. If man
is out Of. employment, he makes appli-
cation to the agent in charge Of the Ia
/ Dor bureau of his district, who sends
him to some suitable occupation, paying
for his transportation, if necessary, and