The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-12-14
Co-Operative Works System in
New Zealand,
SOLUTION OF ALL DIFFICULTIES.
Plan Explained In Detail TO Attorney
General Smith-Wage Rates Fixed
by Government Engineer Labor
Bureau Furnish Laborers, Etc.

The Premier of New Zealand in
an interview with Attorney-Gen-
eral w. O. Smith made the follow
ing explanations of the system,
which is we'll worth pondering
over. 1t shows how much thought
and care the government give to
the governed. The Premier said
in reply to a question from Mr..
Smith:
We have another system which
might prove useful to you, and that is
in connection with the carrying on of
our public works. We call it "the
CO. operative works system" We
found here, after many years in the
construction of our railways and large
public works, that we got certain
class of contractor, who, when sue
cessful in his tender, naturally en-
plOyed only the strongest and ablest
workmen he could engage. COnse-
quently the older and weaker class of
men could not get an hours work on
our contracts, and they became knock
abouts on the stations or in the towns,
or had to compete in the towns in the
labor market. This, of course, was
very undesirable state of things.
Well, in 1891 we abolished the old
contract system altogether, and inau-
gurated the system of co operative
works. We get our engineer to hx
the value of the work, and how much
it will take to pay expert laborers IS.
per day, and the amount is liked per
mile or per yard on that basis.
| oil
what was originally the contractors
profits. Each mile is then divided
| into four or five sections, and in allot-
! ting the work the married men in the
particular locality where the work is
| going on have the preference. Some
! of them NAV never have handled a
pick or shovel before. These men ap-
| ply through what Is called the LABOR
| bureau" All men out of work in a
district go to the agent of the labor
| bureau and have their names entered
upon the list as being in want of en-
ployment. When the officer in charge
| of the work requires some men he
sends down to the labor bureau agent,
and saws: "Send me up fifty men for
this particular work" The men who
are selected then form their own par
| ties. At the inception of the scheme
the idea l had was to get the strong
men to work with the weaker labor
ers, but I found that human nature
was, as usual, selfish. a section OF
railway was in course of construction
at Westport, on which some four bum
dred men were working, and the en-
| gineer was instructed to divide the
! earnings equally among the number,
! but / was not long in finding out that
the young men did net care to work
with the older men. had therefore to
amend the system, and allow the
parties to form themselves. The
young and strong men get together,
and the older men form parties
amongst themselves by mutual agree
ment. You will find that the first
class men will make IS. per day, and,
! perhaps, a fraction over. The engineer
of course, fixes the value at fair
value to the state and to the men.
! Second class men will make 65. pei
day, and third. class men 4s. per DAY.
! Previously, the latter were class ol
workmen who could get no employ
ment at all, and they are satisfied with
the wages, as they know that Is all
they are worth. The inferior labor
does not cost the state any more, al
/ though it takes the men longer TO do
| the work. The rate of pay for the
work is fixed at what is called "liv-
ing wage" Before this system was
started the men cOngregated in the
| bic cities, where there was no work OF
auy kind for them TO do They be
came disorgapized and dissOlute, and
often committed breaches of the law
We have stopped all that now. The
men apply to the Labor Bureau, and
/ are sent away into the country. l
have known men who never handled
pick or shovel before they went on
to the cooperative works earn 25. 81
per day or Is. per day for start, and,
after a couple of months work, made
their 5s. per day. They are tden aoie
to send a little toward the support of
/ their wives and families.