The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-29

InlN puIUO1B, WHICH OuCo buAOuntou W III
lions of pounds sterling q year, IL but
n fraction of it's former volume. No money
has been borrowed from outside the colony
for some years; there Is at present so much
spare cash in Victoria that profitable in.
vestments for 1t are not found easily.
Capital, which not long g readily
obtained 9 and z per cent. interest,
can be procured now even In small
sums at 4 or Ala per cent. The savings
banks and postal saving office pay only gig
per cent. on small deposits and 2 per cent.
on large; nevertheless, the aggregate de-
posits amount to 100000 and are
increased weekly. One Of the large local
loans GIL, 500, OOO) Is about to be converted
from 4 to 8 per cent, and 10 expected to be
taken at par. In fine, Victoria Ii as we'll
of in the substantial and durable dement's
of prosperity as 1t was before the boom.
Some interesting experiments were made
by the Victorian Government during the
troubles in the way Of providing for the
unemployed. Labor colonies n village
settlements were started for persons out Of
work, and all who seemed to have the
slightest cbance Of paying their way under
such conditions were practically drafted to
them. The plan followed In the labor
colonies was to plant the men down on
the land, and, while they were raising
their first crops, to give them $3.50
a week until they had received 1915,
q maximum which was afterward ex.
tended to 5000. In the village settlements
the men were planted near swamps and al
lowed to work on their own land one week,
being employed by the Government in re-
claiming the swamps the next. The ten
ants of these settlements were enabled thus
to support themselves, while at the same
time land once worthless was made of suf-
fcient value to pay back in q few years the
outlay on the settlement. OF course many
Of the unemployed, drafted to the labor
colonies, were men who did not want to
work and could not be made to work, but
twenty-five hundred families were settled
on the lane permanently. With regard to
factories, the latest English law has been
adopted in Victoria, but many Important
additions have been made in the interest Of
women and children. There has been also
IN attempt to regulate the prices of labor;
wages boards have been appointed in
eight or nine Of what were formerly the
most sweated industries, such as the
baking, tailoring, clothing, bootmaking,
and furniture trades. Each board con.
sists, we are told, Of five representatives of
the men, five representatives of the EN-.
ployers, and an independent Chairman.
The wage settled by this board, until al.
tered by the same agency, Is absolutely
binding on all parties In the trade ; no man
is allowed to work for less, nor is any en-
ployer allowed to give less. 1t appears that
the big employers were among the most
strenuous advocates of the plan, which
has been in operation, however, but
a few months, and therefore as yet
can be regarded only as an expert
ment. An effort to do something for
farmers has also been made by the State.
The Victorian Government has arranged to
advance money in sums up to $40, 900 to
farmers on the security of their farms and
for strictly agricultural purposes. The rate
Of interest is not to exceed 4l2 per cent,
and principal and interest are payable by
half-yearly installments extending over
thirty years. Applications, it seems, have
been already granted to the amount of sew
eral thousands Of pounds sterling, and 1t is
expected that about $780, 900 a month will
be advanced for some time to come.
We add that, according to Sir GEORGE
TURNER, there is no likelihood that free
trade will be adopted in Victoria. The
protective duties lave been reduced, it is
true, and two or three years g a section
of the Victorian farmers advocated a re-
nouncement of the protective policy. But
the series of bad seasons, from which east
ern Australia has suffered, modified their
opinions. They saw the markets of New
South Wales, under a free trade regime,
flooded with cheap grain. imported from
abroad, while in Victoria the protective
duties kept out imports of food staples
and gave her farmers the benefits of the
enhanced prices, thus saving many of them
from the ruin which otherwise would have
been occasioned by the partial crop failure.