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On the Labour Question.

I should not presume to stand here before a company of workers, and, doubtless, also of thinkers, were I not myself a worker, and, besides, a thinker, or, if that sounds too grand, one who thinks. I take a general interest in politics, of course; I take a special interest in the unemployed, or surplus labour question, and in that fearful subject, pauperism. Now, before I begin on the subject proper, I must preface a little. We all know very well that idea is the first thing. Somebody once said: "The ideas of one generation are the laws of the next." This is a thought that, however familiar to us, we must always be re-realising. In this way it is a wonder, it is a true miracle, when we bring it home to our minds, what you and I are thinking, saying, feeling this evening may affect the well-being of our country in the next generation. Men must excuse us women if we make a point of what they have known and realised for so long, especially if we make much of this, the importance of thought, idea. To a large extent, thought has lain dormant in woman, and the very fact of their gaining the franchise has quickened thought to life, especially amongst the workers. I often think about that wonderful thing, my vote; I would that every woman thought about her vote as though it were a priceless treasure.

Now, I will tell you what I believe to be an idea of the very first importance; it is this, that New Zealand should take the lead when the labour problem is being discussed, and not follow the lead of older countries. In this lies one of our dangers: the page 196 allowing our young, and fair, and beautiful New Zealand to be disfigured by the wearing of the cast-clothing of the old countries of the world. By cast-clothing, I mean old, worn, or worn-out ideas. New Zealand may accept from old countries the jewels of good laws and precedents; these are acceptable and will shine with all the more lustre when worn by the youthful beauty; but let her garments, her ideas, be new. Let us cast away patching and patchers. Patching is a good thing if it is the only thing we can do to fill up a gap, and all honour to the patchers of the past—the politicians, the philanthropists,—even the crazy patch-workers have done wonderful work. We see behind us miles of lovely patchwork, embroidered with charitable relief and the amelioration of the condition of the working-class. We are bewildered with rich embroidery that covers the patches, and we say, "Could anything be more beautiful than charitable relief?" But stay, the human eye, with its perfect circle and its exquisite, but simply curving lid, turns with relief to form well defined something that speaks for itself, and before which we stand speechless, for there is meaning in that homely common expression, struck dumb by her beauty, or its beauty.

Now, if I speak of the amelioration of the condition of the people, and of charitable relief, as patchwork and embroidery, what do I mean by the simple form that it so gratifies us to look at ? Well, I say, that it is the working man or woman, in full work, on full pay, who lives in a comfortable home, has good sound clothes, and, moreover, has time to indulge in his or her hobby, be it reading, music, art in any form, gardening or so forth. This is the point we want to arrive at—people standing on their own feet, everybody. Now, what is the general and prevailing idea amongst large classes of people? Why, that because in old countries there are large masses of workers so poor that they can hardly keep body and soul together, as a necessary consequence it follows that we must expect a repetition of this state of things out here. The most difficult thing in the world is to get page 197 anyone to listen to you whilst you say, "No! Not for New Zealand is it necessary." People then say, "The poor (meaning the pauper) ye have always with you." That is the one stock argument. Now, if we must have an argument from texts, and we know that much harm is done by arguing from isolated texts, I have begun to say to people, He who was so great and spoke those words, also said, speaking of his own doings, "And greater things than these shall ye do." I see in this an evolutionary doctrine, thus, one day it will be greater to stand a man on his feet and make (I say deliberately, make) him work, than spoon-feed him with that for which he has not laboured. It is this want of faith that makes the question so difficult. Was it not once written, "They can, because they think they can." I do not mean by this that I think things will ever be made level; rather, in the future, the valleys and the mountains both will be beautiful, habitable, secure. The whole picture of social life, not without shadows, yet, may we not hope, without that utter blackness that rules and terrifies us now in some corners. We must begin by believing that in New Zealand the labour question can and ought to be conquered. There is but one solution of the labour problem, which is so affected by the unemployed and pauper problems; it is work, of course. I know those fellows hear the question "Who is to provide the work ?" Well, I say, that as an initiatory proceeding, and not after the manner of becoming a permanent providence, the Government. Private charity and charitable aid have been amply proved to be utterly useless in the matter. We have only to glance at the old countries, instead of quoting their methods; the very thought of the state of things in them ought to sting us into action, to make us say, "We will stamp out this fell disease, which saps the life-blood of the community." It is a very strange thing, we English people are very proud and independent, and yet we are, taking us all round, very, so-called, charitable. A long course of bad training has actually warped our judgment to such an extent that we are perfectly befogged. I once read a little page 198 story of a poor Englishwoman; her father was compelled to end his days in the poor-house; his daughter could not prevent this; she worked in service many years, and at last one day she brought the savings of her life's work and gave it to the guardians in payment for her father's keep for all the time he lived there. They did not want to take it, but she would give it. Now, was not that a touching incident ? It seems almost foolish at first sight, but if you look into it deeply you will find, as I have found, food for reflection. All the poor unfortunate people who are out of work, are fed and clothed somehow; I daresay everyone subscribes incidentally, or gives away a portion of his income, and, of course, we all pay our share of taxes, which go towards the charitable aid funds. Now, what is to prevent us, the workers of New Zealand, suggesting to the Government, through our representatives, that we want the unemployed question settled once for all, and the word "pauper" expunged from our vocabulary. Let us tell them that we wish to utterly discard all old-world ideas on this subject, and start brand new ideas, quite our own. Let us ask that all the surplus labour be classified; let everyone be ready to give an account of himself as to the way in which he gets, or wishes to get his living. Compulsory work we ought to have. Supposing people won't work, then there are methods. I do not myself believe there are twenty men in Christchurch who would deliberately say, even in their inmost hearts, "I do not mean to work, if I can get out of it."

Now arises a terrible and inevitable question—the question of money. I doubt if we want any extra money in the way of taxes; I believe that all we want is conversion. You will say that this is a very old doctrine for one who professes to want everything on a new principle. Well, I hasten to say that I mean conversion in our brilliant Treasurer's sense, selling out and reinvesting on better terms. I mean this: All the money that is now spent on charitable relief and all other charitable funds, where it is possible to do so, should be turned into one large page 199 industrial fund, and the whole thing taken systematically in hand. Should not our Mayors, Councillors and local governing bodies make themselves useful by each over-hauling their own city. Just as a woman, when she has a spring cleaning, turns out everything and puts all in order, at anyrate, for a time; she knows her work is not final; she still has her daily routine of work to go through, but she likes to feel that everything has been done very thoroughly now and again. By the way, I think women are wanted very badly on all Boards, and to take part in proceedings; we may be a little new-broomy, but never mind, I think it is very pleasant sweeping up with a new broom; it goes into the corners in such fine style. But supposing that for a time, say for three or four years, we had to bear some small extra tax to meet the demand for compulsory work, would we say nay ? That is the question for all of us to consider. Would the ultimate advantage, the extinction of surplus labour, and the extinction of pauperism, be of sufficient inducement to make us willing to give a little extra ? I say, very emphatically, for a short time, because we know very well that if everyone was in work a great revival in trade must take place. In olden times men shed their blood without stint for love of country, in defence of home; are we so degenerate that we will not shed some trifle, even though it be hard-earned, to help towards the settlement of this vexed question in New Zealand ? Besides, can our Government refuse us ? Surely we can bring matters home to them somewhat on these lines: You have freely spent the country's millions in settling Bank affairs, those which certainly concern us all, but very certainly the wealthiest classes most; we do not reproach you; you have doubtless done all for the best, according to the light, or want of light, that is in you. There has been a wonderful concentration on banking affairs, a promptitude and despatch which carries us along breathless, and we hope will land us safely somewhere some day. Now, let us imagine our selves saying to our Premier, "Turn your attention to something we all want very much; we want you to give the labour problem page 200 your consideration with a view to settlement; settlement observe, and if an odd million, say, is wanted, well, we all believe enough in the Treasurer to think we shall get it." I was speaking to a hard-working man one day, and asking him what he thought about going on the land, he said : "Everybody is not suited for going on the land; we want industries as well." And this brings me to a point that I know is being considered; it is, that not only should every child be prepared for the battle of life by receiving: a good education, but after that foundation has been laid, he should go on to receive a technical education. I had the advantage of hearing Mr. Elliott's fine lecture on technical education; it was one of the best I ever heard; he showed us what is to be gained by fine and thorough workmanship in all departments, and also how a country's progress is spurred on by giving an impetus to design and invention by encouragement; he brought out so well the fact that it is not possible that young New Zealanders have no original gifts. We have all heard how the young New Zealand men take by storm the top places in examinations; surely it would be a pity if every talented youth was lost to New Zealand because there is no opening for him. There is another anxious point, I know, to be taken into account. Workers will say, if all are in work, work will run short. I think this will be met by the fact of co-operative work, a more equal distribution of the profits of labour, shorter hours of work without any reduction of pay; that is how I would translate the word "machinery." After all, what do short hours mean ? They mean life, living, instead of a living death; for, although I am the warmest advocate of work, I am the most sincere foe to over-work. Life is not life, if, over and above our daily task, we have neither brain nor bodily power to enjoy our hobby. Truly, in this hobby you have the elegant and suitable embroidery for the severe robe of life. The strength and the ability to delight in something; although many of us can find interest in our work, we are aware that in purely mechanical work this is not so, and common sense page 201 tells us that short hours is the remedy. A man or woman, then, would have time to counteract the dulling effects of monotonous toil. 'Tis a sad sight to see people too poor, too hard-worked to care about anything. Those of us who live, even in a very small and humble way, the intellectual life, grieve to think of the toiler, who is only a toiler, or who, for pleasure and recreation, is only capable of enjoying that which degrades him. I often think that the solution of the labour problem would tend to the solution of so many other problems. In a community where all were happy workers, no paupers, and not even the ghost of a millionaire, we should expend less on prisons and lunatic asylums. We know this very well, for it is misery that drives the poor to drink, just as it is ennui that drives the rich. What we want is a Labour Minister who has the cause at heart. We want one who will stir and worry, and let no one have any rest until the labour question is settled. We want men who will stand by it at all risks for solution; not for patching, that has been proved a dead failure; not for amelioration. We want to get rid of these old ideas and expressions. England has acknowledged, by the failure of a great effort in the way of a commission of enquiry into the labour problem, her inability to cope with the question; on this point we ought to part company with England. Whilst New Zealand is comparatively thinly peopled is the time for settling the question on a deliberate principle. What we want at the next general election is to get two or three or more strong men who will take up the cause of the settlement of the labour question; men who have the martyr spirit; who will be ready to forego being popular in the House; who will be prepared to fight against those who say to poor met, "Go, make your bricks and gather straw, and yet the tale of bricks shall not be diminished that ye shall deliver." Questions do arise out of this labour question, fearful questions, for we know full well that the extreme of poverty, as well as the extreme of riches, is a very great temptation, Happy workers will be sober men; happy workers will learn to take care of their page 202 children. Do not, I beg of you, think that I am a utopian dreamer. I am only suggesting that we gather ourselves together on a principle.

Industrial fund to take the place of charitable aid.

The institution of a system of compulsory work.

Realisation of the power of the vote.

The importance of securing men to carry our points.

'Tis difficult this question ! Yes! But I once heard it remarked: "When a thing is said to be impossible, that is the time to set about doing it."