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Typo: A Monthly Newspaper and Literary Review, Volume 2
[trade dispatches]
The worst « make-up » we have yet seen is in an East Coast contemporary of a recent date. The first column of the second page consists of advertisements, with the exception of the last inch, which is occupied by the leader-head and date! The next column begins with local paragraphs, there being no leader. There are half-a-dozen quack medicine paragraphs in the same page, any of which would have filled the little space at the foot of the column.— « Making-up » should not be left to boys who have not learned the difference between a title and an imprint.
The balance-sheets of the Australian Typographical Associations shew some peculiar items of expenditure. To the Silk Hatters' strike the N.S.W. Society contributed £5; to the Tanners' and Curriers' dispute at Geelong the Melbourne Society's final payment is £7, while among the receipts the large item of £82 19s 3d appears under the head of « Arrears Tanners' and Curriers' Dispute Levies. » There is also an expenditure of £2 2s in aid of the Anti-Chinese League. The rule does not work both ways; for no outside society appears to have contributed to the Association funds. If this kind of thing is allowed, we may expect to see levies imposed on the unfortunate comps for protection leagues, land nationalization societies, Irish home rule—and so on indefinitely.
At a meeting of the Hawke's Bay branch of the N.Z.T.A., on the 3rd March, the report and balance-sheet for the half-year ending 31st January was presented. Owing to heavy calls on the funds, the branch had only the sum of £1 14s 6d to credit at the close of the half-year; but to this must be added the sum of £5 on loan at ten per cent. The membership was 24, one less than at date of last report. The matters dealt with in the report were chiefly of general rather than local interest, and have already been referred to in our pages.—At a board meeting on the 19th inst., the proposal from the executive council, that a fine be imposed on compositors arriving from Australia without proof of membership, was considered. It was decided to suggest £2 as the amount of fine to be inflicted in such cases. —One new member was added to the roll.
A statement is going the rounds in regard to the jubilee gift to the Pope, that her Majesty's first idea was to present him with the Windsor library copy of the « Mazarin » Bible. Great consternation was caused in the literary world, the book being the most precious volume in England, and by far the finest of the few copies in existence. The librarian earnestly protested, but his remonstrances were vain— the Queen said she had notified the Pope of her intention, and could not draw back. The librarian then appealed to the Premier, who at once vetoed the gift, on the ground that the Bible was Crown property, and was not at her Majesty's private disposal. She was much annoyed at being thwarted, especially when a letter arrived from the Vatican, warmly thanking her for the regal gift. If the story be true, every Englishman will rejoice that a royal whim has not suceeeded in depriving his country of one of its choicest treasures.
An energetic effort is being made by the Wellington branch of the N.Z.T.A. to cope with the evils of undercutting and the extensive employment of boy-labor. Recognizing that the workmen alone are unable to effect a reform, the association has addressed a circular to master-printers, a copy of which has been handed to us. It is shewn that while since 1880 there has been a very great increase in the amount of printing, there is one-third less adult labor employed. It is suggested that boy-labor should be limited to a fixed proportion to the number of men, and that endeavors should be made to break down the system of tendering.—We have not much hope of the effort succeeding. The insane and criminal competition among master-printers—actuated not so much by the desire to obtain work as to prevent rival firms from securing it—has nearly paralysed the trade. Work is done at fifty per cent. below cost; newspapers whose scale-rate is five shillings insert contract advertisements at one penny and a halfpenny per inch;—and the inevitable result is disaster alike to employers and employed.