*THE
WORKER*
BRISBANE MAY
4 1895.
The
Reform Movement.
Mr. Thos.
Glassey, M.L.A., at Gatton.
Messers,
Tozer, Philp, and Groom's Statements regarding the Unemployed Replied
to.
The
leader of the Labour Party, Mr. Thomas Glassey, M.L.A., addressed a
large meeting of Lockyer elections in the Tarampa Divisional Board
Hall, Gatton, on Friday, April 19, Mr. T. Currie (Tenthill) occupied
the chair.
After
a few preliminary remarks, Mr. Glassey, who met with a flattering
reception, said; It appeared somewhat strange that while the
investigations made during his tour through West Moreton and the
Darling Downs had caused him much grief, the members of Government,
accompanied by other members of Parliament in their trip to the
North, had given the people in the districts visited to understand
that the toilers on the land – in fact, all forms of labour –
were enjoying a prosperity worthy of eulogistic praiser and envy.
That not only had the great army of unemployed been reduced to a
minimum, but the general condition of the masses of workers was one
of brightness – in fact, that the whole colony had turned the
corner, and was ascending on the royal path of permanent prosperity.
(Laughter) The Colonial Secretary, Mr. Tozer, had given expression to
the
AUDACIOUS
STATEMENT
that
when he left for the North there were only eleven unemployed persons
in Brisbane alone. (Laughter) He (the speaker) wished as much as any
man in Queensland that the statement of the Colonial Secretary was
true. The Minister for Works (Mr. Philp) had remarked at Cairns that
since leaving Brisbane he had seen very few unemployed about and had
not met with any bodies of unemployed. That same gentleman had also
stated, with respect to inland towns, that he had heard of there
being plenty of work for all working it, and in the big coast towns
prosperity reigned. Then there was the astonishing testimony of the
member for Toowoomba, Mr. Groom, “who had made inquiries” ( the
speaker would like to know from whom) “ from the various ports from
Brisbane to Cairns, and had found that there was no unemployed, and
that there was abundance of work for all who were willing to accept
it,” Mr. Groom had also said “that the statement that had been
made that there were 30,000 unemployed in Queensland was a slander,
and was calculated to do the colony material injury.” The remarks
of Mr. Groom had been commented upon it the Brisbane Courier as
“independent testimony, the testimony of a prominent member of the
Opposition.”
So far as he (Mr. Glassey) was concerned, he was determined that the
people should
KNOW THE REAL FACTS
as to the actual condition of the colony and the people.
(Applause.) He had had the opportunity of visiting the Northern
portion of the colony in June last when contesting the electorate of
the Burke, and the testimony he could give those present was that
large members of men and women all along the road were suffering from
enforced idleness, and that the large amount of work waiting for “all
seeking it,” as Mr. Philp put it, did not actually exist. And
considering the fabulous amount of public and private money withdrawn
from free circulation all over Queensland, it was almost sufficient
argument to set aside such random statements as those to which he had
made references. He would give them statistics from the State papers,
as he (Mr. Glassey) was fully aware that the Ministry lost no
opportunity in trying to trip him up, though up to now they had
failed. The official return showing “Relief administered” in
Brisbane alone showed that for the six years the number of
applications for relief registered were no less than 30,360,
representing the
APPALLING TOTAL OF 129,021 PERSONS
men,
women, and children; while the outlay amounted to £22,382.
That was for Brisbane alone, the place where Mr. Tozer would have
people believe had room only for eleven unemployed. (Laughter and
applause.) During the last session of parliament a report of the
officer in charge of the Queensland Government labour Bureau, dated
the 26th
of May, 1894, was presented to both Houses of Parliament, and its
contents would send a thrill of horror through the mind of any person
who possessed any humane instincts. Mr. Brennan, the officer in
charge of the bureau, had to admit the difficulty of furnishing
anything like an accurate statement of the real condition of the
labour market owing to the roving habits of the working population
outside the more populous districts. This statement should be well
borne in mind, for it was obvious that only a small percentage of the
total unemployed in this colony registered themselves at the various
bureaus. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Brennan also remarked that in no case was
a fair wage refused when work was offered, which plainly showed that
the statements of certain persons regarding men not wanting work if
offered it was not in accordance with facts. (Hear,hear.) The report
also showed that for the last year the total
COST OF RELIEF FOR
BRISBANE ALONE
amounted
to £7704
14s. 9d., and that the sum of £1974
4s. 4d. had been distributed from that bureau to other centres of the
colony. It was, contended Mr. Glassey, impossible to give an accurate
estimate of the amount given to the unemployed in the shape of
private relief, which must also amount to an enormous sum. And yet
his friend, Mr. Tozer, had said there were only eleven unemployed in
Brisbane. He (Mr. Glassey) would inform them that in his own family
there were three who could not get work, and within a small area of
his own residence in Fortitude Valley there were numbers of
unemployed. The applications for relief were restricted to married
persons only, and, as Mr. Brennan had stated in his report, “No
relief whatever had been given to single men” That statement
carried with it a doleful tale – a a tale best known to the parents
of the hundreds of young men who had been compelled to walk the
streets or “hump their bluey” in the bush. (Hear,hear.) Then
there were persons who, for reasons best known to themselves,
persisted in decrying those who applied for relief and with a view to
discredit those whose extreme poverty had compelled application for
food; yet Mr. Brennan says that there was only one case of fraud
justifying prosecution out of the many thousands who applied for
rations, (Hear,hear.) That in itself showed how utterly cowardly were
those people in high places and
BANKING IN LUXURY
who suggested that
large numbers of persons were simply loafing on the Government.
(Applause.) There were sixty-five towns in the colony outside
Brisbane receiving State assistance towards relieving the destitute
and the starving, and yet we hear of members of the Ministry and
prominent members of the Legislative Assembly congratulating
themselves on the prosperous condition of the colony. Extracts from
the reports of Clerke of Petty Sessions touching the condition of the
labour market in various centres pointed to an entirely different
state of things to what was said by the persons to whom he had
referred. The C.P.S. At Black all remarks that the supply of labour
is always in excess of the demand; that the distress was greater than
ever he had seen during twenty-five years' experience; that rations
had to be issued to 100 men to assist them to search for work. The
C.P.S. At Bundaberg reported the gloomy fact that no less than 251
applications for work had been given quarters, where there was the
mere probability of work-a vague statement indeed. The C.P.S. At
Aramac reports 130 unemployed who had registered. The C.P.S. at
Augathella; “Labour greater than demand.” The C.P.S. at Alpha,
that numbers of men passed there for work and it was hard to estimate
the number of unemployed in the district. The C.P.S. at Bowen, almost
within cooee of the place where members of the Ministry and Mr. Groom
stated that there were practically no unemployed in the colony, makes
the deplorable admission that fully two-thirds of the men travelling
in that district required rations, as employment was very scarce,
owing to the fact that employers obtain their labour through agents
and do not avail themselves of the advantages of the Labour Bureau.
The C.P.S. at Cooktown estimated the unemployed at 20. The C.P.S. at
Childers wrote: There were 100 unemployed and large numbers passing
through in search of work. The C.P.S. at Charters Towers has
500 UNEMPLOYED
REGISTERED,
and care must be
taken to recollect said Mr. Glassey, that these figures denote those
who have registered their names, and it was for those present to
imagine for themselves the hundreds of men throughout Queensland who
simply sought work on their merits and declined to be registered.
(Hear,hear.) The C.P.S. at Charleville reported that nearly 100 men
received relief and 50 poor fellows were unemployed and no prospect
of work whatever. In Cloncurry the unemployed registered were 20;
while in Cairns, the seat of the patriotic Mr. Byrnes, the C.P.S.
said it was a very difficult matter to estimate the number of
unemployed in the district. The C.P.S. at Cunnamulla reported that
large numbers of unemployed and large numbers travelling in search of
work had received rations. The C.P.S. at Duaringa reported 50
unemployed. The C.P.S. at Eidsvold reported that owing to the
shortening of hands in the mines, large numbers would be thrown out
of work. At Gympie there were large numbers of unemployed, although
the C.P.S. reported the registration of 50. In Goondiwindi the
estimated number of unemployed men was 60, which was undoubtedly very
low. In Gladstone large numbers of swagmen were constantly travelling
through, and relief from the local bureau had been administered to
about 150 persons. At their own township Gatton, the C.P.S. reported
that as it was a farming district there was not much demand for
labour, as the farmers did most of their work with their families. [A
Voice: “We are forced to do it.”] Yes; they were obliged to place
their young children to do men's work, as their means would not allow
them to secure and pay strong, able bodied men. (Applause.) If the
farmers enjoyed that prosperity they were entitled to, they would not
be compelled to put their wives and daughters to carry out the heavy
work they were called upon to do. (Applause.) Mr. Glassey said he had
seen women and young children doing work which was not fitted to
their sex, and in Gatton township alone there were numbers of strong
men who were practically unemployed and wage less. (Hear,hear.) He
would appeal to these present, and ask them whether Gatton enjoyed
the prosperity a town of its age and standing was entitled to. Were
not the storekeepers and others at their wits' end to know how to
make ends meet? It was the same cry all through West Moreton. Plenty
of produce,
NO MONEY, NO WAGES,
and no business.
(Applause.) The Clerk of Petty Sessions at Hughenden, Laidley,
Mackay, Mitchell, Mount Morgan, Muttaburra, Maryborough, Nanango,
Nerang, Rosewood, Surat, St. George, St. Lawrence, Springsure,
Torrens Creek, Thursday Island, Taroom, Tanorin, Tambo, Toowoomba,
Windorah and Winton, all report the woeful tales - “unemployed,”
“travelling in search of work,” “rations distributed,” and so
forth; while in the places named the actual registrations number
2440! The report showed that while there were fifty-six districts at
which the Clerks of Petty Sessions had furnished details of the
distress prevailing amongst the working population. He (Mr. Glassey)
had estimated the number of unemployed at 30,000, but a farmer – a
friend of his – Mr. J. Mcffatt, of Harrisville, in a letter to the
Queensland Times, considered his (the speaker's) estimate too
low, and had put it at 40,000! (Hear,hear.) people appeared to forget
that only about one in every ten unemployed men and women would
register their name and ask for rations, but, nevertheless, it was a
fact. (Hear,hear.) So much then for Mr. Tozer's eleven unemployed.
(Loud applause.) He (Mr. Glassey) did not believe in making use of
rash statements but rather preferred to furnish his material from
STATE DOCUMENTS,
together with the
results of investigations made by his friends in various portions of
the colony and himself. (Hear,hear.) He would also remind his hearers
that there were no less than 13,805 children over the age of twelve
years at the State and Provisional Schools alone who would shortly be
thrown upon the labour market for a livelihood, and he would ask the
parents present what lay in store for those thousands of young people
bordering upon the fringe of manhood and womenhood. (Sensation.)
Those present well knew that the general rule of most employers with
regard to labour was to dispense with the man who exhibited signs of
silvery hair or the woman who had lost the rosy bloom of youth and
fill up their places with mere child labour at a remuneration which
often forced along vices, frauds, and prostitution, while the
middle-aged sought a premature tenure in a poorhouse. (Hear,hear.)
Could a system which incurred such terrible responsibilities be
considered one of justice and equity between man and man and between
woman and woman and between child and child? He declined to believe
it. (Applause.) And, continued Mr. Glassey, even the poorhouse was
hardly safe for the destitute and aged person, as the superintendent
of the Dunwich Benevolent Asylum had recently reported that in the
present time of depression it seemed unwise to put pressure on such
inmates who appeared able to work to take their discharge lest they
should fail to secure employment and have to fall back on the
Government for rations. A nice admission was that, but yet too true,
and only showed how absolutely ignorant, he would say wilfully
ignorant, the Government were as to the deplorable condition of the
people of Queensland. (Applause.) What, said Mr. Glassey, has taken
place during the past few years
TO ABSORB THE VAST
NUMBER
of unemployed? It
was certainly not the land. It was well-known that never in the
history of the colony were the producers on the soil in such a
deplorable condition, (Hear,hear.) Never had the agricultural worker
to work harder with smaller returns for their labour – (hear,hear;
and A Voice: “Quite true.”) - and never was the falling off of
the areas of agricultural lands under cultivation more marked than at
the present period of our history. To proceed with his argument, he
would prove to them from State returns that the cultivation of
various crops could not be regarded as satisfactory. The acreage
under crop in 1893 in this great colony amounted to only 243,249,
while in the year previous the acreage was 247,731. The falling off
in acreage for the past few years had been for grain, 3000 acres; for
oaten hay, 2600 acres; barley grain, 800 acres; barley hay, 300
acres; green cattle food, 400 acres. Since 1891, maize crop
cultivation had fallen off 8000 acres; and for cotton, since 1892,
about 600 acres. Arrowroot growing, tobacco, panicum, vines for table
use, and wine, also showed a large falling off; and the acreage under
cultivation for lucerne for six years showed a falling off of 12,000
acres! In the face of these figures, could it be said that the
agricultural industry had absorbed any of the unemployed? Did not
those figures speak for themselves? (Hear,hear.) He (Mr. Glassey)
would advance a further argument which to him seemed a very feasible
one. Those present would recollect the time when large sums of loan
money were expended on unproductive public works. Palapial buildings
were erected, useless railways were constructed, and an artificial
prosperity favoured thousands of skilled artisans and workers for a
time. But what had happened during the past few years? Loan money for
public works had ceased, railway construction was practically
unknown, private contracts for buildings and improvements had
practically ceased, with the result that thousands of men, women and
children had been reduced to poverty and destitution. (Hear,hear.)
The loan expenditure for the past five years had been reduced by more
than
A MILLION STERLING
a year, and the loan
expenditure upon railways alone for the same period had dropped from
£1,073,322 to £137,268.
These figures would be found upon reference to the Colonial
Treasurer's Statement for 1894-1895. (Hear,hear.) It was, therefore,
apparent that the expenditure from loan money upon public works could
not be responsible for having absorbed the unemployed. (Applause.) It
was preposterous for men in high positions to try and gull the people
by talking about the absorbing of unemployed when the means whereby
men could be employed was withdrawn. (Hear,hear.) There was yet
another argument which was that the onerous reductions in endowments
to
LOCAL AUTHORITIES
must of necessity
have aggravated the unemployed question. When he (Mr. Glassey) told
them that during the past four years the total decrease in endowments
to municipalities and divisional boards amounted to £531,248,
it was impossible to suppose that the unemployed had been absorbed by
works of a local nature. Was it not correct that in every
municipality and division in the colony, apart altogether from the
endowment, that a drastic retrenchment policy had been pursued? Road
men's wages had been cut down and others had been discharged, and,
when contracts for improvements had been let, the price in the
majority of cases did not permit of even a living wage. (Hear,hear!
and applause.) Where, then, were the thousands of workers who had
been employed through the medium he had named? Certainly not on the
farms, not on the stations, not in the warehouses or factories, not
in the workshops. (Loud applause.) Did not all this imply, and very
strongly, too, that one lamentable result of all this social
destitution was that people of all classes of industry were fast
LOOSING THEIR HOMES,
and that at the
rate of three and a half millions per annum. And what was really
being absorbed was the product of the toiler's labour by the
plunderers and poolers who had controlled the people of this colony
for so long. (Loud applause.) Mr. Glassey then pointed out that there
was an excess of expenditure over revenue for the past ten years
amounting to £1,950,585,
and he was at a loss to know how the Government had paid off
£1,000,000 of its
indebtedness as alleged. That excess would have been a very much
larger sum had not the Treasury Bills amounting to £1,400,621
been put into and treated as ordinary revenue, Mr. Glassey also
contended that the sale of
TREASURY GENERAL
in October, 1892,
which cost the taxpayers £20,278,
might have been avoided, as there was plenty of money in the banks on
the 30th of June of the year, as he would show by
reference to the Treasurer's statement – namely, £1,668,783
10s. 7d. The report of the
AUDITOR GENERAL
for 1892 – a
gentleman for whom he entertained much regard, and considering the
position he occupied, was paid a small salary compared with certain
other officials who received enormous salaries for doing very little
work – demonstrated the fact that the bills were not really needed.
Reference was also made as to the different devices resorted to by
the Government to square the State accounts such as the diabolical,
unjust, and inequitable retrenchment of the smaller salaried persons
throughout the entire public service of the colony to the extent of
£200,000 during the past
two years, through, it was hardly necessary to relate that the higher
paid officials, such as the Governor, the judges, the railway
commissioners, &c., had not been interfered with. And in the face
of heavy retrenchment and low wages all round the Government had
INCREASED TAXATION
during the past four
years by the imposition of duties on flour, spirits, newspapers, &c.,
to the extent of nearly £500,000!
[A Voice: “Shame”] In short, the sum of not less than £1,579,315
had been raised through the medium of taxation, retrenchment, and the
sales of the people's estate. And while the Ministry, through Mr.
Byrnes, had declared that there would be a large surplus in hard cash
– (laughter) – the Government had floated a loan of over a
million to pay off their liabilities, Mr. Glassey characterised the
financing of the Government as very much heaven-born. (Laughter and
applause.) Those great financiers advocated the paying off of debts
by increasing more. (Hear,hear.) It would appear that the loan was
being floated for the benefit of one of the banks, inasmuch as the
treasury bills previously referred to did not mature until next year,
nor did the 6 per cent loan of 1870, amounting to £776,404,
fall due until next year. (Loud applause.) After making reference to
the suggested reduction by the Government of the pastoralists' rents,
which he vigorously condemned, Mr. Glassey concluded an admirable and
earnest speech by appealing to the people of Gatton to fall into
line, and, as the chairman had aptly put the matter, “not wait for
the beating of the drums before they sharpened their swords.” (Loud
cheers.)
A vote of thanks to
Mr. Glassey and the chairman having been carried with acclamation,
the proceedings terminated.
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