Domestic servants, who at home earned only £14 or £16 a year, start here with £30 or £35 per annum. The domestic problem is acute in Australia. Hundreds of people are unable to obtain maids at any price. Good domestic servants are always in great demand. Girls in service have a large amount of liberty. “Slaveys” are unknown. Other cases known to me are those of a commercial traveller who had the offer of three situations within an hour of landing in Adelaide; three carpenters who obtained places immediately at a wage double that they had received in England; two engineers who obtained employment in the Newport works within a day of landing, and many others. Now, nearly all the men I encountered from the Old Land told me that the utmost ignorance prevails at home about labour questions in Australia. They said: “Why do you not enlighten people a little more concerning the conditions of labour in Australia?” To this they frequently add the remark that, while Canada seems an easy distance from England, Australia seems so far away as to frighten people from attempting to emigrate. This, of course, is easily understood. Eight or ten days from Liverpool takes one to Canada. It is five times eight days from Liverpool to Australia. If a man goes to Canada, and discovers that he has made a mistake, he can easily return home; but it seems very different when the case is Australia. He has got to the uttermost ends of the earth, and the frightful expanse of water, covering 13,000 miles, lies between him and “home.”
Now, I venture to think that this is a mere bogey. The distance looks worse on paper than it is in reality. When once the trip has been made the mystery of distance is solved, and the traveller can intelligently think himself back over the seas, and in doing this the terror ceases to exist. It is the unknown that troubles one. But if a man is certain before he starts out that he is doing right in coming, that is, if he takes reasonable precautions to inform himself concerning his chances of employment here, he has nothing to fear. He will not desire to return. Australia will become his home. The Old Land will not disappear from his horizon; it will rather lie before him from afar, spread out in true perspective. He will better see the Old Land from here than he saw it at home. How, then, shall he take these reasonable precautions? I advise any prospective immigrant to see the Agents-General in London. Each State has its Agent, and from him all particulars can be obtained.
To be quite frank, there is no place in Australia for ne’er-do-wells, for loungers, for lotus-eaters, for men who have no kindly feeling towards honest work. But for real workers, in nearly all branches, there is abundance of room. As against Canada, Australia has the advantage of being sunlit all the year round. There are no rigorous winters. In the north there are no winters at all. Men having sons do exceedingly well in Australia. There is a great shortage of boys.
To begin with wages. In practically all departments wages are higher—much higher—than at home. The high wages represent an evolution. They are the result of the working of Trade Unionism. The unions first fought the battle, and now legislation has fixed the terms of employment. One great institution in Australia is the “Wages Boards.” A word is necessary concerning these. It is not every trade that has its wages board, but as things look at present it will not be long before wages boards are universal. This system of fixing wages dates from the year 1896, when one or two trades fell under the rule. In 1900 it was extended to other trades, and in 1907 to yet others, including shop employees, carters, and drivers. Both wages and hours are fixed, the minimum being, in many cases, much higher than the maximum in England. In 1897 the system was applied to outside women workers in the clothing trade, with this result, that whereas in that year the average wage of women workers was 12s. 3d. per week, in 1908 it rose to £1 2s. 4d. per week. The wages boards are formed upon the application of masters and men. A chairman is selected—generally an outsider and an impartial man—and regular business is transacted. A minimum wage is fixed, not always to the employer’s liking.
The system has many advantages, and some disadvantages. It does not always work fairly, and it does not always discriminate between the genuine worker who is worthy of his salary and the idler who shirks his work. But, taken as a whole, the system has been a boon, and has done much to reduce sweating. In the present troubled condition of labour in England it might be advantageous for leaders to examine the Australian system, and to adopt its best points. Not only are wages fixed; the hours of labour are rigidly fixed also. The eight hours day for the majority of trades has been in operation since 1855, when the agitation took practical shape. In factories the working week is one of forty-eight hours, distributed in such a manner as to allow of work ceasing on five nights of the week at five o’clock, and on Saturday at noon. Shop hours are similarly fixed. As previously mentioned, shops close at six o’clock at night and one o’clock on Saturdays. Exceptions are made in the case of fruit and bread shops, as well as tobacconists, hairdressers, restaurants, and the like. The chemists are compelled to close at 8 P.M. There is a ridiculous side to this at times. One evening I entered a newsagent’s shop to purchase a top for my boy. The proprietor sold toys as well as books and papers. The hour was a little after six. I purchased my evening paper without difficulty, but the top was refused, although it stared me in the face from a shelf in the rear. It was useless to plead. “It is after six,” the proprietor said, “and I dare not sell you the top.” You will see at once that there is secured abundant leisure for the vast majority of the population.
A recent increase concerns clerks. It had been urged upon the board by the Western Australian and the Victorian branches of the Federated Clerks’ Union that a minimum wage of £4 a week should be paid, the working week to consist of 38 hours. This log, however, has been turned down. The decisions arrived at were as follows: Wool clerks to work for 37 hours a week from March to September, and 48 hours from September to March; clerks in shops, factories, mills, etc., 48 hours a week; all other clerks 42½ hours. The scale of pay was fixed as follows:
Clerks 21 years of age and over, 48s. a week.
Under 16 years of age, 10s.
Commencing work at 16 years, 12s. 6d. for the first six months, and 15s. for the second six months.
Commencing at 17 years, 15s.; with one year’s experience, 17s. 6d.; with two years’ experience, 20s.