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The Life and Work of Richard John Seddon
colony’s industrial progress has been uninterrupted and unprecedented.
It is not claimed that the revival of the old prosperity in 1895 and the following years was mainly due to the operations of the Act. A claim of that nature would be absurd. There is plenty of evidence, however, to support Mr. Reeves’s contention that the Act has saved employers from strikes and dislocation of trade, and has increased the spending power of labour, and has therefore had a share in bringing about the colony’s well-being. As Mr. Reeves points out in reply to his critics, it has not broken down, or become detestable, or been an obstacle to the revival of industry amongst the people with whom it is in constant use.
