PICKINGS FROM "HANSARD:'

ABSITBATIOH, Hon Sir G 8 Whitmore— lt does not appear to mo that arbitration, or conciliation, or whatever you like to call it, is m the direction 'of, or supposed to bo, a substitute for war God grant that it may become so : we are not, However, lam afraid, good enough for that jet. Boveral Htatts' disputes have been referred to arbitration with happy results. We know that, m the case of the Behring Sea dispute, when the award was given it was accepted by the countries disputing, and the award was enforced by the American Congress. That is of courso encouraging, but it is not to be supposed that all disputes are to be settled m that way. In Oorea, a semi-barbaroue country, the Coroane have got ssmi civilised Boards, whose servioes have been used to reconcile disputants. But at Home and here I tbink almost an actual war has arisen, and the worst kind of civil war is a labour war. I do not think we can put an end to it, here by arbitration and conciliation. TOO OLBTEB BY HALF. Hon Dr Grace We have got to such a phase of transcendental wisdom that we try every Bill undpr the sgq. In spite, of &\\ that, my own opinion is that the colony, m a very few years, will realise the uneicHsness of experiments and jackdaw clothes, and will aettle down m a perfectly rational and sensible manner, and that ail claases of people m this colony will be united for the furtherance of the interest we have m common. It is for all the world like, as though we vaccinated people by liberal measures to prevent them from having the smallpox of socialism, when adults. We have vaocinated our people with these frivolous measures. Having ha,d e?i denoe of th,3 uselessngss of' this legislative treatment, they will wake up and go about their business m the ordinary way. Ido not believe a single particle of good will result to the community from the passing of these measures! . . . But the good sense of the people will save qb from the folly of our legislators. WHAT IT CAN'T jp,^ Hon G McLean— My honourable friend m charge of this Bill (Conciliation and Arbi< trafcion Bill) thought it would have prevented tho coal strike m Bngland, Would i( h&ye done so ? Would such a Bill sa th^s have averted the great stride m America ? Wou}d it have averted fcbe great maritime strike m New Zealand P The New Zealaud qtrjke. was not brought on' through any quarrel or dispu^o with the emplqyera here. The nien and the officers of ths unions were not slow to admit that, What, therefore, would have been the good of arbitration m such a oase P One can sympathize m oases where there is a strong feeliDg that the men are not getting a proper share of the profits. O^e has a'eo great sympathy '^o* men who are unemployed ) but this Bill pan do nothing to relieve ( then}. What is wanted is that men should be 1 educated to recognise that employers of, lsjbouy, whether manufapturqrs'or far^rs,, ha^e not at their bagks a. tyint coining sovereigns to be. ban Jeil gut to, the^r omploj es. The money to paj the wages has. to be obtained frcyqfi t.h9 publio ; and, if the, employers, have not the wherewithal tq gay thaiumen, what would be the use m suoh a case of going to arbitration I fully believe, if this Bill is put into operation, the result will bo a greater disappoint, ment to the men than e*6n to the n^Btew. WHAT, yp JgA? $0, I9fl Ml ijonkjn»on.-i l he regulation of. wages wJH bo mote e.»s.ily determined through this Bill, by bringing employers an.d employ & together. Thiap not fo? the purpose of raising t^e wajea at all, It is for the regulation of the wages : tbat is to say, a certain employer will not be allowed to pay his servants at a less rate than the genera} ruling throughout % co\ont; 5f the employer? gay tU.W <sa.W».°t afford. in.ore than a payta^n raje of, wages, the uniona will be glftd to, apcopt that rate on certain coaelifeioßs } and those condjtiqnt a?s that it must bs plainly shown, thai the workers are receiving their fair share of the product of their labour. Bat what do we find to be the ro.lQ at pretest m connection with every olsbi of workers P We fjn.d employer* wording girls and young

men at a rate of wages not fit to keep body and soul togother. I met with one tailoress m Ohristohuroh whoßO wages did not average 9j per week for six months.— (Mr Pharazyn : What is that owing to ?)— Owing to the shareholders of the company pocketing 7 per cent to 9 per cent m divider de. Does the Hon Mr Pharezvn cay that a girl can live m decenoy at that rate of wages P No man or girl can live decently at a rate of 9j a week. They should receive suoh a rate as will enable thorn to work and live deoently and honestly. That will not admit of argument, and these employers will have to pay a fair rate of wages if this Bill booomes law. A 00KCI8B HISTOfiY OF LABOUB. Hon Mr Eigg —We know what the history of labour has been m tho past. lam not going into details, but I will pass quickly over the subject. When man ceased to eat his fellow man, and made uso of him for the purpose cf providing for him a number of dainties instead of one — himself — the ono became a master and tbe other a slave, and from that down to tho present their relations have been little altered. Next came tbe serf who was attached to tbe soil. He went with the soil, and his condition was betterIt was superior t3 or more satisfactory than that of the slave, and it was a better condition than ths oondition of the average wage-earner of to-dsy. He never had starvation (taring him m the face as be now has ; he was able to obtain sufficient to support himself. Then tbe time passed on and he bccime what he ia now, a drudge worse than a slave, for as a slavo, his master had to support him as he now supports his horses or caltla. And now what happons ? They employ simply the cream of labour— men who are most suited to employers, tbe best workmen ; they skim the cream of labour and they work it as long aa they can feet from it the greatest return. When it beoomes exhausted by age or other circuaistancer, they oast it. aside as they do their old boots, and seek again m the labour mnrket the fit test only. That ii the condition of tbe worker to-day, and nobody will say that ia a proper condition for rational men to be placed m. THB EAILWAY HANDS. Hon Dr Grace— l feel sure that the rail way employes, as a rule, are thoroughly well satisfied with their poutions.and are extremoly anxious to retain them. Tbe boit demonstration of that is to be found m the faot that all over the colony there are thousands— regular work, wet or dry, at a fixed salary. PABBOBA WANTS TO KNOW. On tho motion of Mr Flafcman, it was ordered that a return be laid on the table showing — (1) How many starch manufactories there are m the oolony ; (2) what amount of New Zoaland grown cereals are used m manufacturing starch ; (3) how many workpeople, either men, wore en, girls or boyi, are employed m such manufactories ; (4) what amount of ataroh is annually manufactured m the colony. BAILWAT FENCEB. Dr Newman asked the Premier, If it is the duty of tbe Bailway Oommieeionors to t'oep m repair the fenoes bounding railway lines paasiog through private property ? Mr Seddon said tbe C ! ommissiooerg' reply was as follows s— " It is not the duty cf the Bailway Commissioners to keep suoh fences m repair unless by agreement with the owner at time of purchase. The Commissioners are willing, m all cases where the line runs through private property, to keop their tido of boundary fences m repair, although under no obligation to do, The proposal to introduce legislation compelling them to do more than this would involve a very laige expenditure, and would not be justifiable." IOOAL BBCIEBOOITZ. Mr Hogg— We know very well that if the country is going to thrire ire must have manufacturing industries m tbe centres of population. In tbe country we grow wheat, we grow station produoe, and we grow tallow; we grow wool and we grow hides ; but m the towns the wheat is turned into food for tbe people— transformed into flour, the tallow is converted into eoap and candles, bides are converted into boots and shoes and saddlery, and the wool grown m the country ia converted into olothing for the people, The country map is as much dependent on ths town man for supplies as the. town man ia dependont on the country man for produce. Tho one creates raw material, and the other turns that raw material into tho commodities of life. I have al<T(tje maintained that the country doeß not simply feed the towns, but the towns, on tho other hand, supply the country with manufactured articles. By this means is established reciprocity — a thing that all Freetraders are constantly olamouring for. "WHO ABB THE PBEBTBABBBS ?• \lv Willis— With regard to the remarks of the honourable member for Hawke's Bay, I am not surprised at them. He says he is a Freetrader. Naturally, most landowners are interested m boing Freetraders. When I wan mmy own district the other day a large landowner said, to me: " What interests have I got m tho towns P I should, npt care if tbey were all swept away to-.rn,orrqw, I can get my wool a.qqc Home at any time, and can import what I require What does it matter to me P And if people cannot get employ, ment let them leave the country." These are tho feelings of the large landholders ; but when tbe land is broken up among small holders they will have to grow articles which they can sell to the people who manufacture. This all points to the question of breaking up the land. The question of Protection and trade means the different interests, 'ihe large landowners are interested naturally m Freetrade, and will do aU they can m that direction, but the manufacturing claiees qnd. ema^l landowners, are interested m Protection, JT OFTMf 00MBB OWT SO. Mr Buchanan — Once upon a time m a neighbouring colony a deputation of menufaoturers waited upon the Government and advocated an increase m the tariff m their particular manufacture. The Government set to work at once and granted their reque^ Not long afterwards a deputation m the raw material for tho ma,uufac^ur,.e <ft this article also waited, upo.n the, Qovernmgnt, and succeeded 'io' submitting such s capital ca9e (ih,at ; tke tariff on the material was inoreased accordingly. But the final result wss, that the manufacturers besought the succeeding Government to withdraw bath duties alto* gather, on the ground that trade had become worse than ever, i