"DRAGOONING."

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 226, 23 September 1936, Page 10

"DRAGOONING."

PUBLIC WORKS MEN. JOINING TRADES UNION. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, -Tuesday. ■ Objection to the "dragooning" 9f men engaged on public worksinto membership of the New Zealand Workers' Union was voiced in the House of Representatives to-day by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Forbes,"during the-tlis-cussion on the Public Works Statement. He said it introduced an entirely new principle into public works. ' ' / Previously, he said r there was no bar to a person getting "a job on public works so. long as •he could do the work. Now he liad to join the Workers' Union within one month.--What would happen if a man refused to join? Would he be chased jvorks? The Government was carrying unionism to a point it had never reached,before. If a man t did not pay ibis levy,,it was laid down, v he should not be allowed to remain on ' the job. ' Mr. A. F. Moneifr (Government, Rotorua): Quite right, .too; Mr. Forbes: Well, if he gets a job and does not join the union, what is he going to do? • Mr. A. Campbell (Government, Chalmers) : Get oflf the job. Mr. Forbes said he did not think the principle was a wise one or in the interests of the workers. Disapproval of an arrangement made between the Minister of Public Works and the New Zealand Workers' Union, under which the Government collects union dues from the men on public works, was expressed by Mr. S. G. Holland (National, Christehurch North). "Only Conditional." After the Minister, Mr. Semple, had interjected that ithe collection of union dues was only conditional, Mr. Holland agreed that it. was conditional on the men signing a legal document. The Minister: We don't want to do it. Mr. Holland said he could quite believe that. He thought it was a dangerous principle and a dangerous precedent to establish, and he was glad to hear the Minister say he did not like doing it. "All Comes Voluntarily.!' Mr. Semple said as far as compulsory Unionism was concerned he did not see much wrong with that. It was necessary for the Government to deal with an organised body. It could not deal with 1 ' -000 or 20,000 individuals. Mr. S. G. Smith (National, New Plvmouth): The objection is that the public works employee is forced to contribute to party political funds. Mr. Semple: The member for New Plymouth has the happy knack of getting stuck in a political quagmire. There is no compulsory contribution to the Labour party's funds. Every penny that comes into the Labour party's political fighting fund comes voluntarily. Ik

COSTS UNKNOWN. RAILWAY SCHEMES. \ GOVERNMENT CRITICISED. MODERN CONDITIONS OF TRANSPORT. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. Speakers on the Public Works Statement in the House of Representatives yesterday were critical over what they considered the slender evidence on which the Government had decided to resume construction on railway lines suspended by the former Government. A great deal of time was taken up in discussion on the South Island Main Trunk line, and there were occasional references to the Napier-Gisborne line, although the criticism was mainly directed to the South Island venture. It was 0.45 o'clock tnis morning when the debate on the, statement was coileluded. and the House commenced consideration of the Estimates. In opening the debate, Mr. W. J. Broadfoot (National. Waitomo) expressed amazement that there was no report from the Railway Department regarding either the South Island or the Napier-Gisborne lines, and he surmised that when the Consolidated Fund in

future failed to receive any payment from the railways the Government would argue that the railways were a social service for the benefit of the community as a whole.

Mr. J.' Hargest (National, Awarua) said that in- Sweden, where there had been a Labour Government, public works were closed down in prosperous times and were used only as reserve works in bad times. In New Zealand there were still 26,000 men on sustenance. Nobody desired to see poor conditions on the public works, but when a country was emerging from a slump it was impossible to get full value for the work that was being'dorieon public works at the rates now offering. Three "White Elephants." Mr. R. A. Wright (Independent, Wellington Suburbs) said he believed a case could be made out for the NapierGisborne line, as it would open up some new country, but he believed it would prove a "white elephant"—a baby one certainly. The South Island 'Main Trunk would prove a full-size white elephant and the -.other Westport-Jnanga-hua, would prove a giant white, elephant. ,Mr. J. Hodgens (Government, Palmerston North) said that the public services pi New Zealaud, expressed in toads, railways, bridges and electric power lines, needed m,aiiy more millions expended on . them before ' the country could be said to be completely free from the need of further public works cxpenditure. He commended the Minister of Public Works (Mr. Semple) for his attitude in respect to the abolition of the long-handled shovel and. the wheelbarrow. It "was possible they would see a long-handled shovel as an exhibit in the National Art Gallery. Mechanical appliances would do the work in the future. Was there anything in the suggestion that dozens of long-handled shovels had been thrown into the Buller; River by officials of the previous Government? Mr. J. G. Barclay (Government, Marsden): The Wairoa River. Mr, Hodgens said it was sabotage. Mr. C. A. Wilkinson (Independent, Egmont): Why buy so many shovels and wheelbarrows at the present time? Mr. Hodgens said the Minister of Public Works had given an assurance to the House that the barrow would go for all time when he was in a position to make his policy operative. Sir Alfred Ransom (National, Pahiatua) regretted to see the work unfinished on the East Coast, but if the railway had been completed the loss would have been greater. It had to be remembered that to-day districts • could be served by a good system of road services.