The Dominion. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1913. THE GREAT THIRD PARTY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1900, 7 November 1913, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1913. THE GREAT THIRD PARTY.

Recent events have emphasised the fact that industrial upheavals such as that which is at present being experienced in New Zealand aro quite as much the concern of the general public as that of the parties immediately in conflict. Under existing conditions tke public have to suffer loss and inconvenience while the trouble lasts, and are at times compelled in self-protection to give active assistance to the authorities in tho • maintenance of law and order. They have 1 everything to_ lose and nothing to gain by the dislocation of business which is caused by strikes and lock-outs; and any body of men, employers or workers, who may be responsible for a _ breach of the industrial peace without having first, exhausted all peaceful means of settling the question in dispute should be regarded as the enemies of the community. It is absolutely intolerable that, because a handful of.men happen to have a grievance against their employers, tho trade and commerce of tho country should be disorganised, and the whole Dominion thrown, into a state of tumult and turmoil; and it would be still more intolerable if it became necessary for the people of New Zealand to go on their knees to an irresponsible clique of revolutionary Socialists, who 'have committed themselves to the doctrine of the class war, and beg them to permit the shipping and other industries to their normal course, and private citizens to transact their ordinary business without interference or intimidation.

The deliberate attempt that was made attho beginning of the strike to substitute a system of mob rule and. terrorism for the laws of the land, and the determined effort to prevent the producers from getting their produce to market have succeeded in rousing the country from one end to, the other. .The merits of the dispute between the watersiders and their employers is quite a secondary matter. The question Is whether a comparatively insignificant section of the community shall be allowed to bring trade to a standstill, and the law at defiance. The farmers and their sons, and the other special constables, who have earned the gratitude of every rightthinking man and woman in the community, by their public-spirited action during the present crisis, are not fighting the battles of the shipping companies or any other employers, and they certainly have no desire to smash any form of legitimate unionism—far from it. It cannot be too strongly emphasised that they are acting solely in the interests of the great third party— the general public—of which they themselves form a part. The settlers have been compelled to take action to counteract a deliberately planned effort to prevent their perishable products from being shipped to the Home and other markets. Why should they, or any other section of the community be put to serious loss and inconvenience be* ciiueo of a dispute for which they were in no way responsible? And why should they bo made to suffer merely because the Wellington waterside workers wantonly broke their agreement with the shipping companies '! These and other like questions are

I now being asked by the level-headed men and women who form the great majority of the community, and if members of Parliament attempt to interfere in the matter they will have to approach it entirely from the point of view of the people as a whole. It is .satisfactory to know that the Prime Minister fully recognises this fact. Speaking in the House of Representatives yesterday, lie declared that "the people of the country and the producers are now taking a hand, and they will have to be consulted in the matter of a settlement. . . .

The settlers have realised that if something is not done they are going to suffer a, serious loss. , . . The great third. party to this dispute—the, public—has to be considered." Mr. Massey went on •to say that the Conciliation Commissioner is at present getting into touch with the parties, with a view to making another attempt to bring about a settlement, but the suggested basis of agreement could not lie made effective without legislation. The public will not tolerate any legislation in -which its interests are not safeguarded. The rights and interests of the community must bo placed first and foremost. Proper consideration should, of course, bo given to the just- claims of the two immediate parties to any .dispute, but recent events have driven home the fact, which has not in the past been sufficiently realised, that the third party must hold the balance of power. The rights of the public in these matters are recognised and insisted upon by a well-known Labour member of the British Parliament, who states the position in the following way: "These labour j difficulties will have to be settled by conciliation between three parties, not two only, as in the' past. Tracks unions, employers, and the public—the three interested parties —must- all have a voice in the settlement. Where the public are so vitally concerned in the terms of a wages settlement ihoy have as much right to a voice in it as either employers or workmen." He goes on to say that to give legal effect to voluntary agreements come to by voluntary associations of emplovers and workmen would be "an outrageous suggestion from tho point of view of the community." It woulcl give power "to a self-con-stituted number of individuals to put up wages to what they thought, without any consideration for the public, who in the end have to pay them." It is not a question of taking away from the worker the I'ight to strike, or from the employer the right to close his busibut the community is justified in demanding that something shall be dofte to ensure that these extreme measures shall not be put in force until time has been given for a breathing space, during which the merits of the case may be considered by some impartial tribunal <?■> presenting the State—that is, the general public. If reason and conciliation fail to effect an agreement, £he appeal to the strike or the lockout will come iti as the last resort, and public opinion may be -relied upon to give very effective support to the party to .the dispute which lias right on its side.