EMPLOYERS' ASSOCIATION

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 155, 6 August 1914, Page 11

EMPLOYERS' ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Employers' Association was held in Aschoff's Dining Rooms last evening. The chair was occupied by Mr H. D. Acland (president), and there was a large attendance of members. The first item on the list of business was dinner, but this was preceded by the singing of the National Anthem, a vocal effort which was distinguished by much patriotic enthusiasm. The dinner was an excellent one, and after it had been discussed the members of the Association settled down to business. The toast '' The King'' was honoured with two vocal supports. '' For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" was the first of the musical honours, and the convivial chorus was followed by the more sedate '' God Save the King. » The adoption of the report and bal-ance-sheet was moved by the president. Mr Acland said that as conditions of industry were daily becoming more complex, so must the difficulty of dealing with the safety and welfare of those engaged in industry. Parliament sooner or later must become an unsuitable tribunal for framing the necessary condiditions and regulations. He did not profess to express an opinion as to whether industrial regulation by commission was suitable for New Zealand or not, but it was clearly a suitable subject .for consideration by associations such as theirs. During the past year there occurred in Canterbury and elsewhere in New Zealand one of those serious disturbances of trade, which, in this instance, could hardly be called an industrial disturbance, but Which for the time being dislocated the trade of the province. This ended, 4s all such matters always ultimately end, in favour of the great mass of the people in the community. ' A dispassionate analysis of the reasons causing the dislocation of the trade of the Port of LytteltOn revealed no outward or expressed dissatisfaction with either rates of pay, hours of labour, or general,conditions of employment. The cessation of Work was due -partly to a sense of loyalty to . men engaged in similar employment elsewhefeY but mainly in accordance with the notion of what was called the general strike. He proposed to state some of the absurdities brought about by an attempt to cause a general strike- The crude doctrines which had been vigorously preached by the street corner orators and the seed sown by a mass of literature that had been distributed in New Zealand, that all capital was wrong, all interest theft, and all profits so much stolen from the workers, were to bear fruit. In addition, there was undoubtedly a feeling existing amongst many that the Court of Arbitration was not likely to make more concessions. The general strike idea meant the cessation of all labour by all workers in the community,' with a view to bringing the capitalist or the community to its : knees. A little examination of this principle revealed the fact that' this cessation of work could not in actual practice last a very anuch longer- time, than the due' time for the,;next meal on the, day when the general strike begins. The more successful it was at first the sooner must it fail, and fail absolutely and utterly. It had been said that those who engaged in a general strike were in the position, of a man who,, sitting, upon a branch of a 1 'tree (facing the' trunk),, sawed that branch through; as the more complete his successes© was his down-;.' fair more .eartein and -quick. \ immediately took steps to gaii? Control of iuel?> and the day thes first- day of strike, was-the day that its death warrant was signed. The general strike was nothing more than a request to the whole community to cease feeding and clothing itself; in fact, a request to commit universal' suicide. One could not but admit that the late struggle demonstrated a considerable amount of irresponsibility amongst a section of the community. Could not it be recognised that practically all persons, Whether employers or. employed, were " merely partners in the production of wealth? At the time it was suggested by at least one person that the Educational System was defective, and that, the ' teaching in the schools- of some of the principles of political economy might assist. It certainly appeared to him that the best way to prevent these wasteful and use-, less struggles was by advocating for everyone in the community a real education. So long as intelligent people had to accept work at a low remuneration, the discontent will continue. Nobody wished to return to an ignorant and uneducated democracy. The only cure seemed to be a greater moralisation of industry, and an attempt by means of better organisation of industry and less expensive methods of bringing the consumer and producer together to minimise the hardships that exist. Trade unionism was directly responsible for industrial peace under modern conditions, aud a study of recent industrial history in Great Britain tended to show that conflicts had occurred there when the members of a union had departed from the guidance of their responsible officers and leaders. , After referring to the outbreak of war (as reported elsewhere), Mr Acland moved the adoption of the report and balance-sheet. Mr A. Kaye seconded the motion. He said that first and foremost in their thoughts was the fact that the Empire )had gone to war —the first experience of I most of them of Great Britain going to war in a large way. The wars of the past did not come home to them as this war would. It was hot impossible that in some form or other that New Zealand would suffer. The war had come, he believed, at a peculiarly unfortunate time for Germany, when England had the support of France and Russia. They believed that the war was a righteous one. The action of Germany in breaking her treaties was their justification, and it behoved New Zealand to face the. outcome with steadfastness of purpose, calmness, and serenity. Mr Acland had said that the best way to prevent industrial troubles was to secure a real education for everyone. It would take a lot of education to convince the working man that 1/3 per hour was better for him than 1/6. He believed that education was at the back of the strikes. If they went .back to feudal days they would find that there were very few strikes. The more education they gave the more strikes they would have. Though the strike had been overcome, they would have similar and worse troubles in time to come. The men of to-day were more educated.by far than the men of forty and fifty years ago. The labour people had the brains to employ the best educated and most able among them to lead them. He believed that the more they educated the workers the more they would improve their knowledge of how to circumvent the employers. He thought that the - best

way to overcome strikes was to secure more permanency of employment. After some slight discussion, in which Mr Kayo's contentions were sharply criticised, the motion was carried. The executive, with the addition of Mr A. F. Drayton, was re-elected. Messrs Jamieson and Sou were reelected auditors. A paper on Co-operative People's Banks on the Continent was read by Dr Lester, and another on Industrialism was read by Mr J. B. Laurenson. The papers were discussed, and votes of thanks were passed to the contributors. Mr J. E. Hayward proposed a vote of thanks to the Advisory Board in Wellington, and this was carried by acclamation. Mr Eobson proposed a vote of thanks to the Executive Committee of the Association, and this was also carried with applause. In closing the meeting, the President said that he looked forward with confidence to their meeting at this time next year. There would then be a large number of names, now absolutely unknown, added to the scroll of history and the list of heroes of the British Empire. (Applause.) He felt that the principles of liberty, freedom, and democracy, as shown by the British Empire, would come through the struggle with success and honour, not only to the Empire, but to the individuals in it. (Applause.)