TRAMWAY CONCILIATION BOARD.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 167, 14 July 1908, Page 5

TRAMWAY CONCILIATION BOARD.

■ . , PROCEEDINGS RESUMED. < EVIDENCE FOR THE COMPANY, ! < The sittings of the special Conciliation 3 Board to enquire into the Tramway dispute were continued this morning. The Board comprises Dr. McArthur (president), Messrs. P. Ai.' Hansen, Morris (for the Company), Carter and Sherry (for the Union). Mr. A. Ros3er appeared for the Union, and the Company was represented by Mr. Walklate. Mr. llosser said that one of the motor- • men was anxious to clear himself regarding statements made by. Inspector , xMcElwain as to a certain "Round Robin"' j asking for a certain employee to be dis- j charged. ' Permission was granted, and , Walter Rogers, a motorman, entered tho . box, and swore that he never signed the ' "Round Robin" referred to, although he ' had been asked to do so on three occa- , sions. Mr. Walklate then proceeded to call > evidence in support of the case for the ; company. < William Dennis Lysaght said he had ' been connected with the Tramway Company for the past 19 years. He began ' ; in the office, and occupied var;ous posi- ' tiuns up no uiia.o ot Chief Inspector. The first intimation he received Motorman Mill 3 wanting a change of conductors ' was on October 22, when Mr. Hankinson told him through the 'phone. Witness was on Mills' car the previous day, ', | when Mills complained about, his conduc- | tor. Witness told him to apply for a change in writing. Only one applica- J tion was received —not two. So far as , I witness knew, the reports read at the j time of the 1906 strike were one from , ; Mr. Mills, and one from Mr. Hankinson. : | About !) or 10 years ago witness was con- j | corned with a "Round Robin." This : was handed to him, and ho was instruct- , ed to pass it on to Mr. McElwain to , take round for the men to sign. It was , suggested to witness that he should sign , it, and he did so. Witness denied having sent Inspector Campbell out to check time-tables. The report made by Inspec- | tor Campbell was sent direct to Air. Duncan, assistant superintendent, and did not come to witness at all. Witness denied instructing Inspector Campbell to pay particular attention to certain men. He denied) emphatically hay- ■ ing stated that all the conductors were thieves. It would be absurd of him to make statements of that sort He did not consider Campbell satisfactory, and had frequently had 1o caution him. Witness frequently instructed Inspector Cox to check the time-tables. To do so it was necessary for him to keep out of sight. There was no other method. He did not instruct inspectors told off for such duty " to report on breaches of the regulations. The evidence with regard to his (witness's) endeavouring to get female inspec--1 tors was false. Witness had. very little to do with Inspector Bassett. The lattcr's statement that witness classed the conductors as a lot of thieves was untrue. 1 Witness was not in the habit of discussing matters with Inspector Bassett. | Witness had been instructed by the general manager to check time tables. Complaints Of irregular running had been received from Road Boards and passengers. Men were only asked to report to the office for serious matters.- Aiinor complaints wore dealt with by correspondence. Arrangements were made so that men going to the office didi not lose a shift. Witness usually read tho reports to the men, and if they asked to see the reports he would generally do so. He did his best to give the men a fair hearing, and gave them the benefit of any doubt. Regarding Conductor Herdson, when the latter saw witness in the office", witness told him he was discharged, and would! receive a week's pay. It was not true witness told Herd3on he would not give him any reason. To Mr. Rosser: Witness did not begin his service with the company as a stable boy. Regarding Mr. Mills' application for a change of conductor, witness said only one application was received. Witness did not comment in writing on that -1 report. In a report to Mr. Hansen wit- j ■ | ness embodied certain statements made j I j by the motorman to witness to the effect ! : ; that he (Mills) would not work with the | conductor any longer, that the conductor • j talked trades and labour gossip with pas--1 sengers and delayed the car. The man- j ager gave witness the " round robin " to i get signed. Witness thought it was a sin- ■ gukxr method of getting a man discharged. Continuing, the witness said that he did not approve of the "round robin." He signed it because he was requested to by the manager. He was absolutely certain that he never instructed Inspector Campbell to go to Onehunga. The state- ' ments that he instructed inspectors to ' pay particular attention to men who were leaving were absolutely false. Inspector Cox's evidence was untrue. ln the last six months Inspector Cox got very careless. He had never instructed Inspector Etheridge to employ females. If a conductor was dishonest ho considered the company were justified in i proving it. The ends justified the means. Ho! den was dismissed because the company had no further use for him. Herdson's statement that no mention was made of a week's pay was incorrect. He did .not tell Inspector Fergusson to 1 hide and try and catch Motorman Brown ■ tripping. In reply to Mr. Carter, the witness said he was not quite sure what Beaston • was discharged for. It was possible ; that a very bad motorman might make : a very good inspector. W. G. Bassett, recalled, expressed the 1 opinion that certain anonymous letters - were written by Mr. Lysaght. 1 _ Frederic James Etheridge, formerly an i inspector in the company's service, said ■ his instructions were to caution a man before reporting him. He had neyer hidden to catch men, had never done 'so, ■ and never would. The motormen and i conductors had a system of signalling 1 the whereabouts of inspectors. Ho had I .never been told by the traffic inspector • that the conductors were all dishonest. He had always been fairly treated. To Mr. Rosser: He remembered the ■ case of Spence. It was through, witness I that Spence was detected and convicted. ! Spence was detected through a lady passenger that witness made arrangements • with. Witness did not receive "instructions from Mr. Lysaght as to the method • of checking time-tables. Mr. Rosser: Do you know of dissatis- , faction amongst the inspectors of Mr. Lyi saght'r, administration:—Well, I hardly know, I was quite satisfied. Continuing, the witness said he remem--1 bercd a meeting of inspectors about three I years ago. He could nGt remember clearly i whether complaints were then framed I against Mr. Lysaght'a method of treating men. i Mr. Rosser (producing a photograph) s Is that a photograph. Qi y- u!— X es : , ~

Do you think that a proper position for you to be photographed in. In uniform and drinking a bottle of beer?— That photograph -was taken in my own private verandah, and the bottle did not contain beer; it contained tea. 'I knew you had that photograph up your sleeve," added the witness; "it doesn't worry mc a bit. I drink a glass of beer as well as any man." "A bit of hard luck," commented Dr. Mc Arthur. (Laughter.) . 1 (Proceeding.)' 11. '• ) _—__—____, m^^