LABOUR AND UNITY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 38, 13 February 1913, Page 8

LABOUR AND UNITY.

mixing the '<eianarr or frieWosbccp. MR. E. TREGEAR AT THE TRAIL'S HALL. CONFERENCE AND ITS FRUITS. The ~nd Trades Hall w>B thronged last nigkt with trades unionist* and other workers to hear Messrs. hTTegear. L. Henry (vice-president of tbe Labour party in Auckland), and VS. fc. Parry (vice-president of the New Zeahind" Federation of Labour) explain come of the results achieved at the conference in Wellington last month, and to propose methods lor the further! foroimi and strengthening of the bonds; of labour. -Mr. A. Roseer presided, and I in h : s opening- remarks called upon La-boiir to join' in their common cause. It wa.s the province of employers and of thp PrcFi- to keep labour sectional, and it was not until labour realised the one ideal of a united Labour party that they could hope for any suuceea in the legislature, or before the different courts. (Appla.uee.> Mr. Itenrv urged the importance of political and industrial action being used in co-operation towards the emancipation of Labour, lie believed that a platform would be evolved at the July conference which would result in the ultimate political triumph of Labour, and industrial triumph would follow a.> a natural eequenre- (Applauee and laughter.)

Mr. Tregear. who was greeted with *torm= of applause, prefaced h.ie remarks by r.aying that it was just 50 yearn ago when hp first trod Quwn Street. Auckland, since, when he had ever striven to work for and gain the confidence of the workers. (Applause.) He had been blamed as a United Labour man for having attended the Federation conference in Wellington. The attitude of the Unity party in regard to the Waihi strike 'had really been the fruit of misunderstanding. Personally, he belie-red in arbitration—the principle was a holy principle, and he stood by it all the time. Buit the arbitration being forced on labour at Warhi and *t Huntly was very different to the arbitration he and others had fought for twenty years ago. The true principle of arbitration was liberty of tiie subject under the Act— but that principle no longer animated tlif so-called arbitration of to-day. (Applause.) Coming to the conference at Wellington, hp said that as a United Labour party man, he was met in the friendliest manner by the federationiate. In fact, so friendly a spirit wae manifested that delegates were invited from all the various sections identified with the movement on behalf of Labour.

I Applause) Fraternity was the keynrrto of the conference in spirit and in fact. The federationista were afterwards declared to have got the United Labour party by the wool, but all he was concerned about 'was ■when such critics began to praise. That made him suspicious that something was WTong. (Applau.se and laughter.) The appeal of the conference was, "Let Uβ all, United Labour party and federationiste and Socialists, stop throwing stonee at one another for six months, and then in July next .meet again with, the object of binding the different sections for the tone -object." (Applause.) A eu-b-oom-mittee was appointed to draw up proposals, so that the delegates would be sent by- unions and labour section* in full acquaintance with! the proposals. The constitution of the United Labour party differed very little from that of the Federation of Labour, its great objective being to leave to the individual what can best b<? done by the individual, and to the collective body what call best be accomplished by collective action. The Federation, under its new constitution, advocated industrial revolt only when all other efforts had failed. They were not really opposed to the spirit of arbitration. There w«re differences of

opinion that could well be threshed out at the JLuly conference. (Applauee.) Unity seemed to him to be a very necessary thing now, from tit-e " purely economic standpoint- The -cost of living had risen rapidly in the past year or two. and the value of wages 'had decreased in proportion. Shortly the workers would be unable to live'at all unless they could find a period for this eort of thing. (Applause.) Unity and unionism were needed bitterly in the pant, and were needed yet more" urgently now if the worker were to avoid crushed between the law and capita?. iTie speaker went on to discuss the recent land legislation, wtoich, he declared, meant the robbing of the nation of the freehold which it had already purchased, and which later op the people would no doabt be called upon to buy again. He also severely criticised the defence legislation and some of the more recent labour laws. It was only by the unity of labour that thtee matters could be remedied. (Applause.) I Mr. Tregear touched a personal note by declaring that he .himself would continue to fight for the workers till hie last cartridge trite exhausted and he had no further strength to champion the workers' .cause, th,- audience giving him round after round of enthusiastic applause.

Mr. Parry declared that it was incorrect to say that the Federation of Labour looked upon all arbitrationisto with hostility as traitors to organised labour. They wanted the Arbitration tourt union* to come together and to learn whether they sympathised with the methods of the Government and capital in endeavouring to choke true unionism; and when thoee arbitration ists were made acquainted with the real facts, they, with almost one voice condemned the scheme adopted to 'crush the 1-ederation. He himself was opposed to Arbitration Court, but lie believed that Labour could unite for preventing any such form of "scabberv" such as had taken place recently. He desired to ccc that unity brought about on a fair and square bask, and he challenged any man of fair mind to find objection to the baeie of unity agreed upon at the recent conference" in "Wellington, either industrially or poHt-icallv (Applause.) Tf they stuck to the preamble agreod upou, !he was satisfied lflduslnal and political organisation oould be built up which would check the encroachments of the employer class. (Applause.) r - At the eonclneion of the speeches Mr Tregear answered a number of questions put by member of the audience. Votes of thanks to the speakers and the chairman closed the meeting.