TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 74, 27 March 1919, Page 11

TRADE AND LABOUR NOTES.

(By INDUSTRIAL TRAMP.) UNION iTEBTrXGS FOR THE WEEK. This Evening. Mnrcli 27—Enjrlnedrivers. Moulders, Sn<idlers' Committee, Printers Machinists' Committee. Friday, March 28—Bricklayers. 'Jlnndnr, March 31—Engineers' Xo. 1 Rrniu-li, Building Trades' Social Comniittt'o. Tliursdu.v, April 3—Farriers, Electricians. THE HINDU INVASION. Last week this matter was pttt Loforc us very forcibly by the intimation that twenty Indians landed at Auckland from Fiji by the Talnne. When the Aetin(t J Premier, Sir James Allen, had his attention drawn to the matter, he replied to the effect that his attention had not officially been drawn to the matter. Yesterday I received the following letter from Taumarunui, dated ftlareh 24, 1919, which I am asked to make public: " Dear Sir, I am writing to you to ask if you will be good enough to draw the attention of the members of the trade unions to the serious influx of Hindus to the Dominion. They are very numerous in this district, and have been arriving here in dozens by train, being all new arrivals in the Dominion. They are working at the brickyards, at scrub cutting, in boardinghouses, and at draining work too. They work contracts in gangs at prices that a white man cannot touch. If this is to go on unchecked, things will be similar to South Africa, where unskilled labour is done by Indian and Kaffir labour at low rates, with the result that work that ought to be done by our own people is termed •' niggers' work." If the immigration of these Indians into this country is not soon stopped, their competition for >work with our boys returning from the var requiring work. will make things bad all round. Their standard of living is very low indeed, and the education test under which they are admitted to the Dominion is so eaey and simple that a child in the infants' school could pass it. They are, to my own knowledge, very poor scholars, and I consider the education test should be made- much stiffer. It this were done nearly all would be kept out. 1 hope the unions will take up this Hindu question and endeavour to have the present law made much stricter. There should be a heavy poll tax on all Asiatics, not merely on Chinese, whether they are British subjects or not. New Zealand must not allow herself to be swamped by Asiatics. I understand that in Australia these Indians are not allowed to land, then why should they be allowed to come to New Zealand? Let us have New Zealand a white man's country, and now is the time to do it. Lnlese a move is made in the direction I have pointed out, the Government will let this Hindu influx go on until they come in ship-loads before long. It will then be too late. I hope the union membere will pass resolutions to put a stop to this cheap labour peril, and get their members of Parliament to act very soon. Yours truly, ," This letter corroborates only too well the experience gained by anyone who travels through the Auckland province, especially in_ the Kin.g_ Country. As a member-'of one--of-ih'e iAnckland" Military Service Boards, it was my duty to make monthly visits to that district, and the extent of thb Coolie influx was painfully | apparent to the most superficial observer. As British subjects, they were drawn in the ballot, and the extent o! the •'education test," under which they were admitted, was manifested to a degree that was ludicrous, for when their appeals were heard, it frequently happened thai the appellant could not understand a word ihat the chairman of the board said to them. In one case the chairman, after trying- pure as well

as " pidgin" English to the : dusky appellant, in an attempt to tell him that this country did not require his wrviees. waived his hand in despair, saying, "Go away home, go away home," and it was the wave of the hand that tarried comprehension to the man who had passed " the education test." There are various reasons put forward as to the apathy of the Government on this serious matter, but one is freely "put forward by those who are not farmers, to the effect that being '"a farmers' Government." the present administration is not averse td the tacit encouragement of cheap labour for the country.

PREFERENCE TO UNIONISTS. The doctrine of preference to unionists has long been advocated by the unions of the Dominion, and it has always received scant treatment from the hands of employers or their advocates when appearing before the Council or Court. I notice that the doctrine has been adopted b} - the Federation of Master Painters in their annual conference at Wellington this month, and after this there can be no serious opposition from the members of that federation to the same doctrine when put forward by the workers' unions in their claims in the painting trade. At the recent conference I notice the following remit was carried: "That the incoming executive be instructed to make efforts to arrange uniform discounts throughout New Zealand, the discount to be 25 per cent, to members of the association, and 15 per cent, to the trade; no other discounts to be allowed." This is pure and unadulterated preference to unionists, and I congratulate the master painters of the Dominion on their conversion. Tt is not stated what measures will be taken in the event of failure by the oil and colour merchants to agree to this most reasonable demand; whether the members of the association will adopt the strike method or the "go slow" policy, but I sincerely hope that the matter will be settled in a constitutional manner. But the association is not merely pe.rochial or selfish in its deliberations, its sympathies are worldwide. Like John Wesley, it can gay, "The world is my parish," for I notice that "a resolution was passed expressing the federation's heartfelt thanks to the Allies for the successful termination of hostilities." Now this is timely. No other union or association, to mv knowledge, has given any encouragement or approval to the Allies for their diligence in bringing their four and a-half years' contract to a successful conclusion, and the resolution just passed by the Federation of Master Painters, when sent on in duplicate to Messrs. Lloyd -George and Clpinencoau (for Mr. Woodrow Wilson and the others are but cub-contractors), will be a timely appreciation of their labours.

"REAL PARTNERS." "The workers," says Mr. J. H. Thomas, "ehould become real partners in industry.'" Mr. Thomas is one of those Labour members who support the Whitlev Scheme, and who seek to find in the Whitley Committees a machinery which will develop into a co-partnership between Capital and Labour. This idea is so distinct from the crude Bolshevik idea of abolishing Capitalism, and the dietinctionj

marks the gap between the evolution of constitutional Labour and the revolution of the Rede. Instead of seeking to divorce Capital and Labour, the Whitley Scheme seeks to make them "real partners" by setting up joint committees in each industry—if neceseary, in each shop —on which employer and employee

"meet on an equal footing, and discuss matters of mutual interest to both—■ such questions not to be limited, as in the past, to mere questions of hours and wages, 'but to include management, health, legislation; in fact, everything that pertains to the daily life of the worker." As these committees are standing committees, they can discuse disputes in their initial and preventable stages, or can prevent trouble arising by means of anticipative measures. The Whitley Scheme has nothing to do with compulsory arbitration. It does not take away the right to strike. All that it aims to do is to make the exercise of that right unprofitable and unnecessary.