THE ARBITRATION COURT.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 258, 29 October 1921, Page 15

THE ARBITRATION COURT.

In Labour circles, next to the Aiick- , bv-cleetion, the prevailing t'ooic is the P rc;ent P° sitio " tl,c " om !' Xl nf t,,c A, ,itva I t '° n ' Mr McCullough. and the steps to be ial-'en to elect a successor. Last month he unions were busy nominating Mr. McCullough to follow on, after U.-s resigiiation According to official pronouncement, the nomination was unanimous _ nf j fi) C Government had no option but to re-appoint him. But Mr. McCullough. havin" been appointed, reverted to fir t t Principles. and re-affirmed his dcterminafinn not to sil upon the Court again. In a circular letter addressed to all the Lutered unions in the Dominion, after ratine his reasons for his decision, and thanking the unions for their expression „f confidence in him, as shown by tneir unanimous decision. Jr. MeCullou o l> frtneliidc?' u To again take inv place on She Bench would be a declaration that 1 had misunderstood my late colleagues. I am not prepared to admit that there was anv such misunderstanding. JSor do I believe the position was misunderstood or could possibly'have been misunderstood either by them or myself. It'is a great pity that this circular was not addressed to the unions by Mr. McC'ullou l, h directly he sent in lus resignation It would have been more satisfactory. Instead of this step being tiken' Mr. McCullough sent a. letter of explanation to the Alliance of Labour., an organisation to which very many unions, both large and smal , are not affiliated, and, replying to the Otago ■fades Council's request to allow him- , e lf t 0 be again nominated, replied that he left himself in the hands of the unions.' Such a position as this will never again be possible, as, under the bill now before the House, the President of the Court will be able to name some person to act until a successor is constitutionally appointed to fill any vacancy. The position is still interestins for, Mr McCullough having declared bisintention not to sit on the Court, in his circular also states that "T therefore propose to Tetain the position (if permitted) until the Christmas vacation, or such earlier date as can be arranged. This willi I hope, enable the deputy member to sit, and the Court to function." ' The Government may not permit such an arrangement to continue, but niav take action under the new amending Act as soon as it becomes lax. It is certain that there will be another election in a month or two, and there i 3 sure to be a scramble for the position, for there are many aspirants. It matters not .that some of them can--1 not quote two clauses of the Arbitration Act from iflemory; t'hey have conducted oiip or two disputes before the Council and Court, with more or less success, and that is all the qualification required.