The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 1925. GETTING AT THE FACTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 180, 1 August 1925, Page 8

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 1925. GETTING AT THE FACTS.

For th* cause that XatUcs ettistmnm, For the wrong that needs resistant*. For tke future in the distance, And the good thai tee can da-

When a huge industrial stoppage has been so narrowly averted iv Britain, and the future is still uncertain, it may seem rash to write an article on the thesis that what the "Round Table" calls "introspection in industry" has been a marked feature of the last few months at Home; that Labour and Capital have been more disposed than before to consider each other's point of view and delve into the basic facts of production. We believe, however, that this "introspection" has been a feature of the industrial world, and that the coal-mining dispute has illustrated the greater disposition to negotiate and investigate. The "Round Table" is a high authority on such maters, and its main conclusion is supported by the capable London correspondent of the "Christian Science Monitor." Writing early in June he referred to the "very serious economic stock-taking" that had been going on for the past six months behind the scenes, much the most important part of which was the inquiry conducted jointly by employers and trade linion leaders in the great trades. "For the firit time, perhaps, the employers in the major industries of the nation have really taken the leaders of the workers into their confidence about the position of their businesses, and the trade unions have abandoned a mainly combative' attitude, so as to consider, in a responsible way, what the problems which confront the employers really are."

What should have been done in prosperity has been forced upon both parties, and the nation, by aaversity. Employers have been compelled by such developments as the loss of shipbuilding orders to Germany to disclose facts about their business, and wage-earners have been obliged to study them. The shipbuilding unions entered into a conference to consider the whole position of the industry, and even if nothing comes of such conferences the very fact of joint investigation is a gain. Too long has each party regarded its own case to the exclusion of the other's, and. recognition of community of interest is the first step towards the erection of a better system. It is one of Mr. Baldwin's sources of strength that he sees much more clearly than most of his party that if- the employers wish for peace they must be more frank about their business. They must put all the facts on the table, and thereby show the wageearner the truth of the economic position in his particular industry. At the same time they must do everything to humanise industry. This, briefly, is Mr. Baldwin's industrial creed, and it may carry him far. He has worked hard in the past week to keep the peace in the coal industry, and he has succeeded in averting a strike and gaining valuable breathing-space for the industry. But here the task now and in the future is really made easier by the publicly conducted investigation of the facts of this industry. No other industry has had so much light thrown upon it in the sight of the nation. The proceedings and report ef the Sankey Commission did much to educate owners, miners, and public, and since then the conditions of coal-mining — wages, hours, personal risks, housing, and other factors—have been kept before the public by the Press. The result is that all classes know much more about the extraordinarily difficult problem of coal-mining than they ever knew before. There has been similar education, though less thorough, in respect of shipbuilding-, engineering, and the railways.

These developments do not suit some of the extreme members of the Labour party. The more both sides meet together to consider joint interests, the greater prospect is there of co-operative action. To the extremist, however, nothing will do but economic revolution. Joint inquiries have revealed beyond dispute, says the London correspondent of the "Monitor," that the reason for unemployment and low wages is not the greed of the capitalist, but the facts of world trade. What the outcome would be he could not say, but he considered it certain that a great struggle was impending between the moderates and the extremists for control of the unions ana of the Labour party. The public is witnessing, therefore, in all these investigations of industry something that may have a profound 'effect not only on the economics, but on the politics, of.Britain. The trouble in the. . mining industry is more than an ordinary old-fashioned dispute about wages and conditions in which each party reiterated its arguments, with no reference to the case for the other side, and » public looked on in isxasperated ignorance. The facts have been spread out'to the public gaze, and the exposure should profoundly affect policy. ______