BRITAIN'S ENGINEERING CRISIS

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 95, 23 April 1926, Page 6

BRITAIN'S ENGINEERING CRISIS

Overshadowed by tlio greater menace of a coal strike, the dispute iri the engineering trade in England has not attracted the attention it would have received in more normal times. But the crisis is a grave one and the issue of ballot papers on tbe question of a strike to enforce the application for fl a week increase in wages marks a disturbing phase in its developement. The demand for higher pay was made nearly three months ago, when the engineering industry, after a very lean period, began to grow brisker. The first troublesome development was in the Hoe Printing W T orks, where 900 men went out at a moment's notice. The employers threatened a lockout unless they resumed, but, after prolonged, negotiation, a stoppage was and work was continued under the old agreement. The national leaders were greatly exercised at the flouting of the agreement, and threatened the men with expulsion if they remained recalcitrant. They have made it clear, however, they regard the general unrest in that trade as haying justification, and that the employers were most unsympathetic in

tlieir attitude towards the men. j Engineering in Britain covers a very wide range and the crux of the difficulty apparently lies in the fact that at least half a dozen trades are involved. Some of these are very flourishing, some are still in the trough of depression, and some are just emerging from the critical stages. All are regulated under the I one agreement, and heart-burning arises ; from the effort- to' regulate wages for j all upon the one basis, A coal strike, would, of course, entirely I eclipse the engineering trouble, for most of the works would have to close clown right away. The breakdown of the conference' recorded to-day is very unfortunate. Only a week remains in which to complete * negotiations, with grave disaster as the result of failure. The present stumbling block, according to the secretary of the Miners' Federation, is the refusal of the mine owners to concede a national perceiitage, their object being to fix the economic rate for*the' industrial districts," Immediate intervention I>y the Government is anticipated, and it is to he hoped that a. via media will be found with out delay. j

To-clay~ is St. George's Day as well as Poppy Day. Some years ago the anniversary of the patron saint of Merrie England was recognised as a public holiday, but since the observance of Anzac Day on April 25, the practice of closing the Stock Exchange, legal offices and business premises on St. George's Day has been discontinued. The only offices that are observing the holiday j aro the banks and insurance companies. The first Main Trunk express from the I south was half an hour late in reaching - Auckland this morning. At Waiouru the : express was fifteen minutes behind time, I , and lost a further fifteen minutes be- j | tween there and Auckland. The Limited arrived up to time. ' I | The "thin white line" lias been | reinstated on the city footpaths in all I the glory of a glistening coat of white,. ■ and " Keep-to-the-Left " are tho marchI ing orders of the day. It is understood i that the furbishing up of the old street 1 marks is for the purpose of facilitating I the handling of the large crowd expected |in the city on Anzac Day. I "I am responsible' for tlie theft," re- ' marked Mr. Justice Herdmnu smilingly, when producing from his desk an authority that had been the subject of much search by counsel in the Guy C Cross case. His Honor added that he did not know he had it. I Among the sellers of poppies in the ' streets to-day, are numbered a few greyhaired women to whom Poppy Day brings fresli memories of sons who <rave j tlieir lives in tlie Great War. These ! "wonderful mothers" aro now doing their bit to aid a worthy cause, and it j is noticed that there are few men who i pass them by when they come forward with the little red emblems and a smiling request.' Much smoke and little fire characterised an outbreak in tho premises of Mr. H. Schmidt, chemist, in Queen Street, about nine o'clock last night. A heavy smoke pall, later discovered to be due to n barrel of sulphur and a quantity of hi-carbonate of soda having caught s alight, suggested serious possibilities at first, but the city firo brigade soon had the outbreak under control, only minor damage being occasioned. The cause of the outbreak is unknown. It was an accident in no way due to negligence. He was driving home last night, apparently from the pictures, when a spring collapsed, the car ! swerved unaccountably, crashed into a telegraph pole on New North Road, j and came, to rest with the whole body jon the pavement. The astounded young j driver scrambled out, took a quick ; survey of the wreck, aud explained tersely, " Gee! Won't the old man go off pop!" ! ! "Your Mayor is a fellow bowler and I always find tlmt a bowler has common j sense," said a speaker at a public j meeting of ratepayers held at Milford last evening. In roferonce to the agreement between the Takapuna Borough i Council and the tramway company, j which had resulted in. the calling of the meeting, the speaker said that he I thought the Mayor must have been i hypnotised by his companions on the | council,

I A visitor to Auckland remarked in I course pf conversation: "Wh<*\t J like about your town is its nice arrnngemei't. Could ,'ijiything bp m ore convenient than to have next to a big motor garage a monumental masons', and near handy three cemeteries, I have never sepii such forosjght displayed anywhere I have been- A fellow can buy his motor car, go next door and order hi,* to?nbstone, and then, a littlo further down, pick out his section in the cemetery, it is such a saving of time to have all jso conveniently located." j Considerable heartburnings have been occasioned by the fact that the railway offloials limit the sale of platform tickets to fifty on the occasion of the departure of the expresses from Auckland, It has been pointed out that the limitation had to be made to prevent confusion anil congestion, and the maximum number fixed was regarded as a fair margin and a concession that was of value to people , who wished to assist aged friends or 1 relatives leaving by the expresses. One railway official said this morning that in regard to young people there was no reason why tbey should not exchange their goodbyes at the gate, Speaking at a public meeting at Milford last evening, Mr. A. Harris, M.P.. said that under tbe forthcoming motor regulations local authorities would lie empowered "to license buses to ply within tbeir districts. The authorities would also have power t° refuse such licenses. Tt was proposed that there should be a transport appeal board consisting of one representative of the Government, one from the local authority, one from tbe motor bus company applying; for the license, and one from | any body opposing; the application, the i board to be presided over by an ipdepeiiI dent clia'irman. i At a meeting of the Agricultural and Pastoral Workers' Association, held in Palmerston' North, it was. decided to ■ Tiring before all the Ministers and members of the House of Parliament, the I necessity of giving farm workers" a oomI pulsory half-holiday weekly, so tbat j they will not, as they have at present, ■ have to play their football matches on a Sunday. In one district under notice, I there was a church service held from 2 |to 3 p.m. Then some of the congregation adjourned to a paddock where a ' football match was to be played at 3.30 I p.m. Asked why they did not play during the week, the workers, replied that j Sunday afternoon was the only time they | got off work. They wish to thank all

the Cabinet Ministers, Reform, Labour, Nationalist and Liberal members, who have promised to support the half-holi-day Bill when it is brought up on the floor of the House of Parliament. A New Plymouth resident, now on his way to the Old Country, spent several weeks in Tasmania en route. Writing to a friend, he says the State is suffering very badly .from the want of rain, The Government is financially embarrassed and t tjje population is dwindling- . Taxation is heavy and tbe railways are losing about £300.000 a year. Hobart, which was over-built in the boom period has now very many beautiful houses unoccupied, and on the north-west coast (only a day's journey (from Melbourne) rich farm land can be purchased at a very low figure compared with New Zealand prices. He considers New Zealand is lucky to be out of the Commonwealth, for Tasmania does not seem to have received fair treatment. For one thing it is hampered in trade and in tourist traffic by the Commonwealth • Navigation Act, while tbe Commonwealth Government raises loans at 51 per,cent, free of income tax, which is. a favourite investment, but. it deprives Tasmania of income. Nevertheless, he says, it is a lovely country to live in, and it has always pulled through its financial troubles, and he has great faith that it will do so again.