LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 208, 3 September 1938, Page 13

LABOUR NOTES.

UNION ACTIVITIES.

(By INDUSTRIAL TRAMP.)

UNION MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK

Monday, September o—Shipwright* Tuesday September G—Seamen, Engineers Metalworkers Assistants, Drivers Hub berworkers. Gardener, lirickworte"" riNiip'p" September 7—Onel.unga Car ThU Kn^eUrh-^ n,b ° r 8 ~ B °»«maker S , Fria mon SOPteraber °- Curriers and Beams-

SELECTED CANDIDATES. The official list of Labour candidates tor the coming general elections has now been completed, and the candidates have all been approved by the National Office at Wellington. It has taken practically the whole of the present year to accomplish the task In southern constituencies there was „„ difficulty about the selection by local blanches in cases where the sitting member was a Labour member, simply taking that member on his work during the life of the present Parliament. That is h fail method. If the sitting member had not given satisfaction, then he should have been brought to book and made to give way for a more suitable man. In cases where the sitting member has -liven 100 per cent satisfaction, it i.s not just to allow nominations for selection by the party from any indi- * 'dual with no record of public services simply because of the overweening ambition of the new aspirants. With the exception of one Maori constituency, however, the list of officially approved Labour candidates is now complete and ready for the campaign. The National party's list of approved candidates is getting larger each week, and as the party has a very small nuinbei of sitting members there is a more open field for nominations. I am bound to say that there is no scarcity of aspirants for the official hall-mark. In the Eden constituency, for instance, there was no lack of entries. No less than nine declared for selection, including an ex-M.P. and the defeated candidate of the 193.1 election in Eden, but the witlidrawal of one seasoned politician before the selection ballot was held left eight to "go to the post."' Eden has been a much-sought-after seat ever since the late Hon. J. A. Tole won it in IS7C and became its first member. He held the seat till 1887. and during his term, as Minister of Justice in the Stout-Vogel Ministry, lie sponsored the First Offenders' Probation Act, which has reiftained in force ever since. At times the Eden seat has been occupied by Liberals and Conservatives, but for the past three years Labour has occupied it, and at the next election the Government candidate will have to withstand a strong attack from a combination of the other two parties. '

HOUSING. Iu May, 1935,- the Auckland City Comicil for the first time in its history had a three-fourths majority of Labour councillors, who went into power with pledges for a municipal housing scheme. Five months afterwards the present Labour Government took office with a large majority of members pledged to a State housing scheme, and it entered forthwith on that scheme. The City Council, to avoid overlapping in regard to men, materials and money, decided to hold over its plans till "a more convenient season." That season did not come along, and now the City Council majority does not view favourably any interference with private enterprise by a municipality. But municipalities in Britain have no such scruple?, and some of them are far advanced in the proposals for municipal housing. One of our notable visitors from overseas last week was Mr. J. Walker, M.P. for Lanark (Motherwell Division) in/ the House of Commons. He has had big experience in the projtiem of municipal housing, having beeir on the Glasgow City Council for 18 years. Mr. Walker, while in Auckland, paid a visit of inspection to the State' houses at Orakei and was very much impressed by them. Mr. Walker said that the Motherwell Town Council now owtied a quarter of tthe houses in the borough, and was 'rapidly extending its ownership. Already it was by far the largest individual house owner, and within a year or two I would own an . absolute majority of [houses in the borough. The town counl cil could look after its tenants more effectively and justly than private enterprise. The main object of the council was the comfort of the tenants and not dividends or profits. Rents were on a sliding scale and were adjusted to the income of the tenant and the size of his family. A man with a small income and a large family could get the same house as a man with a larger income [Uid a smaller family on a rent which he could pay, said Mr. Walker. As in [New Zealand, there was a system of rebate for good tenants. And, he said, they are very glad to do this and thev took a pride in doing so. "Glasgow is all flats," said Mr. Walker, "so things work out a little ■differently in housing plans. "Here you have wide, open spaces to build on. spaces where there are no dirty slums to pull down. Yours is. a matter of rehousing, which you should be able to cope with in a generation at least. We. however, have miles of slums, houses built into one another, and built back and back, and back rooms where lights must burn all day because the sun never penetrates to them. Glasgow, to even approach her present need* of increase of population, would have to build.3ooo homes a year, and we have some terrible slums. You may think we are doing it a little bit cheaper than you are, but you also must rememljer our pensions and wages are not so high. You are going along the right track with this kind of house at 27/6 a week." Fortunately for us, Mr. Walker has not seen some of the Auckland slums, which the City Council has no power to demolish.

FATHER OF TRADE UNION LAW DIES. Two historic legal disputes—the Taff Vale and Osborne cases—which affected the whole course of trade unionism, are recalled by the death of Mr. Clement Edwards in Manor House Hospital. Golders Green, X.W., recently. "Clem" Edwards, as lie was known, rose from humble beginnings to be one of the greatest authorities on trade union law. In 1900, a year after he had been called to the Bar, lie was briefed by the old Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants in its fight against the Taff Vale Railway Company's claim for damages arising out of an unofficial strike. The company was awarded £-23,000 damages, and the case cost the society £43,000. But, as a direct result of the arguments put forward by "Clem" Edwards, and developed by the trade Minions, the Liberal Government of the day was forced to introduce the Trade Disputes 'Act of 1906. ...