The Press. THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 1894. WHAT CONCILIATION CAN DO.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 8737, 8 March 1894, Page 4

The Press. THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 1894. WHAT CONCILIATION CAN DO.

Before the Minister of Labour again brings his Compulsory Arbitration Bill before Parliament, we commsud to bis serious attention the remarks made at a Conference on Conciliation, held in the Miners' Hall, Durham, ou January 19th last. It was presided oyer by the Bishop of Durham, and addresses were delivered by several of the miners' representatives in the House of Commons and by some prominent members of tbe Employers' Associations.

The Bishop's speech, and indeed all the speeches made, were remarkable for the high tone which pervaded them and for the grasp of the problems which they were called upon to discuss. Their object was to find some method of setHog, with substantial justice, the grievances which arose in their industries, with the least interruption of work. The Bishop laid it down with the full approval of those present, that the supreme rule in the conduct of business was " to claim from another what we ourselves in his place, with full knowledge, would be willing to give, and to offer to auother what we ourselves, iv his place, with full knowledge, would be willing to receive." The material interests of employers and employed, the Bishop went on to point out, were intimately connected, and their moral interests were " absolutely identical." It ie, however] with the speech of Mr T. Burt, minei's' representative, that we wish specially to deal in this article. Ha pointed out that he him* self had dreamed occasionally of a time when, under some scheme of partnership or co-operation, they might be able to establish more harmonious relations between capital and labour than they had to-day. Bub the practical question before them then was auother problem—how to substitute peace for turmoil and strife under existing arrangements. Strikes, he went on to say, brought ! suffering and misery into thousands of homos. It was to the iutereac of both employers and employed " that there " should be as much wealth created as " possible, and that there should be as " little destruction and waste as pos- " sible. As the result of these con- " flicts they might depend upon it " that the poor suffered infinitely more " than the rich. • The workmen euf- " fared far more from any kind of " waste and destruction of property i " than the capitalists of thecountrydid." Having thus made it) clear that he was strongly opposed to strikes and lockouts as irrational and barbarous methods of settling labour disputes, be proceeded to urge the general adoption of conciliation and arbitration as a means of; settling disputes. Conciliation, he contended, should always be placed in the foreground, but he thought that arbitration as the final resort should be available. But Mr. Burt will have nothing to do with "legal compulsion." It was " almost a contradiction iv " terms," he said, " to talk about com- " puleory arbitration. He believed, " however, that the State might do " something. Mr. Mundella in- " troduced a Bill last year, " and he himself thought it went *' as far as the State could " possibly go. Compulsion was a diffi- " cult question altogether, even if " they were living under a military "despotism. All that the State, in " his opinion, could do was to provide " machinery and advise and encourage "and stimulate and help forward " localities where they were endea- " vouriog to establish those methods " of settlement for themselves." These views were endorsed by Mr Trow, the workman's Secretary or the North of England Manufactured Iron Arbitration Board, who emphatically affirmed that they " did uoc want) Parliament] " to interfere — there were too many "on the other side. Arbitra- " tion must be voluntary, be- " cause compulsion was impossible." They had. gained, he added, " much " more iv the iron trade by arbitra- >( tion than they did by strikes." The speakers whose words we have quoted are practical men, keenly interested in the welfare of the workers, and well acquainted with all the theories put forward by Socialistic dreamers. They can, moreover, point to the practical results of the system in the North of England of the adoption of conciliation. In Mr. Burt's own experience, thirty or forty years ago, local strikes were almost of daily occurrence. But since the establishment of joint Committees, in Durham and Northumberland, these Committees had almost pub an cad to local strikes. When a question had to be referred to an arbitrator, both eides had always loyally accepted his award, " and never stopped a tingle pit a " single day in,, r resisting the award." The Secretary to the Iron Shipbuilders' and Boilermakers' Society said that in his experience conciliation had been very favourable indeed. Tuero were about 40,000 workmen connected with his Society, and they found that they could adjust their differences far better by meeting and discussing the points with their employers than by resorting to a strike. Their expenditure on strikes had only been 3| per cent, of their income during the last fifteen years, "and during the last five years "it was only 1% per cent." They were now iv a " far better condition in "regard to wages than they ever could "be by resorting to strikes." Again Mr. Trow, speakmg of the North of England iron trade and the Midland iron trade, said that during the last twenty-three years they had only had one strike in each district. These facts speak volumes in favour of what can be done if employers and employed oolynieettogetherdeterminedtodowhat is fair aud just betweeu man and man, "Knowledge and trust, , ' said Mr. Bukt, were the eabeutial conditions of successful conciliation. He urged employers and workmen to meet face to face aud discuss their difficulties. " Let the widest; information possible be giv«m; let them not meet merely as buyers and sellers of labour, but as men; s»ud with upright and'downright honest and fair dealing between man and man, they might depend upon it they would Lave, If nob better times, better men and better women than they had today." The pity is that there are not some Bukts in this colony to infuse into the minds of our politicians a few wholesome and manly principles in connection with social questions.