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Press, Volume LX, Issue 11749, 25 November 1903, Page 5

principle* on which the Court had given its decision. In addition, the method and time of work was sought to be controlled not by thewe -who bod all at stake, but by those* who had everything to gain; the recognised doctrine hod become tlie least possible -work, the shortcut possible hour*, and 'the' highest- possible wage*, and instead of the doctrine of doing with all ones might whatsoever ewe found to do, there was the cry of reduced outnut, and limiSwon of work, t The circular from the Federation of Employers, whicii was sent, to the members, deserved the earnest attention of the members of this Association, emphasising as it did the necessity for alarm at the continual and various attempts of the Labour Department to foist restrictive and harassing laws. The continued activity of this department and its strong display of crude sewialistic. tendencies ehimanded on the part of the employers and those who believed that individual liberty was a virtue, the enrolment of every employer into some association. Regarding the Labour Department Bill, the committee rightly viewed it with alarm, considering the manner in which the Department had been conducted. One of the Department's functions, prominently displayed, had been the encouragement of Unions, assisting and prosecuting disputes. Whatever their individual opinions might be on the various labour laws of tlw colony, employer* must recogniw the fact that they, or some modifications, had come to stay. They emphasised a development in our social progress. If they were crude and unworkable it was mainly because they were the outcome of halftruths. That some change was necessary in our social policy had been recognised for some time. That it- had been taken up and developed by the Unionist and vSeicialist they llad themselves to blame. For the sake of the worker as well as for the employer and the community at large, they must endeavour to prevent it developing into "administrative nihilism." The chief difficulty in the way of successful labour laws was the keen consciousness of the difficulty of doing anything for a man without making him le«a a man by the act. The happiness to which a man was destined wasv none other than that which his own force made for him, and the difficulties into wltich he fell when he was left to himself were precisely the influences wheh sliarpened his understanding and moulded his eAaracter. Where the State destroyed individual effort by minute interventions they fell with overwhelming force on men who liad been accustomed to lean on other*. To correct the tendency of the labour laws drifting further in tho direction indicated, it was required that every employer of labour, both in the town and country, should become a member of an Employers'' Association, and that the various Associations of Employer* and Farmerjs' Union* and Sheepowners' Associations should work together and use their influence to minimise the evil results whicii were likely to accrue. He urged that no workmen from which employers were barred, that a union of employers should .have the same right as that possessed by workers' unions to carry a caae direct to the Court, that an agreement between unions of employers and workers could be registered by tiling it in the Court without the presence of the parties being necessary, that all unions of workers should classify ! their members, who should be restricted to I those actively engaged in a trade. He also advocated tnat the constitution of Conciliation Boards should be altered, so that in case of dispute assessors actively engaged in the particular trade co.uld take general evidence as to whether there was reason to send the case to the Arbitration Court if they could not get the parties to come to an amicable agreement, but where no agreement was possible, the case should go to the Arbitration Court oil its merits, and not after it had been prejudged. Owing to a variety of circumstances, the depreciation of gold, due to the enormous output of the gold-elds of other parts, but mainly owing to the long and continued drought in Australia, anil S" s expansion of trade through the South rican was, all the natural products of this colony had been realising extreme values, and the spending power of the people had been greatly increased, but it would be foolish to imagine that such a, state of affairs could continue. Even with these prosperous times, and abuudance of money, there was no enthusiasm to enter into enterprises where labour formed h chief element. Further, the artificial rates of wages which the unionist in town had owing to the prosperous times been able to enforce, had drawn labour of all classes from the country, until complaints come from all over the colony that there wero no workers to carry on the improvement of the land, clear'the bush, or even carry on with despatch the ordinary work of shearing and farming. .Workers could make so much in the eight or nine months' work in and near town that they preferred a long holiday rather than actively to fill up the twelve months of the year .with work. We were in danger between .our labour laws and compensation for accidents of placing a premium on idleness. So far the effect of these laws had only reached the towns, but he could assure the farmers that unless they joined in the earnest study of the labour laws, their effect would be more strongly felt by them in the near future. It was to be hoped that they would join with the Associations in the towns, and realise that they were combatting a common danger alike to the town and the country, and affecting the colony as a whole. Mr R. Richardson seconded the motion, which was agreed to. Mr Field then addressed the meeting on the work of the Vigilance Committee in connection with the Labour BUJs before the last lession of Parliament.