THE TRAMWAY TROUBLE

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12483, 20 April 1906, Page 5

THE TRAMWAY TROUBLE

MERIT AND DEMERIT SYSTEiL DEPUTATION WAITS ON THE BOARD. The deputation organised by Mr T. H. Davey. M.H.R., to wait on the Tramway Board with reference to the adoption of the merit and domorit t-y.-----torn, and thi , appointment of a. motor inspector from Auckland, attended tlin meeting ot" the Board held yotorday aili-rnoon. Tho members of the JJoaid privont wore:—Messrs \V. Kix<\> (chairman). Geo. G. Stead. C.\ M. Gray, M.11.11., Y. "Waymouth, A. W. Heaven, J. J. Dougall, G. Scott, 11. I'earc?, and C. fl. \Vinny, ana tho deputation consisted of Messits T. H. Davey, H. G. Ell, G. AVitty, W. \V. Tanni-r, M.H.R.V. .S. A. btaple.s, J. Burr, .mid Dr. Riu^vll. THK DEPUTATION'S VIEWS. Mr Diivey, •who Ma«» the firht .-pt'iikcr, said that the deputation weiv proem a* the outcome ot a inct-tinj; vi tii' , luinm-iy employees held a ht'.ic over a loftiiiynt ayj. Mr Man , , tho <lent 01 tlie iradors and Labour Council, and liiniseli wero present, ami tney thought that il they could help tne men in their apparent trouble 11 wi;» only light that uiey siiould do kci. i :•<• deputation had Irvii a-ked to p_u-' lx'sorc the Hoard tho reason■> lor ilie men'.s objection» to tlin merit and demerit i-y.-tem, and to tho appointment ot a certain gentleman a.s inspector, iio wished the menibeia to undei.stand ui>tinctly that tho deputation did not wjut upon the Heard in any spirit 01 hostility wliatever. (Hear, hear.) Their interest in the mccrn-tul ot the tranir) was that of the Hoard.-, and tho deputation only wished to d> what they could to assist the men and not to harrasis the Board. At prevent ho did not know of any solid reason why the merit and demerit syetom had been brought into existence. He had read the chau'man'h reply to tho men, and had failed to find the reason or tho real oliject why the ,<-yritem had been brought into loroe. It ex-oniod to liim. and he iielieved to the majority of tho deputation, that them must l>e some reason lor alt-ering tlu , exirtin/j; conditions. Ho did not think tho chairman would have any objection to telling tho deputation why the Board had adopted tho system." Whatever the merits of tho hystom might be he -thought that. some of tho rules dashed very badly. Tho ordinary rules of tho Board, he. thought, wero .strong enough in tho interest* of the public, and they, too, clashed with somo of tho new mice. There was another matter, however, which it was very oifficult for him to deal with, nnd that wan tho recent appointment made by the Board. Tho men had asked the deputation to enquire into tho past of the man appointed. Ho did not like th-e idea at all, but on behalf ot a large lxnly of men who had no leader, be thought lie had a right to mako the enquiries. He would bo very glad to submit tho results of tho enquiries to the Board, privately, and it was oulv right that tho Board should hold a full enquiry into tho matter. Ho had no de.siroto in* jiiro any man in tho service, and did not desire to prevent a man earning a living, even though he had made mietakes in his past life, bub what chance of promotion had' tho men who had been a long timo in the tramway service when outside appointments were made? Hβ thought those old tramway servants wero entitled to the Board's coiiflideraion. The deputation had approached the Board in the most friendly spirit possible. He f«lt sure tho Board had not adopted the system without duo consideration,' but if they could see thoir way to alter their previous decision, tho deputation would ask them to do so.

STATEMENT BY DR. RUSSELL.

Dr Russell oallctl attention to a point that ho said seemed to have been forgotten—tho possibilities of the tramway, and the necessity of establishing tlie Jxighotit degrco of honour among those employed. Tho Board owed a duty to the public to do what they could to give employment to well educated young men in tho district. The Board should bo quite able to procure all the assistance required -without going outside the district. When a change was to bo made it was the common practice to give notice of the proposed change and the reasons for the change. Jn the present case, however, the ohango and the appointment came as a surprise and a shock to the men, who felt that their honesty had been brought into question. If the individual appointed was of such paramount iml>ortanco and could do such efficient work, why did he not stay where ho was? There were old iand faithful servants in the Board's employ who were thoroughly competent to take up any position offered to them, lie felt that a mistake had been made in the appointment. If it was possible for the Board to make the necessary changes without, going outside the district, it would l)o to the interests of the Board arxl the people.

Mr Dotigall asked if the doputation could point out anything objoctionablo in the m<*rit and de'.nierii system.

Mr Davey replied that it was for tho Beard to give reasons for the change. Tho deputation said there -was no necessity tor any ohango. .As it wh*, no such system ,of inspection couKl possibly cover crery conductor and motor man.

Mr IVarco said that it. was only fair for Mr Davey (o give thf' reasons against tho appointment of the inspector.

Mr Dayoy replied that he would bo glad to supply tM information to tlu> chairman and tlio members, of the Hoard privately. *&

THE CHAIRMAN'S REPLY. The chairman, in reply, said lie thought tho Board joined with him in feeling thoy had a. stair of which tln-y wore very proud. (Heir, hoar). That was his own fooling;. He h-nd studied tramway questions , in various parts of tho woi - ld, and lie thought the Cliri«tcliurch Tramway Boa id had t\ staff equal to «ny. There were some mm of whom he felt absolutely proud-—they veto as steady as rocks. It was necessary that the enforcement of rules in any large system sliould be effected by 6OIHO method of inspection. Mr liavey «mf the other members of Parliament were constantly pausing laws which, as a rule, had attached to them thi' appointment of in=pec.tors, who were> constantly prying out doings of private citizens. The laws were mado not for tho-o who were carrying out the rules under which they were, working, hut for those who did not cony them out. The rea.-on why the Board had adopted the system was that it lir.d been found all over tho world that it was impassible to run a eervico such ac the tramway 'service, without some such >ystem fi\r carrying it out. Members of the deputauen must bo aware that the system was in foroc in Auckland. Diinediu, and practically in "Wellington. Thr« Town Clerk at Dunedin had informed him that the merit and demerit t-ys- ' t-ein lias boon in force then* for time. In n-ply to an enquiry, the .iiithorities said that it had been very <4Uce«L>ful. that coiaplaints from tlin public had decreased since its inception. anad that tho won had c.n>iri<>rnbly smartened up in tho collection of fare>. Tho system induced the men to report defects which they noticed in cars, permanent way, overhead construction, etc.' No complaints had l>eon made in regard to tho working of the system by the employee>. It was rather wolconied hy t' ,c men, it did away with the objectionable pnetk-e of havinpc to stand men off ji shift, or Jialf a -liift, us the case might 1«\ tor misdemeanours, ft was fully rei-ojrni-i'd l»y the manaa;fnient and the ♦•mplovers t!mt. the family inoro than the man stifiorcd

by Tits being stood off, hence the change was welcomed by the men. It was stated that there did not appear to bo any friction between tho inspectors and tho men in tho working of tho system. No bonus was given to the holder of tho best record. In Auckland a bonus of £1 each,was giv«?n to the best motorman and conductor every three, months, while in ChriMchurch double the amount would be given every two months. He was not going to gay why th." Board ban introduced thY m i,.- - doii:«; so lie would In , expoing faults <;n the part cf Mime mnibeiot ih»' staff. an;l he thought too much ot the staff t:ene:-dlly to mako public anything which had made it noeifSiirv t'.> enforcv the >y.-;oni. '1 i.;> ]k..utl ui-tt-nde;l to inrrwluce the .~y.-iom frcin tlie earliest inception of tho i?rvire. but with no many men wh:> ha-cl Ix , ; n working horse and steam car-, it vwc, tliongln only fair to d.?Lvy bringing t!i.-hy.-t<;in into force until they h.sd bi'en given aji opportunity of learning the electric work. Tho Board etarud first J, v making rules which wero enforced as far as possible* by tlw ordinary m<-tlic<L«. The system of inspection was one under wheh the men wore not made aware <jf tho charges brought agaiu-t. them. It waf, however, thought afterAvards 'that th-> men should be made acquainted with tho charges. He did nut think that, iho Board could fairly i hr> ac-cii-cd of employing outsiders unI duly. All the old tramway hands had j b-cii t; , k.n on, but it had been found J n\'CO-snrv to <ng;iga a few

r.Mt«i(!e men who were exp.'rt.s in electric ear werk. With reto the inspector, the Bond had t:--tin;nni;ik in ennrve'ion with th.it particular appoint inent «l:owiu;; the man to be fapiblc of carrying out the work ref|uiivd by of hi."= 1-cnrnv-and exppiicnce. No on." in the Hoard's employ, oertninly none of the ■oM tramway employ-v.-., cciild! (iinvo enrried out the uoik. Iht;ui*c (hey had not b'vd th<-> n<>c > s. c: ary experience. A.s to the charges which .Mr J).ivey had re-leiTi-d to. no rliiiibt when they were mudu they would b? considered. He doubt, that the Board would go caret idly into tho whole matter.

OTHRI? SPEAKERS

Mr Stead said it was quite certain that the good men could not pc«*ibly suffer In- thn introduction of the syst<'in. So far as his observations were eoivj.riKKl—and hv had watched the iiK-ii with some on re—the Board had got as good a lot of mc-tormen and conductors as there wore in any State in tho Australasian colonies, but it would ho impossible to think out. of every hundred of the men employed there should not ho one man negligent or careliT-iss. The Board hud not only tiw comfort of tho public to consider hut. tho lives of tho public, and it w<oll Id not do to allow motornien or conductors to become* care-less because- there was no tviipen-isioiL over them. Mr I>avey had said that tlie. ordinary rukfi conflicted ■with the system rules. He was not prepared to admit tfiaf, but lie thought the details might be iniprovrd and probably would I>e improved. It was aK-o more tlian possible that. tjj3 number of demerit marks might in some cases 1k» reduced, and tho number of merit marks increased. (Hear, hear.) They must give tho Board credit for doing their best in the interests if the. public. If after the experience of n month or so it should l» found n-e?s----sary to modify the j-y.ste.in, tliiit#would bo done. Ho would not refer to> the appointment of tho inspector, whether it was .good or had. At. any ratui. it was made for tho best. If an inspector was wanted it was bettor iliat he should be a man who had como from outside rather than from inside, and that was ono reason why an outsider had been selected.

Mr Gray said Tie wished to addra* himself to one aspect of the question, that with regard to the appointment of tho motor inspector. Ho thought tho Board had itself to blame somewhat in-;W)inuoli as it had not taken tho public more into its confidence with regard to the reasons which led tin to the appointment. (Hear, hear.) More tor tiie information of tho gentlemen pre■fiaii't than for the members of the Board ho might state that the appointment was rendered necessary in consequence, of a number of complaints that had been made respecting, tho treatment tliat the, rolling stock was receiving. Tho Board found, that they were suffering such a heavy loss in the rolling stock through tho men not having been properly trained that it was found necessary to engage a man as a. motor inspector to see that tho men did-their duty in re~ gard to the rolling stock. Ho had lioen looking through the motor ■inspector's report, and all through references were made to the cars. The inspectors thornselves had no power to inflict marks, for they only made their reports to the various heads of departments. Tho Beard would cfliert.ly have over £400.000 worth of propeity under its control, and it. was fhf refor-e-.iiecrsfiary th.at the rolling e'took should ho properly looked after. He felt very strongly that the Beard had not 'had" fair play in. that matter, and that they had been cniidemure! because of the absence of information. (Hear, hear.)

Mr Tanner. 0110 of the deputation, said he thought it wan a matter for 10----givt that the information giypn by tlirr la t. two Rpeakera had not K-rn matio public a month a>3l. It might- huve prevf'iited the growth of a wrong imin regard to the system. Mr DoiiEaM'said that Ilioiigh.t, for 0:10 mom?nt tihat any ria;}i.t or privilege of the employes of the Board had been infringed in any way w-lratever. hr wc-uld have lu-tMi. the very fir«vt to have strnn.gly ol>jected to tho merit and demerit or any other eystem being brought into force, but he was quite sure that within a very shcrt- time th; , employero of the Board would be? tho first to support the system, ajul denounce any other' that might be propr.-ed. The agitaticn hnd arisen solely from the fact t'!i:i-t. iho public were vet aware of tho lfasoun which actuated the Beard i:i adopting the system. There must be isomo system by which mr>;i could be either punished or rewarded, and under the present system th. , whale pn-ition was clear and defined. Tho men had an .-vlwdut-e light oF appeal to the Beard n.ga::i.<t any demerit marks awarded to tlu-ni, and if tli.re wcro nothing else in the system, he would support it for that alone.

Mr Bpavrn it spfiimd to him that the nun had thought to» much of the d'.»m?rit marks. n:id the Bcarrl to>D much of t!i? merit mark.-. The idea was to sl'? that tht> mt'ii μ-jiv doing their duty. and that they s'-icukl bo rewarded for anyt.hirg they did be/-cmd the-ir duty. Tlie chairman exjftl -tlwr tiie weitrlit would lx> given- to what had been said, and the deputation tl;o:i witlidrew.

The mattrr will b:> trou.ght up again vh'.Mi t'ho information premised by Mr Davey Ivan boeii received and considered.