The press. WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 1906. A THREATENED "COOPERATIVE" COLLAPSE.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12499, 9 May 1906, Page 6

The press. WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 1906. A THREATENED "COOPERATIVE" COLLAPSE.

It has .'ong boon known fhat the cooperative labour system is unsatisfactory not only to the colony, but to Hi© better claw? of men employed on the work. The difficulties which are cropping up in connection with tho North Island Trunk Railway supply additional erideuce as to tho radical' niKoiindiKisa of th© scheme. A tolegram which apprared in our columns yesterday states that owing to, dissatisfaction with, a d<>partmontal ord-or that a mimbor or" navvies who liavo born on day wages nre to rev©rt to t n no co-operative, system, i between forty and fifty men hare left the works. During tho last fiv© weeks, it is stated, even on day wages they hare, only averaged 4s>2d per day, owing to tlio prevalence , " of wet- weather. The men further complain of the high price ! they have to pay for stores, and to add j to tho difficulties of tiw? situation the ' j storokeep? m are refusing to give cre<lit to the men. The latter, we are told, | art , demanding—(l) Day labour, with increased pay for night work: (2) The establishment of a Government store, or th© guaranteeing of a storekeeper to supply goods «t a reduced rat© on prices now being paid by th© men; (3) The oompleto separation of th© inexperienced worker from the experienced navvy, and th© organising of special ganp« fi>r men physically incapable of performing equal work with the stalwart and navvy. It is added that more men are likely to leave as tho woathiM* gets more swore, and the work of const metion will receiv© a serious settack. Further it is suggested that unlc(*< the Govexnincnt establish (stores j they may h;tv© to close tho works. j Wo have on several previous ©oca- j sioiw that the co-operative system ! i* vory no far as their»- j t<«ret>ts of tho cokwy aix> concerned, «s]>c- j cwilly when , , as in the present case*, it ■ is enilncirtly do*irabl© to pu.sh on tho j undertakini; a.< quickly as Th© i really goo;l men will not work with th© ' inoflicifist. labourer, and cadi hat* ■■ the powor of voting out snrti of its mom- ! bers a.s are not up to tho standard, i Tho*t* may ]«'rliapfi find admission In a | < >©eond ixnui© or tlnrtl grade gang, accord- j • in to thcircapabihtics. It in obvious tJiat •' tho «'tigino©r, iti fixing prictv, especially in such rough country as that whero construction is new going on in the i North Island, must War in mind the inferior gangs, and make tho oi tuna to

siifficionit/Iy Uiigh to enable theso to make the current; rate of wages. What usually follows is that the good men wili work only with the '"Government stroke," because it' they were to put forth their lx>st effort* llioir receipts would Ikj ko high that in all probability , the engineer would feel compelled 1o cut down the rate. As rattands tho men engaged on the North Island railway, there is no doubt that there is a largo proportion of thorn quite unfitted for the work. The sprcial commissioner of the "New Zcmlnnd Times,' , who was - over the line some, two months ago, asserted tlhat a great proportion of the co-opera.tivo labourers wore men, who should not be employed, and \vlkwo oniployment meant waste of money. As he >a\(] "n navvy is not 4 a mere man ahlo. ''to swing a shovel;'' he must he a nvan of some training and: experience, "who ''will give a good day's work and stick P- "to it. To-day." he. added, "the en--10 ■'gineers are getting drafted to them ''dozens of men, tho fiiftings of tlx> '"towns, who are in many oases useless "as workmen, and in many more have "no intention of stopping on the job. "They are a source of continual trouble." Ho estimated that out of r0 the 2000 men then engaged on the works, 500 wero men whose labour was not worth its cost. How unsatisfactory 'k thus is to the Government can easily be imagined. In dealing with men who could not earn current wa-ges when working on (ho co-operative system, the usual practice has been to put. them on day labonr—in other words, the Government give them their 7s fid or 8s a day even when it had l>eon practically proved that thoy could not earn that amount by doing piece work at rates of pay fixt*l at a high rate, so as to meet the ease of the more or less incompetent. If the men who objected to iKing put Iwck on the co-operative S fry.stom, and who left tho works in consequence, wero of this class, s. we cannot- honestly say we think their departure, is to bo regretted. Ib can easily to understood - that the trained navvy, able to do a good day's work, and to whom a gco:l day's pay is necessary as a.n inducement to work in such a rough country with a climato so inclement, would ob- ,, ject to tho muddling, inefficient, inequitable features of the co-operative eyste.ni. As to fl"> storekeepers, it imvit be remembered that they have learned from bitter experience that it is not wife to give credit to ,the general run of co-operative labourers, not a few of whom leave their jobs very suddenly. When we enquired in'o prices charged 1 on the North Inland works in March ' lest, wo fymnd that although bread was * dea<r, meat was actually cheaper than " it was in Christchurch. Groceries were 5 dearer than in town, but this was only - to be expected , in such an out-of-the-way ? spot. Tho storekeeper who braves i the discomfort*? of a winter in Mich pnr- , rounding!? certainly needs some compen- ; sation, and we should not be eurprifedi if. with the prospect of a number of r the hands leaving the works, tho local r storekeepers were to decide that it wae , not worth while carrying on their birsv , nws during the winter, in which case, 1 !as the telegram .indicate:, the Governi i nient would no doubt have to intervene or clone the works. The men could not bo left in the wilderness to starve. j How the establishment of Government I stores would be affected by the Truck Act, and what the Trades Unions would have to say is another question, which wo are not called on to pettJe. "What is quite certain is that the only commoiiGcnAG way to carry on the North Island Trunk Railway with any hope of finishing it within a reasonable time, is to (submit the work to contract in the ordinary manner—let the contractors pick good men, and pay them good wages. If we go muddling on in the present inefficient fashion the railway will probably be completed when tin* generation lias pas-ect to its rost.