THE HON. J. A. MILLAR

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13131, 2 June 1908, Page 8

THE HON. J. A. MILLAR

SPEECH AT DUNEDIN

A DEFENCE OF THE ARBITRATION ACT.

(PRESS ASSOCIATION TEIXGB-M.) DUNEDIN, June 1. The Hon. J. A. Millar addressed a large meeting of his constituents at tho Garrison Hail to-night, the Mayor (Mr J McDonald) presidingMr Millar referred to several of the measures passed last session. Speaking of tho injury it was n'_eged the labour legislation had done in restricting trade and preventing investment of capital, he pointed out that in 1890 the private wealth of the Colony was £142,632,000, and in lPOti it was £304,654,000, and that there had been increases in other directions. He also quoted from a list taken from tho last census, which showed that the wage earners in 1906 numbered 227,083 moles aud 63,181) females, and that the total -.earnings had been respectively £-1,539,900 and £2,671.200, the averages being 94.8 and 42.3. Last year the Labour Department assisted to employment 1440 married and' 4865 single men, and up to date tho Department had similarly assisted no fewer than 58,782 persons, with 93,226 dependents, or a total of 152.068 parsons. In the face of that, iie asked if the Labour Department was hot- doing good service? During the post year the membership i,i unions registered under th_ Conciliation and Arbitration Act had- increased by 10,485, which -was the largest of any year since the inception of the Act. How, then, he asked, could it ba said that the Conciliation and Arbitration Act had broken down? He maintained that the Act had been a thorough success from beginning to end, and his defence of his administration ot it was greeted with hearty applause by tho great majority of those present. Any union that cancelled its registration under tho Act could strike tf itchose, but he warned the workers that those who had had experience of strikes wero those who were not looking for them. He claimed that the Government by its policy of erecting hcaies. and of making advances to workers, had very materially assisted in meeting the high rents caused by fictitious value* in laud given by the. high price of our products. Tho defects in tho Arbitration Act had been its delays, and tho uses made of tho machinery oi. the Court. Touching on the slaughtermen's strike, he showed how the fines under the Act-had been collected from employers and employed. The penalties m-flicted on employers between 1903 and 1908 amounted to £3159, and 93 per cent, of that sum had been paid. The penalties inflicted on the workers during the same period amounted to £120, of which 75 per cent had been paid. The peri-lties inflicted on the slaughtermen totalled £1350, of which 47 per cent, had been paid. The sum of £329 was owing by men whose whereabouts was unknown. These were the men from Australia, who, having brought about the trouble, cleared away and left our own workers to face the difficulfcv. Referring to the Blackball strike, he detailed the events that had token place in connectdon with it from the start to the issue of warrants on the 26t-h of last, month-. Mr Millar went on to say that they had been blamed for the Department not having taken action in. connection with the Blackball strike, but the Labour Department was not to -be used as a jn«in< of persecution. The radical alterations in the Bill were the retention by the employer of .20 per cent, of the workman's wages until the fines were paid, which he thought only right and fair, and the other perhaps more important alteration—the abolition of the present Conciliation Boards. In place of them it was proposed to have three representatives from the employers and three from the workers,, and let them discuss matteirs -with an independent chairman.. As soon as they came to a settlemen-tf an award would be made. He went on to speak of the success that had attended the adoption of the method of conciliation he was advocating in Enpland. _ His opinion wns ithat if there going to be conciliation at all, it would only be by. a method such as he supported, and he asked the workers to gave the system a fair-trial. The only objection that could be taken to.it was the risk of a man being victimised. But if a man I gave evidence against his employer, he w«as liable to that. An employer could victimise a m_n under any system if he liked to do so. He was asking them to try a system that mioht be beneficial. He believed the ' more they could bring workers and employers together, the more chance there was of a oettcr feelin-g between.' them. He pointed out "the absurdity of the Socialists' demand that the State should nationalise all land and the means of production, and l stated that the value of town freehold l ?, apart from State, municipal education-, Church, and Friendly Society lends, was £65,88-,225, and of country'freeholds privately owned £95.890.533, or a total, value of £161,771,758. In addition to finding that sum there was the whole of the stock and the compensation value to be calculated. The Government hadi no intention of entering upo_ any such magnificent scheme as that, but purposed continuing on the progressive lines of the past few years, during which time they had-gradually taken over branches of industry that they found it was safe and in the interests of the country to take over. Tlie Government, however, were not going to become storekeepers. That was plain I Under tho proposed amendment to the Arbitration Act, the Minister stated distinctly, no section of the workers would be dehorred from, its privileges, and the farm labourers would be as free to come. under the provisions of tho Act as any other branch /oi labour. In closing his speech, he forcibly denied the statement in the local Press that lie had tried to strangle and manacle the labour party, and he mentioned a number of measures passed by the Government in the interests of the general body of workers. On th© motion of Mr John Loudon (ex-Mayor), seconded by Mr Wm. Belcher. Mr Millar was accorded a vote of thanks and confidence, also confidence in the policy of the Liberal Government A largo number of persons stood uo in support of the motion, and about 40 rose in opposition. The Prime Minister then spoke for twenty minutes.