The Press. THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1912. THE MINIMUM WAGE BILL.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14344, 2 May 1912, Page 6

The Press. THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1912. THE MINIMUM WAGE BILL.

It was a memorable occasion when Mr Asquith introduced the Minimum Wage Bill, and seldom has tho Houso of Commons been, filled with a more deeply interested audience. Tho gloom and agony of the coal strike lay heavy on the land; industries \were paralysed and people were wondering what was io be the end of it all. In this crisis all eyes were turned to tho State for help,, and the Government came down with a proposal embodying a principle which, although it had *--..i adopted elsewhere, was'new to English law. For tho instant party spirit was laid asido and in his opening remarks Mr Asquith acknowledged warmly the forbearance which the responsible "leaders of the Opposition had shown during a very anxious time, and also tho patiehco and self-restraint of the public. Ho explained that the Bill which ho introduced was a temporary measure to continue in force for three \ years. The minimum wage fixed for any particular district the workman was to havo tho right to recover by civil process, nnd auy contract for tho modification of the wage was to be held to be void. It was provided that exceptions might be mado to meet tho cases of aged and infirm workers. Non-compliance with tho conditions or safeguards to rrotect owners against possible abuses would deprive a workman of tho right to a minimum wago unless the hon-complinnco was duo to somo cause, beyond tho workman's control. Tho rato of the wage, and tho rules for securing efficiency and regularity of work wero to be settled by joint district boards recognised by the Board of Trade. Thero would bo twenty-Ono diet-riots and the district boards would be either the existing Conciliation Boards or such ns might "ho constituted to represent fairly tho employers and the workmen. Each board was to have an independent chairman who would bo appointed by agreement, or in default of agreouient by the Department- The chairman would have a casting vote. Mr Asquith, of courso, had to admit that tho Act—which ho said was presented as a provisional and experimental measure to meet a special emorgeuey—'did not compel tho owner to open his mine, nor did it compel tho minor to descend into tho pit. But, ho declared, after Parliament had made this "logislativo declaration" in favour of a minimum wage, tho position would no longer be ivhat.it was before. Parliament, ho said with great emphasis, j would ho justified, if compelled to do so, which Heaven forbid, in taking other measures to defend the industries of the peoplo against paralysis and starvation. Mr Bonar Law. who followed, do- ! clarcd that the last thing ho desired to do was to try to gain .a party advantage out of so grave a crisis. Until he had consulted his colleagues he declined to commit himself either to approval or disapproval of the Bill, but he intimated that his misgiving and distrust were great. Ho particularly expressed his fear that the precedent thus set of a minimum wage for miners would bo extended to other industries. Ho was also convinced that the guarantees to tho masters against diminished output Mere insufficient. Mr Ramsay Macdonald. on behalf of the Labour Party, said they would like io havo the meaning of the phraso "minimum wage" interpreted in £ s. d., and they would insist on its being mado plain that the district boards wero not to havo the power of reducing existing rates of wages. After this, iuterest in the dis-cns-iion tapered off, but it rose to fever height the next day, when "Mr Balfour

again took his old placo by the box on the Clerk's table, and was received with a great outburst of cheers. His .speech was as brilliant' in dialectic, power as any of his previous efforts. Ho condemned tho Bill because it hold out no hope of finality, and sanctioned prinriplfs which, although thoy might im convenient for thn moment, would bo the precursors of perpetual trouble in the future. He declared that they wero confronted with the 'new. strange, and porten- " toils spectacle of an organisation, " acting within its legal rights, " threatening to paralyse, and. in a " measure, paralysing, the whole trade "of the community." Amid loud cheers ho asked whether any feudal baron bad ever exercised his power as the loaders of the miners had exorcised I theirs, and whether any American trust had ever pushed the,exercise of its power to the samo extent. He laid groat stress on the fact that- agreements between tho masters and men had been broken by the latter, and said that it was an unhappy thing that those agreements, some of them, he believed, signed by a President of tho Board of Trade, should bo torn up without a word of reproof. In tho most impressive manner ho described the strike as tho first great display'of a policy of power which would bo destructive of society if it wore successful. If society were '-held up" all would suffer, but thoso who would suffer most would be the poor, men, women, and children, remote from the scene of the struggle. In conclusion, ho moved the rejection of the Bill. This was defeated, the Government securing a majority of 123, which was considerably larger than was expected. Threo , Unionists voted with the Government, and ono Liberal against them. The weak point of tho Opposition was that j they had no alternative solution, j There was also a general feeling that ; the responsibility rested on the Government to do something, and there was a disposition to give a fair trial to tho 'proposal, which they said was tho best they had to offer. The Bill finally became law, but, as our readers are aware, the miners refused to accept it, becauso a specific amount was not fixed as a statutory minimum wage. No doubt the struggle was finally decided, as all such struggles on a large scale musk be, by economic pressure. Nevertheless, it is possible that the passing of the Bill slightly hastened its conclusion. It gave public opinion a lead, and doubtless caused some of the waverers among the miners to conclude that they had been suffering privation long enough, and that nothing more was to be gained by standing out. Whatever may have led to this conclusion, it is satisfactory now to know, on the authority of Sir William Hall-Jones, that most of tho miners are now back again to work. Wo only hopo that the check which has been given to British trade will not prove to be lasting in its character.