DAT WAGES FOR PUBLIC WORKS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21686, 21 January 1936, Page 15

DAT WAGES FOR PUBLIC WORKS

'\, tO THE EDITOB 01" THE PRESS. Sir,— Evidently having read Burns's - -ffo there, for honest poverty," and - Kipling's "If," someone has decided he '• S/'A Man" (in capitals, please). Well, well, 36 be it. For myself,, alter many ; ; " years of heeding the Socratic injunc- ' "tion, "Know thyself," I am not quite ' sure whether or no I can yet measure " ap, so lam pleased to leave the weigh.iog.up to my friends, relations, and ; r eneittiea, and, needless to say, they all ' "differ in opinion. As I may find it ne&ssary to criticise the Labour party 5 from fime to time, you will surely ; permit me to express myself upon this • .occasion. The Labour movement, Which is varied in its opinion and •diversified in its form, is built upon certain principles. I will remain loyal to those principles. There are also certain lines of thought which are built dp upon those principles. The Labour ■, party is built up again along a certain line of thought, and as long as the Labour party is true to that line of thought and basic principle, so will ' I remain loyal to the Labour party. That does-not necessarily mean that I mtttt be loyal to any individual, no '- matter what he does, not even such jf.an individual as "Fighting Bob" rf&Semple. For instance, it fs one of the of the Labour movement in every form to fight against the wages Let the Marxists keep out just here. ■ In the fight against the -' wages system" there is also a demand ; for a shorter working day. Now there "•" are ■»«»■< ways the " "Working day than there are of shortening it, and the- working day is not necessarily computed in hours of work but is -computed in energy expended. -- Now, notwithstanding the fact that the " Governments of Australia built their huge public works schemes and railways with day wage labour, we have a-Labour man in New Zealand advocating the most iniquitous, system of wage labour ever devised in order to extract an increased.return for a mini- ' mum of expenditure; that is piece • work. In my opinion the Labour party, which has fought against piece work for many years past and which •t has-been assisted in this flght by the ■ Hon. Robert Semple, has the opportunity to prove just how strong or how weak the Labour party is in permitting the Hon. Robert Semple . to-get away with a scheme for furthering the contract system or piece work national public works.—Yours, etc., THE SPECTATOR. January 20, 1936.