FACTORY CONDITIONS

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22451, 12 July 1938, Page 15

FACTORY CONDITIONS

TO THE EDITOR OT THE PRESS. . Sir, —We can take it for granted that the general public are fairly well .satisfied that most of our factories are scrupulously clean, but I feel ■ sure that the same public will resent the hush-hush policy of Mr Walsh, whose motion excluding “The Press’’ from the rest of the Conciliation Commissioner’s proceedings savours of star chamber methods and is directly op•posed to public Interest. , 1 thank you for making public the utterances of Messrs Walsh, Baird, and Purtell, who seem to think that the interests of the employers and employees will be affected by your true report of what was actually said ut the Commission. I will repeat some of them, Mr Nisbet admits that one of • the assessors made a statement about “pigsties in some factories, which he said was “a little exaggerated.” Let us hope that it was greatly exaggerated. Then Mr .Purtell says: “I am not going to admit it does not apply to some of the smaller places. Mr Baird explained that his remarks as to ‘insanitary conditions in some referred - to-“some Places in one factory," and Mr Purtell did not deny his remarks op the state of some factories." I think I have Quoted enough to show that when Mr Walsh said, “1-don’t know of any better way of destroying the industry and putting men out of work." he. was guiltv of special pleading. The interests of the public are paramount. Public health demands that those reports should not be withheld, and personally I am concerned to know if those slightly exaggerated pigsties” are still turning out food for human consumption. One thing I feel sure of is that the public will not tolerate Mr Walsh s attempt to shut out “The Press.” The time is far distant, I hope, when oux newspapers will be compelled to trim their reports' so that no offence will be given to those guilty of endangering public health, but we are, drifting in that direction when public men dare to voice such motions. —Yours, etc.* ETERNAL VIGILANCE IS THE PRICE OF LIBERTY. July H, 1938.