THE GOVERNMENT AND ARBITRATION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 132, 27 February 1908, Page 6

THE GOVERNMENT AND ARBITRATION.

On Saturday we printed an interesting statement obtained from Mr. William Scott, Secretary of tlie Otago Employers' Association, upon- tlie valuable results achieved in- Otago by voluntary conference as an agent for industrial peace. Mr. Scott's observations make a most useful contribution to tlie study of industrial conciliation and arbitration, and tliey will set the .public wondering what tlie Government lias in mind in-the.way of amendments of tho existing law. Nobody can'have failed to be impressed by the careful absence from the current flood of Ministerial ora/tory of any allusion ■to the , Government's intentions with respect to the Arbitration Act, Although it has been highly improbable, it has yet been just possible that the Ministerial avoidance 'of all reference to the most important legislative problem of the day has been accidental. The last, thread of probability disappeared, however, when Dr : . Findlay, the most communicative of Ministers, left tlie : question of arbitration alone in an interview in Christchurch on Friday in the course of which lie referred to many ' much less pressing affairs..- Mr. Millar, who was ready with his promises of amendment. last year—we have heard no more, by the way, of his announcement, . made- prior to .last session, that he would, amend the -Act by removing the "Willis , blot"—simply' wraps himself in a mantle of taciturnity. We' have failed utterly to induce him to drop .even. a. hint, of .his intentions.; The; position "of. the' Government in the matter can hardly be, a source of pride and pleasure'to even-its most enthusiastic admirers..', Thp Bill of last year, was introduced 'for • the double purpose of supplying some , better machinery for conciliation and of providing aTnew means of securing the enforcement of awards. The strike of j. slaughtermen had brought home to the Government 'the difficulties that would be-, created by 'any attempt to crush a, large strike by imprisoning/strikers, and a useful, enough innovation was devised.- The outcry of Labour' terrified a, Ministry anxious ,to keep Labour in the; good humour thatmeans support,"'and' the whole Bill was withdrawn'. . '.; ,

I, At the, present moment, therefore, there'exists lib protection for. the. final authority of the' Court. Rigidly : administered, it'is as effective: in its penalaspect as' any Act now upon the Statute Book. The Appeal . Court, judgment' has 'placed . that beyond doubt. But the Government, judged by . its actions, lias* little; idea of, allowing' the penal clauses to operate against any large" Unionist defiance of the Court. That was made abundantly clear by the Ministerial intervention in the Denniston' dispute. Labour must be propitiated at any cost, for' the election is due on the morrow of the session. ; As a result the Arbitration. Act is living only upon'the forbearance of the trades unionists.; -The hand' of political expediency is likely at any moment to withhold the ;only weapon that . stands ■ between- the. Act and nullity. It is ■ difficult to know what the Government intends, if it intends anything,, which we may reasonably' doubt'. With . its freedom so deeply mortgaged to - Labour, it is unlikely that, it will forward next session any reform along independent'and equitable lines. Perhaps we shall liaye last year's Bill reintroduced with most of its - provisions cut away, so as-to transform it into a simple proposal to 'abolish the Conciliation Boards and establish ,a system' of Industrial-Councils. Even this thin shadow of the full body of-necessary reform will encounter the hostility of the Trade's Councils,'but that hostility is likely to be sufficiently small to justify us; in supposing that the Government .may. pluck up courage - to push ahead with such a measure. What must not be overlooked in the sorry story-.of the Government's perplexities concerning the. Act is the complete absence from the, Ministerial policy of any sign ( that the employers are deemed worthy of consideration. If the Denniston trouble had been a lockout instead of a' strike, would there have been a moment's delay in the rigid enforcement of the Act? Everybody knows that there would not. How long, we wonder, will the Government be content to remain in its ignominious; bondage?