A LABOUR DEFEAT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 147, 16 March 1908, Page 7

A LABOUR DEFEAT.

UNEMPLOYED BILL REJECTED. THE TRADE UNIONIST ATTITUDE. SPEECH BY MR. BURNS. BY TELEGRAM —PRESS ASSOCIATION-^COPYRICIIT ' (Roc; March 15, 5.8 p.m:) , London, March 14. In tho Houso of Commons, Mr. Philip Whitwell Wilson (Liberal member for St. PanCras South) moved tho sccond ■ reading of the Unemployed Workmen's. Bill drafted •by' 'tho Labour.'party.-.'Much public interest

was : displayed.' _ <>Mr. Wilson, ifl explaining tho root pnncipio of tho Bill, said that tho problem of tho • unemployed must ' bo regarded as a national matter.

Mr. -Ramsay Mac Donald (Labour member for Leiccstor) seconded., Ho claimed that tho measure was. only an extension of tho legislation of 1905 : (tho Unemployed Workmen. Act), which gave tho'. unemployed -tho hope of Stito'employment. Mr> Mac Donald continued:—

It Is a mistake for Llborals to fancy that they hear tho rumble of the tumbril of socialism.; No fateful results wijl l follow this Labour; demand."" The cost will not oxdsod that of one annually. AN ORCANISED LABOUR VIEW.

■ Mr.' Fi- Maddisbn- (Labour' member.. for Burnley)ljnovod.an amendment affirming that the BilT would throw out of work, mo.ro .than it- would assist, ...aiid .would also .destroy tile, power of i organised labour.'. Ho , Socialists . for. telling people that tlierp is. a way byVwhich everybody could; get work,find; for' advocating ruinous and .disastrous land schemes; State control of their; lives must follow the-recognition «by the State, of tlio -right to'have'/work, which .was an in- . terfercnce n<^,' freedom-loving people . would tolerate. « , > . , - ■ ■■•-.:? ' Mr. Graysort : (Labour-Socialist member for Colne Valley) said that if the Government werp Unable to solve the problenl'of unemployment,'thoy ought-to resign. 1 Tho money, needed 'could bo ; obtained by bursting the bags of. the wealthy, filled with the. unearned' increment. >. THE MINISTER IN DEFENCE; Mr. John Burns, President of tho Board of Trade, in a, : vigorous ...and '. argumentative speech, repudiated the cliargo that' nothing had / been.- done , for the .'poor.' ■: Mr. Bums added

The cry is ivorywhere raised that . ■ the-.,- Government . are threatening . : ; monopolies and the rich, and are ex-, aitlng fustian and corduroy at the \ expenso oi.tbo tall hat and the frock coat. No other oountry would have spent so much In: relief of the poor, and 110 .other people would have in- . . terested themselves so whole-hearK : v . ediy to assist the indigent, : Reforming' to ; .6f the farin cplonios; jMr.,' Burns stated that Hblleslby-Biy involved; a loss of £22,000 a year 'Ho gave striking illustrations, of' tho unsatisfactory results of such methods'of assisting'tlio unemployed. 1 Few lccal authorities desired tho powers that the' Bill proposed to confer;. 1 ' 'He ■was confiflent '■that. ! ;Siicli i ' legislatiwi' was : a delusion, and', a ."snare.', ~ .. < ADVICE BY MR. ASQUITH. •Tho Chancellor- of the Exchequer, 'Mr. AsqUith, declared .that the.' acceptance of tho, main'principle,,of tho Bill would bo nlore prejudicial, to'' the workers' than to any other class., ,It would vastly aggravate, uhemploy--meflh, .and woiild • ultimately necessitate'completo State'control of the Whole machinery of production. : ; Tho Bill was .rejeotcd 'on , a division by 2'65 votea to .IIG. v.' Mr. Maddison's amendment was carried'by 24i votes to. 03/ There .was lniich cross-! vptin£; : Tho, ...majority'. Against;. tho; Bill was ' composed of ,195 Ministerialists' and 70' Unionists. The . minority included ; 4l\Labourites,' 20 Nationalists, 2 Unionists,. and- a number'of Radical.). Tho Preftiier of South Australia, Mr. Price, attended tho debate,. '' DOES' RELIEF DO HARM? An indication • was conveyed' in 1 a recent cablegram that Mr. Fr*Maddison—a prominent trade unionist -ivho believes' in old age pensions, taxation qf latid'''Values, and reform ot House of Lore s-^was;to mote-;against.'the Labour .party, s. Bill on'behalf of trade .unionand; ho, has - certainly . marked,' out his fi 0 ®?} 1 ? 11 ..no .uncertain way: - Tho Labour Conference at Hull, it, will bo rotticnibored. Was captured by the Socialists to. the extent of carrying a resolution . calling on the Labour ,party to;declare.for Socialism.. Mr. Maddison s remarks are an indication of how.'wide the difference' between Socialists and trade unionists is liable', to become. - The Labour party's Unemployed Bill, as described by_ Mr. " Eamsay Macdoilald, y aims at Providmg temporary'.'relief.-for tho competent skilled workman!, industrial villages for tho used-up.but holiest workman; and penal farm colonies for the' semi-criminal class Called unemployable. Mr. Burns' l'cplies by quoting figures to prove' the financial failure of the farm ■labour, colonies. Mr. ..Afeqiiith 'emphasises the argUnieijt that dependence on the Stato is the independence. Tho Government Claims that it is doing tho best that can be done. I'or the. year ended March ,31, 1907, the total number of applicants, to the distress committees, established under , tho Act of 1905 was 87,001, as compared with 110,835 in the previous .year. .' There; were, 28,181 .in London 15,322 around London, and 13,498 in "the provinces. Out of the total of 87,001, GO..HG or 09 per cent: were found to bo Qualified for assistance; btifc tlio proportion was only 47 per cent in London. More than halt of tlio qualified applicants belonged: to the general or casual labour class. . ,

Employment was found for '36,280 of the applicants, chiefly on Works undertaken by the local authorities; but foiir of tho distress committees rented larid on which men were employed in works of cultivation, 'ftnd West Ham ran a farm colony. The rato of pay varied from-4d. to G|d. per; hoilr.-v . It is' claimed ...that as a result of helping casuals, men who were not casuals have become, such, but no.casual has been raised by the relief to a higher, Status. One, writer observes : " Any attempt to relieve ; tho chronic distress which arises from under-employment by simple relief work must havo a tendenov to stimulate .this t>roces3 of recruiting, and thus to leave the problem rather worse that before. Nothing is, in fact, more noticeable in the after history of men'relieved under tho 4ct tliaii tlio length of . time tliey remain but of employment after discharge, from relief work." HEAVY RAIN. FLOODS IN QUEENSLAND. BY TELEGRAPH—MtESS ASSOCIATION—COriRIQHT ' . (Rec. March 10, OAS a.m.) Brisbane, March 15. Over 14in. of rain, hoyo fallen in twentyfour hours in several districts, while lliii. foil in Brisbane, which is now inundated. Tliero aro no details from tho country, tho telegraph- linos being interrupted. You can do a sufferihg friend a kindly service by. saying "Steams' lieadaoho Curo will, quickly euro that hoadaoho." A trial will convince' you if you'havo hot yet. need it youisolE. . <U