COMPULSORY ARBITRATION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 179, 24 April 1908, Page 10

COMPULSORY ARBITRATION.

MR. REID PREFERS WACES BOARDS. INTERESTING REVIEW. "Arbitration, in Politics and Industry," was .the subject of an address delivered last week in Sydney by Mr. G. H. Reid, Leader of the .Federal Opposition, who, in passing, expressed his preference for the Wages Board system cf Victoria. ; ..'ln.a review of the history of the Labour movement, Mr. lleid observed that it' was *a strango thing that the'great trades-unions of the - Mother Country ivould not have' compulsory arbitration, though in New South Wales the workers had made a'dosporate battle for tlio principle. One of the wonders of the world was that in this little community of New South Wale's there was, so far as we could see on the surface, more unrest, struggle, and irritation than thero was over the vast surface of British industry; and, singular to say, there was one little spot in New South Wale 3 which had been free from the bitter phase of industrial misunderstanding. The president of .the southern coalminors, addressing - a meeting at Lithgow, recently, had announced that in their district, anongst the minors, their Board of Conciliation, without any compulsion or any lawyers, had been' able to adjust all their disputes for the past two years and a half in the most satisfactory manner. (Applause.) The compulsory system in New Zealand, so far as'he could gather, had worked pretty well; but the principle of compulsory' arbitration could not bo tried satisfactorily until it was tried in bad times, and this stato of things had not arisen in New Zealand. So far as Austialia was concerned, Now South Wales had taken the lead in regard to compulsory aibitr.ation. The sad thing was that the industrial peace predicted had not come. There were certain conditions necessary for the success of a system of compulsory arbitration. There must bo on both sides an hon'est desire for industrial peace, and on both sides absolute good faith in the observance of awards; for without these conditions the system would be a mockery, a delusion, and a snare. (Applause.) In the neighbouring State of Victoria the system pursued was wholly different from that in New South Wales. They had there a room .which the lawyers were never permitted to enter, and where a number of representatives of each side met, and, having appointed a chairman, discussed the questions in dispute. Without law, without lawyers-, with only the men who knew something about the matter—(applause)—they sat at the table", and, face to face, thrashed out 'the difficulties of wages, and hours, and general labour conditions. In Melbourne, therefore, where they kept away,from tho Courts and tho lawyers, strikes ■ wore among tho rare events of Victorian history. The Compulsory. Arbitration Court, might: be a good thing, but tho ideal-w,as not'that. The ideal condition was that in which men who did business with one another had no arbitrators at all: He looked forward to the time when Labour and Capital would sottlo their disputes in a sensible, business-like way. This was an ideal, and it was too early to condemn compulsory arbitration ; but his personal opinion' was that tho ■ Wages Board system of. Victoria was better than the present system: of our compulsory arbitration. , . V j, . ' . i He heartily i approved of an amendment which Mr. Wado had introduced into his Bill to'provide for the Court , above. He hardly knew what the full effect of . the amendment would bo. If it meant the re-hearing of a dispute in the Courtj after it had been tho subject of consideration by, a .Wages Board, then the prcposal was a monstrous absurdity; (Applause.) It was infinitely belter to keep ! the Court they had than to establish another ' Court and a Wages Board to : fight'the thing 1 over twice. But if the Court was one which provided an appeal from the'decision; of tho 1 Wages Board—which,,after all, might bo tho decision of, one man, the chairman—he was • quite in favour of surrounding both parties . to an industrial dispute with the safeguard I which tho litigant had when a jury had pro- > nounced a verdict against him. .He agreed that it- was a wise tiling to allow an appeal ) against a wrong decision; but to allow tho parties to go under all circumstances to' the Arbitration Court mean that tiie'party who lost would alwiays go to the Court,' and there would be two fights, instead of one: Our experience in Australia, as concerned tho Wages Board, was that it was a system far better than the litigation which proceeded in our Arbitration Court to-day. The attempt to make a Supreme Court judge the final arbitrator in every kind of industrial dispute was an experiment never likely to answer. One.advantage which the Wages' Board had was'that they could have fifty disputes set- . tied at. tho game time, as against the delays . of the Arbitration Court., ' "