LABOUR REPORT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 248, 13 July 1908, Page 6

LABOUR REPORT.

NEWSPAPER CRITICISM. MR. TREGEAR'S " POETIC ' " RHAPSODIES. . . "We thought that the present Minister for Labour (says the Ckristchurch " Press •') had successfully impressed upon the Secretary for Labour that, in his annual reports, it was his business to stick to facts, and not use Government printing presses and Blue Books for the purpose of airing his opinions. It appears, however, that we were mistaken. In the Report on the Labour Department, just presented to', Parliament, Mr, Tregear has taken upon himself to discuss the policy of the Arbitration Act. Ho still utterly fails to understand that :)t : . is the business of a Civil Servant to administer the law aa ho finds it, that the question of policy js settled by Ins political superiors, who, are quite I capablo of defending the Arbitration Apt if ,they think it requires defence, but who, as ' it happens, have chosen instead to bring in an amendment to a large extont transforming its character. What makes Mr. Tregear's pervorsion of -his position all the more flagrant ia that iaot that, while affecting a ' judicial pose in discussing the Act, lie'lias ; contrived to -air his Socialistic- prejudice against the class whom ho has elsewhere spoken of as ' robber landlords,' while his references to employers display tjie same covert .hostility. We'are surprised that Mr. Millar does not give his subordinate clearly to understand that it is his place to administer the •Act,• not-.to-criticiso it. ! The Secretaryfor... Labour failed conspicuously when ho might have done 'good by settling the disputes ai) Blackball and elsewhere. If he thinks,' howover, that lie can compensate for failure in" the practical work of his department by' writing poetic rhapsodies about the Act and Its beauties in his annual report, he entirely mistakes the temper of the public, That he should make use of an official document for the purposo of instilling, in a peculiarly insidious way, into the minds of the workers that they are being robbed and exploited is little short of a scandal." . •

Tho following are clippings from-the Labour report:— - An unusually large amount of overtime has been worked this year, showing most conclusively that there is a very genuine: demand for an increased number of operatives in the trades and industries referred to. Awards under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act issued to parties by the Labour Department average nearly three thousand per month, ' Seventy-three cases wore taken before tho Arbitration Court under the "Workers' Compensation for Accidents. Act. A sum .of £5342 Is, Id. was awarded. to the widows and'relations of persons fatally injured, whilst tho sum of £1774 13s. 6d. was paid to those partially incapacitated by accident. In addition, sixteen parties wore awarded sums ranging from 4s. to £1 16s.j per week until.convalescent; ; ' ■ - . Letters issued last year by the Department numbered 13,343 outward, 12,759 inward ; telegraifis, 1(520 outward, 1723 inward; circulars and circular letters, 15,411 outward.