LABOUR LEGISLATION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 282, 21 August 1908, Page 8

LABOUR LEGISLATION.

ITS WORKING IN AUSTRALASIA.I HOME OFFICE REPORT. Early in July the British Home Office issued the reports of Mr. Ernest Aves oil the working of the Wages Boards, and Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Acts of Australia and New Zealand. The English newspapers to hand this week contain summaries of tho reports, which, although they aro in some respects not such as will find agreement in this country, aro nevertheless deserving of notice. After describing in detail the various measures and the reasons prompting them, Mr. Aves sums up his conclusions by saying that for the most part the advantages claimed by their supporters, with varying degrees of validity, for special Wages Boards, or for Industrial Arbitration Courts, such as increased wages, improvement in conditions, tho maintenance of industrial peace, the increased cohesion of the parties concerned, the ability to contract on an assured wago basis, tho suppression of tho incompetent employer, and the spread of a greater spirit of contentment, aro not peculiar to one system or the other. Similar claims might be, and indeed are, advanced on behalf of other systems resting on a voluntary basis, such as those secured by Conciliations Boards in England, or by the adoption of tho co-operative priu-

lii the introduction to his report, Mr. Avcs summarises some of the leading economic mid political features of the colonies:— The most astonishing thing about Australia is its wealth," was tlio remark made by a feouth Australian manufacturer. "Australia is a frame without a picture," said a banker, alluding to its sparse population, largely aggregated in the capitals and other seaboard centres. "When you go into the couiury you see tho flowers and the grass • 1 sec tlie shadow of the drought," was a remark made in Sydney. "Tho three comments indicate some of the salient features of Australia. It is rich sparsely populated, and has suffered over considerable areas almost periodically from drought. But the remoteness of its ■ gcographical position, rather than tho limited drawbacks of climate—and, in some parts, and in some respects, Australia has one of tho most superb climates in the world—are tlie chief reasons why Australia to-day has only some four millions of people,"' The ; smallness of population, tho democratic constitutions, and the simplicity of industrial organisation lead to rapid changes in laws already past,. and a constant flux and reflux of opinion. Moreover, the Acts have been operativo only for comparatively short periods; and "the time has not arrived tor that which may some day bo tho most important conclusion of all, namely, as to the effects of tho Acts upon permanent wellbeing and industrial character." ' (( The latest- amending Acts, however, seemed to havo strengthened rather than weakened tho widespread determination of Australasia to adhere, at any rate for tho present, to tho principle of a legal minimum wage. When this principle is acted upon in tho interests of those who are considered need protection, because

they are m tho greatest danger of being overridden through tho stress of industrial competition, I think thero is an overwhelming balance of opinion in favour of legislation directed to that end. The standard' of-a race is . felt to be at stako, and thero is what amounts almost to a national determination to guard if necessary and if possiblo by legislation against at least tho grosser forms of undor-payment. Thus it Jias become part of the bettor conscience, alike of tho_ Commonwealth and New Zealand, to insist on decent industrial conditions and, if necessary, to pass measures trained to avoid the repetition in a now land or at least this particular form of old-world trouble. "Second only to tho fear of this ovil of excessive under-payment thero figures that of industrial conflict, and tho further dcterminaticn is still strong to avoid, by ]c r ;tl machinery if this he possible, resort to wl?at aro regarded as the antiquated methods of tho strike and tho lock-out." In origin, enactment, and administrationtho Special Boards of Victoria form part of tho general system of factory legislation established after tho "sweating" revelations of the early eighties. Power for tho ostablisluncnt of "Wages Boards was first given in 1896, .and they were formed for. tho clothing, furniture, and bread-making trades. Wages Boards have been established in over fifty trades, employing in 1906 nearly 49,000 out of a -total of 65,000 workers. Substantial advances of wages havo not been frequent, but have taken place in the boot furniture, and other trades; on the other hand, reductions have been quite insignificant.

On almost no positive point regarding the system is there general agreement of opinion "Employers," says Mr. Aves, "are unanimous in one negative conclusion—that Special Boards aro preforable to Arbitration Courts, and there is a very widely-spread belief that tho Boards havo been instrumental, somo say in abolishing, and others in modifying, tho evils of 'sweating,' and, from complex motives, there is in Victoria a great preponderance of opinion .among all classes in favour of tho retention of the Boards. , But as to whether it is desirable to extend them, as to what their power should he, and as to their effects, there is tho greatest possible diversity of opinion." No clear .statutory definition of a legal minimum wage has been attempted, so that the point at which it should be fixed is sometimes moro controverted than tho idea or a minimum.

As regards tho Special Boards, Australian experience has boon mostly confined to various branches of tho clothing trade, and has been concentrated in a small area. "Even under tho comparatively favourable conditions that havo prevailed in Victoria it has boon seen that, as regards wages tho distinguishable effects of the Special Boards on total avorago remuneration have often been slight, and that, when compared, so far as women's earnings aro concerned, with changes that have taken place in trades without Special Boards, they are, in tho aggregate, hardly appreciable. "In spito of. this, tho Boards, especially those formed m the women's trades aro greatly valued and aro widely believed in and a chief explanation of this must, I think, bo found, not so much in any demonstrable and lasting effects that they have had on tho individual earnings of 1 women as in the increased feeling of security that they give, and m tho belief that they make treatment moro uniformly fair "The Boards have helped both in the home and in tho factory, and probably not simply m the trades under them, to set a moro certain standard. They aro also believed to make out a point below which, should reaction como, wages will not, at least without greater difficulty, fall. The tost of this period of dcclino lias, it is' true, not been.reached, and should it come, tho 3oterininations may break down. But whilo maintained or sometimes oven when excecded they are felt to bo a source of" strength. They affect sentiment—both pubic and private. They help to establish benoficial customs, and if character is not thoreby weakened, this is a great gain They become, moreover, something which tho conscience, not only of the trado but also of tho community, has to tako into account." iho outstanding claim peculiar to both' systems is, it is remarked, "their recognition or tho principle of tho legal minimum wago, and it has been seen how very differently this principlo operates in different trades and under different circumstances— sometimes beneficially 011 tho whole, so far as it has been tested, as in tho case of somo of tho imdcr-rato trades, although never I°i 1 r olements of risk; and sometimes doubtfully and with a double edgo—alike for employers, employed, and . tho trado concerned.

"Other claims aro more pertinent to tho oilo legal system as against tho other; such as, m the case of the special boards, tho simplicity of their procedure; tho caso with which they can get to their task; their inoxpcnsivencss; the utilisation of tho best experience of tho trade; tho possibility of tho simultaneous session of various boards; or tho advantages of mutual discussion by thoso directly concerned in tho issuo. Or, in tho caso of Iv.dustriai Arbitration Courts, tho greater dignity of their procedure, their hioro esteusivo powers, and their wider out-

look. On the other hand defccts are pointed out; somo peculiar to one system or tho other—tho converse of such distinctive advantages as those mentioned above; and common to both systems, such as inelasticity and a consequent inability to adapt decisions to tho varying conditions of trades or individuals, leading to the inherent risks cither of displacement; or, more generally, as following on too great a uniill the wage scale, of mediocrity. Although advantages and defects of one system or another, or of botlu may thus bo pointed out, flieir real significance will always bo contingent upon some definite application—cither social and. personal or industrial, so multitudinous are the differences m character and temperament, as.well, as in trades which tho organic unity of industrial hfo conceals. Thus, the suitability or unsuitability of a system of industrial settlement will depend largely upon the particular circumstances under which, and because of which, it is utilised.. , 'As regards tho particular methods of industrial settlement that have been examined, although tho interest of tho general public cannot bo entirely severed from that of any trade or industry carried on in its midst, tho point of view varies. It is obvious, for instance, that the public interest and the public concern differ in kind .as to whether the railway or post offico service, or if there be alocal monopoly, coal mining are affected; or again, as representative of a second great group, tho engineering or carriage industries ; or of a third group, tho lowest paid branch of shirt makers or cardboard bos makers. As regards overy group, it is to the public interest that what, for want of a better word, may bo called right relationships and right conditions should prevail, but while as regards tho first group the primary public requirement may be described as continuity of service, m the third group, in which, it may bo noted, it is not only women who are employed, tho chief public demand would be conditions compatible with the avoidance of social deterioration. Thus, while the maintenance of industrial peace, of orderly relationships, and of approved customs, including decent rates of remuneration, aro universally desired, in different connections they hold positions of different relative importance. As regards industrial peace, while an authority external to the trado has not, .in any case as a body to bo habitually referred to and permanently available, met with suoh success as to justify wider adoption, or even in some cases, as constituted and used, retention^-a wido experience in. England, no loss than in Now Zealand or New South Wales, is opposed to tho reversion to a purely individual and non-organised settlement of industrial difficulties.

_ On tho contrary, tho argument both for giving greater validity to voluntary agreements and failing these, for tho compulsory reference to a third party for investigation and report is becoming stronger, and new and hopeful precedents for such procedure exist both at Home ond in Canada, as well as in Australasia. In the abscnce of strife, or threatcned strife, or of any question of excossivo umler-payment, tho lines of development are also making for a greater degree of organisation, though with great variety as to the form which this should take, and as to tho point to which it should be carried. There is, m this connection, perhaps above all others, noed that the dangers of excessive rigidity should bo avoided." ■

'On "industrial peace," by the way, Mr. Avgs remarks that in Now Zealand "the presonfc position is as uncertain as it is interesting, and the end is not yet seen of the many readjustments that are in progress following on tho death of Mr. Seddon."