THE ARBITRATION BILL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 302, 15 September 1908, Page 4

THE ARBITRATION BILL.

MRO'REffANCRITiCISES THE ... \:.\ MEASURE. "DOES NOT TOUCH THE. ROOT OF THE ~ ; EVIL." ■' ! Interesting views with respect to the Arbitration' Act Amendment Bill aro held by Mr. P. J. O'Regan, chairman of tlio 'Wellington Conciliation Board. Very desirable amendments had, ho remarked to a Dominion reporter, been made in the Bill by the Labour Bills Committee. For example,,the deletion, of tlio clauses whiclr'provided that magistrates should , preside over the proposed industrial tribunals was,'in his opinion, a, decided improvement. Ho regarded it as inevitable that theso tribunals under any circumstances would havo to encounter' a great deal of hostilo criticism. Nobody, "ho felt sure, desired to see the magistracy of tlio "Dominion subjected to a fusillade of'abuse such'as had been recently accorded Dr. MJArthur, S.M., over his decision in connection with tlio Auckland Tramways dispute. The abqUtion of the clauses with regard to imprisonment was also a step in the right direction. . r , It seemed to him, howover, that one industrial commissioner for oach Island must' bo'quite insufficient.' To illustrate what he meafit, lie pointed out thafc.-if all the disputes'which had arisen in .the., Wellington districfrdnriiig* the past two yoars-had been dealt with by the Conciliation Board that body would havo required to hiivSCi'sat without intermission. Under tlio new measure must go- before the conciliation council, and, as thero was not the slightest probability of there being fewerii'disputos, it ,'s'oewcoLto hini inevitable tljat.the new tribunal would liavo its bands -filll "throughout tlie;-year. The'measure wasy, Mr. O'Regan continued, an holiest endeavouß to meet a difficult situation—in fact, ho.;might say an impossible situation, because-'no thoughtful man could regai'iTthe outlooß''for industrial conciliation and'arbitration as reassuring. _ What tlio critics did not appear was that that the Arbitration Act was "entirely a voluntary measure, so to.Xsp.oak. It was al-. together-impossible to'say that the Arbitration Court" in "the matter of enforcing its decisions was. in the same position as anyother Cotirt;-for the 01/Kious reason that if a.'decision"which-,;it gave was unsatisfactory the. union affected coufd,~-by. cancelling its withdraw''",;from its jurisdiction whenever it .pleased: ,?■ He predicted that under tlio new. legislation very few disputes would-be-settled-by tlio" conciliation councils. < rii6"TßaKhiifKfy"of the_ Court would, lie thought, continue to bo invoked as'hitherto, and- lie* .-considered "it absolutely impossible 'fbr';the*,Court tol.avo® giving offence to one side or the otlifir. 1 v Theii, again, the new measure; gave much greater latitude for the formation of unions to take advantago of the"'system'"of''arbitration! Imagine the 'ftm^'fifl)olSreH~Sifd" , a6iiSß'4tr6 servants of the ■ Dominion undor-awardsl 'He didn't seo how inspectors could bo provided to enforce the observanco-ofthoir.provisions, and yet if the iteV ihdiistrinl'iarbitration were adopted ii6'"didn't see how those classes of No system of , arßttratira^oucli6d" ! tlie > oviT T Which was really' afc'tlio?Bbtjsjn';.Q'f .'the 1 . difficulty, via., the excessive' price bf"land'afnd'high reiits. - Until the workers directed their attention to that ovil conciliation 'and'., arbitration would be like Dead Sea:'fruit,' ' '