CONCILIATION COMMISSIONERS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 408, 18 January 1909, Page 3

CONCILIATION COMMISSIONERS.

;. MR. GILES'S APPOINTMENT. ; (DTt TKLEOBiPH. Sl'vr; \ iMi:>l'xMl»iNnsNT.) .. Christchurch, January 16. The "Press,"_ referring to the appointment of the Conciliation Commissioners, says:—"lt was the obvious duty of the Government to appoint absolutely the best'mon it could sei cure to fill the positions—men of acknowledged ,< ability, experienced in industrial matters, and such' as would enjoy the.confidence' alike of employer-arid employed., Mr..Halley, Inspector of Awards,at Dunedin, two appointees, appears to fulfil these requirements, in a very largo measure, and.his appointment has been well received.' The' selection:of "Mr." Ha,rle Giles, of Auckland; the other' Commissioner, seems to bo less fortunate, and .certainly has not" been so. well received. Ho was connected with various commercial' firms in the.Old; Country, but since coming to New Zealand some twenty- , five, years ago he has been engaged solely in educational pursuits, first as a public schoolteacher and.for■twonty;yoars. or. so as the ,_ conductor of a 'commercial college.' Possibly the Government had some idea that a person in that position was necessarily 'facile pririceps' in business affairs, a sort of Dean: of.the faculty of commerce and industry, but there is a suspicion, amounting to something very like belief,, that Mr. Giles largely owed his appointment to his prominence in connection with the local branch of the Liberal and' Labour Federation, that Ms appointment;is x in.fact a political job. It has been the subject of criticism from both sides, and that is,a bad beginning, for a Conciliation Commissioner biiglit-'to command the respect .of all.;::We hope' that if the Government make a third appointment it will bo less open to criticism than that of tho Auckland' Commissioner."' r

A PROTEST. (BITELEGIUPH—IMtESS ASSOCIATION.) Dunsdln, January 16.. ; - The New Zealand iEmployers'.; Federation intend entering a strong protest against the appointment' of Mr. Giles as a- Conciliation Commissioner. ' . . -~.'..