THE PURPOSE OF THE TRADES UNION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 819, 17 May 1910, Page 4

THE PURPOSE OF THE TRADES UNION.

At various times during the past eighteen months we have discussed some' general aspects of the now well-known case of Osborne v. the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, upon which the House of Lords issued a final judgment not long ago. Arising out of the use of trades union funds for the payment of Labour members of the House of Commons, the case led to the laying down of the law that trades unions cannot use their funds for political purposes outside the strict limits of the purposes of trades union incorporation. This decision, it now appears, is having the result of placing a check upon some of the political activities of Labour organisations in this country. The Shearers' Federation, of which some of the declared objects are "to gradually replace the present competitive system of industry by a co-operativo system," and to "endeavour, by political action, to secure social justice," has been informed by the .Registrar of Industrial Unions that the Crown Law Office advises that before the rules can bo registered they must be amended. "It appears," the Registrar adds, "that the English case, Osborne v. the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, applies to the law in New Zealand, and reference to political matters cannot therefore be made in the rules under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act." We discussed some time ago the possibility that the Shearers' Federation would be denied registration, and it now appears that the Federation of Labour which is being talked of may encounter a similar difficulty. The Arbitration Act provides loi the registration of unions formed "for the purpose of protecting or furthering the interests of workers," but the wide latitude of these words is reduced by the further provision that the rules shall provide for various machinery matters and "any other matter not contrary to law." This refers us for further definition to the Trades Unions Act, which defines a trade union as "any combination, whether temporary or permanent, for regulating the relations between workers and employers, or between workers and workers, or between employers and employers, or for imposing restrictive condition!) on tho conduct of any trade or business." Even if we had not tho House of Lords' decision' to fix tho matter beyond dispute, it would bo obvious that no body could register as a trade union which had for ith objects the achievements of such end& as are most commonly advocated by Labour leaders in this country. No doubt an attempt may be made to get Parliament to pass legislation enabling the registration of lahoul organisations with a frankly Socialistic objective, but we trust that the Government, in such an event, will stand firm by tho law as it stands. We have always favoured pure trades unionism as a valuable aid to industrial progress, and cannot therefore be accused of any want of regard for the freedom of working men to unite for common action. It is quite another thing, however, to approve of the perversion of trades unions to Socialistic uses. They arc only a minority amongst the workers who desire the "nationalisation of industry and production." A man may be, and as often as not actually is, staunch in his adherence to true unionism, but equally staunch in his contempt for Socialistic ideas, anc 1 it would be grossly unjust to force anti-Socialistie working men to assist Socialistic organisations. Trades unionism need have nothing to do with Socialism— tho objects of the two things are quite different, and, in some respects, quite opposed to each other. It would be a great hardship if those workers who . are opposed to the frothy gospel of the Socialists who lead the Labour movement were forced to become non-union men or to swallow Socialism with their union membership.