THE SOCIAL PROBLEM.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1033, 24 January 1911, Page 2

THE SOCIAL PROBLEM.

PESSIMISTIC OUTLOOK. INDUSTRIAL LAWS REVIEWED. EXPERIMENTS THAT HAVE FAILED. In a paper read before the Social and Statistical Science section of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, Mr. H. Y. Bvaddon (Dalgety and Co.) discussed in a comprehensive fashion tho working of the compulsory principle in the settlement of industrial disputes in legislation passed - by - tho Commonwealth Parliament,' and by ; the Parliaments _of New South Wales; Victoria, and New Zealand. '■ Atr. Braddon said that after experience of tho compulsory principle, extending over about 1G years in New Zealand, 11 in Victoria, and nine in New South Wales it should now be possible to make some definite statement as to its utility as a solvent of industrial strife. If the relations between employers and employed are distinctly less happy than they were .20 years ago,-we must search for tne reasons in directions other than a change of tho human nature on either side. TRIED AND FOUND WANTING. The compulsory Arbitration Acts had been passed, and -had had a material effect, in altering industrial relations for tho worse. Tho transition from Freetrade New South' Wales to the Federal Customs duties in 1901 had added very greatly in this State to the cost of living, aud this iu turn had, naturally enough, led to repeated demands, for increased wages. Higher prices for many commodities were, no doubt, world-wide; but for this State tho change had been sharper than,, for instance, in Victoria, where heavy duties prevailed prior to federation. Under the spread of education, mostly compulsory and free, many of the children of tho manual worker were accuiring ideas which .rendered', them uneasy in tho humbler roles of'life; and the spread of Socialistic doctrinevwas adding to the general feeling of discontent, Tho idea was growing among the employees that their share of wealth produced in the industries was disproportionately small. The political successes of the Labour party had encouraged niore insistent demands "from employees; and if these demands-had been sometimes overdone, it was only because, as Von Bunsen put it,' "there is an inherent tendency in man. to drive his' pretensions to inordinate lengths."

EMPLOYER'S POSITION.. '■ On the other side stood the employer, aghast at tho increasing momentum of tho workers' claims—frightened to make any concession, because experience showed that it would bo construed as weakness, leading to still further demands. The emplover resented tho one-sided action of the statutes; in that he.must obey, while the men, if their numbers. wcrc : considerable, .frequently declined, to' accept an'award which they deemed insufficiently advantageous. To the argument that the employer, if the conditions did not suit, cou'lu give up his /business, it might bo replied that, in the average industrial concern,.-that was not practicable. There were current contracts for raw. materials and for output, and the employer's capital was sunk in his : buildings, plant, and s'tock. He could not suddenly determine to close down, without facing ruin; whereas the men, in an under-supplied labour market, could usually find employment elscwherer-or, at the worst, subsist, on "strike pay" until tha difference was settled. The reputable employer also felt some. injustice in tho consciousness that .."compulsory" arbitration legislation was brought in mainly in order to check.the "sweating" practices of a few employerspractices the reputable men had always condemned, and never himself permitted. Heady to deal directly and reasonably with his. own particular employees, i ho found iti'difficult to accommodate himself to negotiation with the foreign union scc-retary-r-who, rightly. or wrongly, was re|gar,de;d as a .'. , , ;

ARBITRATION MACHINERY AND ITS

-. .7 RESULTS. ' Mr. Braddon proceeded to review, in outline, the arbitration' machinery of:the Commonwealth, of New South Wales, Victoria," and New Zealand, • and to show the results as actually experienced. Dealing first with tho Commonwealth legislation, he said the decisions recorded during a neriod of increasing prosperity had been in favour of the employee in the sense of increased wages. The question therefore arises whether the Act had under the circumstances been really tested. Probably-not. Experience in other directions led.to the inevitable conclusion-that the penai provisions of the Act .would riot deter men from strikiug—as, for instance, the shearers—if. an award should prove adverse to their claims, No Act or penalty would hold any considerable number ..of employeos to their Court-defined task, ■ if they quarrelled with tho-'cerms.-NEW SOUTH WALES. It would be idle to affirm that the relations between masters and men in New South Wales were in any degree happy. The 1901 Act sowed much dissension; and the full harvest has not yet been reaped. The men on the whole (there were some exceptions) were not as industrially, efficient at the higher rates of pay current 'to-day as they wero fifteen years ago. Tho old direct relations with tho reputable employer were-gone; and-to-day the men more readily obeyed the hints of the union secretary than- the behests of the employer. Labour-was-not as plentiful as it -used to be; yet the unions discouraged immigration' and the apprentice. The unions had as ;i rule no .'.test of efficiency in connection with membership,, and thev objected to any grading of uniou- ■ ists according, to skill and merit. The reallv skilled worker got. no. encouragement from the union,-and his'employer dare not specially recognise him. . Therefore, all employees tended to sink.to one level of pay and'regulated output. On the other hand the employer \t&s

harassed by the eu'eumbency to obey a dozen or more awards in his one industry —each bristling with instructions upon many minor points—and sometimes one award overlapping another. Tho "handy man" was doomed to extinction, for a master dare not ask an employee to leave his ordinary work for, an hour in order to paint a door, or mend woodwork, or execute any trifling maintenance job, .without risking a breach of some award which insisted upon specialists for every type of work, however minute. VICTORIA"! As to Victorian legislation, he thought that on the whole it would be premature to affirm that tho Victorian Wages Boardprinciple had completely justified itself, in the sense of abolishing strikes; for it had not yet stood the test of declining prosperity and awards adverse to the men. Probably, as elsewhere, it would' under those circumstances break down. Meantime there was no doubt the mutuallymade board award a far wider acceptance by the men than was the case with the Court award of Now South Wales. Possibly industrial heat was not as easily generated in Victoria as in.New South Wales; for in New South Wales were two centres—Newcastle and Broken B.ill—where the employees were in such preponderating numbers that local public .opinion was practically unloavwed by any conservative or employer point of view. However, as a solvent to date of industrial differences, it could be. safely said the board was greatly superior to the Court.

Tho outlook- in New Zealand was distinctly gloomy; and on. the industrial horizon of the Dominion loomed a cloud large as a man's hand. It looked as if. tho period of expansion .was ended; and it- was said the industries could not stand added burdens; Mcantimo the unions, led by Socialistic agitators, continued to insistently make demands. Nothing was more likely in the early future than an open defiance of the Act, and a general resort to strikes. Already many unions were cancelling their registrations under tho Act—in itself an ominous sign. On their side the employers would almost welcome an upheaval—in the hope that some .unknown good might conic out of it. They wore tired of ■ tho restrictive conditions, the multiplied awards, the reduced output per man, and the continuous surveillance by. Government inspectors and union secretaries. Both sides seemed to'.be girding for a .fisht on a largo scale. GENERAL.

It. was certain that in Australia the Arbitration Acts had resulted in repressing "sweating," and in materially better-

ing conditions for the employees. It was, to. say the least, unfortunate that the Acts had also tended to embitter relations between employers avr,i employees. As a means for preventing strikes, wages hoards.were greatly preferahle to the Arbitration Court; but not even the wages boards were, likely to be of much use, in that particular direction, in a period of declining prosperity and of awards adverse to the men. At such a time any system of award, backed by penal provisions, was likely to ha ' one-sided—to compel the employer, but to be flouted by the employee, in any industry involving large numbers.- •-

ATTITUDE.OF THE UNIONS. ' \ . .The awkward, features ...about, the pre* ' sent position was the attitude of' the '■- unions.' In order to preserve the spirit of unionism" they' discouraged" the "prefer- •■ ■; ment of, the individual, worker; and they desired that employees should negotiate through' the union'rather- than" direct .' with the masters. While coal-miners, shearers, type-setters,' and some others wore,'satisfied- with the piecework basis, ;■ in other 'direction's unionism worked hard '• to set it aside, probably because.of the latent fear that it might lead t,o pace* setting.. ;

'~.,: THE OLD BASIS GONE. . Any reversion to the older basis of Free-i trade in labour is.unlikely. ,The unions were here, many of them created under the Arbitration Acts; and. they were'here, to stay, with their collective bargaining. To-day the unions had political power behind' them; but, even if they had not, it was doubtful whether, the old liasis could be restored. In an over-supplied labour, market a proportion of the masters would be certain to resume something in the nature of "sweating," taking advantage of the men's necessity. In an under-sup-plied labour market a proportion- of the men were bound to press their claims unreasonably, far.- The situation to-day. was, one of under-supply. The unions knew this; and while they retained political power they were Unlikely to -allow anyw' thing greatly. to ■ change ■ matters.

A DIFFICULT POSITION. lii-the■ existing situation.of affairs it was difficult to see the solution. The unions discouraged profit-sharing ih , any form; as for instance in tho -Furness case / not long agouh England; otherwise -something -mightjlje done in that direction.' The handing-.of a percentage.of profits to employees, as had"-been done in one or . two- retail establishments in Sydney was one method. Tho acquirement by the men of an actual interest, say, in the form of shares, with representatives on the managing body, -was probably tha sounder method.

.NEWCASTLE-EXPERIMENT. .. :An experiment:of this kind was tried' a few years ago at one of the •- Newcastle collieries. Contributing shares were, issued to the miners; and were gradually paid up By percentage deductions from tieir earnings. After a time the men collectively held a vcrey material interest in the mine; and, by invitation of the proprietors, two of' their number sat on, the board. Relations ..between .the- management' and the men were. satisfactory.' Eventually'the'shares became fully .paidup, -and the men got their scrip. This proved to have been the initial error. Some provision should have been made to do away'with the issue of such easily negotiable instruments. In a comparatively short time some 69 or 70 per cent of the'men's shares were sold or pledged— mostly to the-publicans.- To-day very few remained ;in the'men's hands. •,The: system broke down; the management retired the miners' representatives from the board; and the men joined in tho next strike. PROFIT-SHARING AND ARBITRA- • • ■•■ TION. ' - . "Profit-sharing and arbitration," Mr, Braddon concluded, "are probably ■ only phases, and tho next 6tep may be the 'economic wage.' Will it ever be practicable to arrange a sliding scale of wage based unon an ever-shifting cost-of necessaries? "Will'' such a system make allowance for the varying capabilities of..tho. workers? Will a family of five remain the accepted standard; and, while the.worker ■may be satisfied with the provision• for bread, will -heinot,« with hiss growing; idea of tho importance' of labour'-In" produce tion, demand an ev»r-increasins provision, for the circus? And' what beyond tho 'economic wage'? Society awaits the genius who'can-suggest a;feasible'method for bringing about industrial peace."