ARBITRATION COURT UNDER FIRE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1248, 5 October 1911, Page 5

ARBITRATION COURT UNDER FIRE.

« DESERTED BY THE UNIONS. ITS PRESENT CONSTITUTION ATTACKED. MINISTER ADAIITS BREAK. DOWN. A remarkable statement by tho Minis tcr for labour gave imjx>rt;mco lo a discussion which took pheo between, '1 and !) o'clock yesterday morning, v.-hilo Iho Hoilso was in Committee- of Stjpiily. Mr. Millar is of opinion that ttio Judge of tho Arbitration Court shoujd bo replaced by a man of industrial experience—not ii Judge-ond that unless soino such change is made the Court will bo almost completely forsaken by Iho labour unions ami must coa.ll for want of work to do. The debate arose somewh/at irregularly out of a motion by Mr. F.ordmuu to reduce an itorJ in the Latum- Department Estimate by JEI as ap. indication that agents Jor the parties should not appear in tho Co-uncijs of Conciliation. Mr. T. E. Davcy (CiiTistclmrch East) raised tho question of making a layman president cS tho Arbitration Court instfpd of a Judge. Tho Coming of the End. The Hon. J. A. MilUtr, Minister fo* Labour, said that provision for tho ap- , poarance. oi , agents }xi<xo Conciliation : Councils was primarily made at the request of fomalc workers. There, was no doubt agents had deno pood work in some kusos. n 0 whole of fiie proocduro bclono the Conncils was goim* ou very well. Jle was against v.nyt.hing that woul'd lend to make them more liko Courts in operation. Ho wanted to keep them quilo informal. If sooo alteration was not made, tho position would soon be that no union would Liko a oase to tho Court. Ho had got information that another large union was applying for <\iiiceU«tion. Tho big carrying unions ojuld paralyse, the country with a strike outside tho Act. It appeared that fioor. only tho small unions which needed t} iC protection of tho Court wDUhI retain f.heir registration, and they would be driven out because there would l» jso justification for krc-ping (ho Court for them r,fone. Mr. Davey: Is it possible to adopt auy remedy r '.his session? Mr. l r allar said he thought there would not be, lime, as tho matter required a great ( K\al o f consideration, but,, if the consUtulion of tho Court was not altered, there would eoon bo no work for it to do. Incalculable Harm. ' Mr. Hcrdman aiid the view ho took waa that tho Arbitration Court had done incalculable harm, and there would Iμ no great loss if it dropped out altogether. He was, however, a firm believer in conciliation. Ho was glad the system of conciliation was working: well, and it was tho duty of tho House to further improve it. Tliere should bo no hard and fast rules for Iho councils, and lie was strougly of opinion that there should bo conferences between tho three on each side and tho intermediary in Uio chair, and there should bo no agents. Support for Minister's Views, Mr. L. M. Isitt (Chrislchurch) said that there was intense feeling in regard to tho present constitution of the Arbitration Court, and there was a growing opinion that someone oilier than a legal authority should bo tho head of die Court. 1 Mr. D. M'Laron (Wellington East) stated that many of the workers had become impressed with tho idea of the need for a drastic chauuo in tho character of tho Court. Mr. F. M. B. Fisher (Wellington Central) advocated the wages board as tho most able and most conciliatory means of settling industrial disputes. He feared that under tho present conditions tho Arbitration Act was doomed, and ho urged tho introduction of amending legislation this session. Mr. Fisher added that the effective value of the Act was depreciating daily. "Reflection on the Judges." Mr. Millar denied that tho Act was hold in derision. If tho member who had said so had stated instead that tho Arbitration Court, as a.t present constituted, was held in derision, lie would have "struck it right." Tho Court was driving men away from tho Court. Thoro should bo a roan of groat industrial experience to take (lie placo of tho Judge. Mr. Herdmau: Do you think that would improve ;t? Mv. Millar: We should have, a court of equity instead of a court of law. Mr. Herdman: Yon might have a court of injustice instead of a court of justice. Mr. Millar said that he was the first man in fhis country to suggest nil Arbitration Court with a Judge presiding. Ho thought a Judge's words would be accepted by any man and would givo satisfaction, but it had not proved so. Mr. Herdman: That is a pretty strong , reflection on your Supremo Court Bench. Mr. Millar said the intention originaUy was that tho Arbitration Court should )» a court of equity, but it was impossible for a lawyer to get out of legal methods. No Court could always increase wages and ho did not. complain about that. What ho objected to was that legal points were taken up and the men driven out of the Court. The skilled worker did not need the Court because it was not easy for mi employer to replace him, but tho unskilled man needed its protection. Mr. M'Laron denied that the leaders of labour wero opposed (<i Arbitration nnd conciliation. The position was that tho majority of the unions wero opposed to Iho constitution of the Court nnd to (ho formal disabilities with which it was invested. Tn order to secure Industrial courts that would bo of value to the country tho bases of judgment must be equity ond good con.tcicnco ami not the principles, of jurisprudence. Tho Bench Defended. Mr. Herdman declared that some, of thoso who hnd spoken in tho debate had maligned tho Judge. They had said that tho Act bad not failed, but had Slid tluit tlio constitution of I'ho C<mrt required to be. changed. They had Slid that the principles ,ol jurisprudence wero of no u;o in arriving at a just deeisioiL (Dissent.) At any rate that was tho inference, to Iμ drawn from what hnd been said. It'was'. utterly ridiculous to «\y timt α-good business man should tako tho place of tho Judge Things would bo worse. His own experience v«us that although Judges wera bound, in the courts by tho rules of evidence aud by precedents, they wero men of common eciteo and experir.nco 6f iho world. It was an increasing tendency on the ]wrt of Judges to arrive at deci.-io'ns in a practical, coin mon sense way. If the, argument against Judges in 'tho Arbitration, Court wero sound, Judges would be useless in the courts of justice also, and absolutely out of place them. Tho failure of the Arbitration Court was not due, in vis opinion, to tho Judge presiding thero. Tho Art provided that the Court should not be bound by the nilo.s of evidence, butmust arrive at' its decisions on broad general grounds. Vol. tlw decision, when arrived at, must be put into tho form of an award, and necessarily it had lo bo in cgnl form, in order that it might bo binding ou both rides. Tho real (rouble was that the demands made—probably by l»th rides, employers . and employeoi— wore often unreasonable. Tho motion was lost on tho voices.