ARBITRATION COURT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1304, 6 December 1911, Page 10

ARBITRATION COURT.

CLAIM FOR COMPENSATION, MEDICAL EVIDENCE. The Arbitration Court.continued ils sr; siou yesterday. Mr. Justice Sim, Ties: dent, Mr. I'. Scott, employers' represent!! five, and .Mr. J. A. M'Ciillough, worker: representative, eonstiluled the Court.

The case of Joseph William Jacob v. the Marine Institute of Australasia was concluded. Jacob claimed compensation by way of weekly payments of £1, or by nay of a lump mm of .$£)!), on account, of his having, it was alleged, sustained inguinal hernia as the result of a strain, which accident, compelled him to take iu the ordinary course of his employment as custodian for tho respondents. Tin

case was really detruded liv the insurance company holding respondents' accident risk. . .

Mr. Oswald Bcere appeared for (h. claimant, and ALr. A. \\. Blair for the defendant. .Mr. Blair continued to call medical evidence. Dr. 1-j, W. Giesen stated th.it hernia was either sudden or gradual in its onset. If it were sudden it aiust always b excessively painful. Hernia that wa>

gradual iu its onset was usually tho n suit of disease ami repeated strains. Such a rupture was not necessarily very painful when it became patent. Jacob lie. hernia which had-been produced gradually, and the conditions predisposing to > had probably existed on his left side for a very long time.' As a matter of fact, he would probably develop hernia on tho right side very shortly. It was assuredly developing there, and developing- painlesslv.

Dr. IV. Kinston Fyffo cave his opinion that the claimant had been from birth predisposed to hernia. A rupture might easily appear on his right side, but even there if brought on suddenly, its appearance would be accompanied by great pain. Tho fact that Jacob had suffered no intense naia made it evident that hernia in his case had' developed gradually, and not as the result of-any particular strain. : Dr. W. E. Herbert also, gave evidence that he had examined the claimant on September 12. His opinion was that (lie hernia had been of slow development, ami that it could not have been wholly or in grent part caused b> recent strain. Hernia brought about by strain would be accompanied certainly by serious inconvenience, and probably by sudden, acute nain snflVient to bring \ibout collapse from shoe!;. The Court reserved judgment. TINPLATE WORKERS.

DOMINION ATVAKD SOUGHT. The conference in relation to the tinplate workers' dispute having availed nothing, the case came on for hearing yesterday afternoon. Mr. W. A. IV. Grenfell appeared for the employers, and Mr. W. C. Xoot, with Mr. W. P. Riches, for the union. Jlr. Noot explained that as a result of a special conference of- the Tinplato Workers' Federation held at Wellington, the union decided to take steps to obtain a Dominion award. . The other unions adopted the demands made, by the. Wellnigtou Union, and agreed to ask the Court to make them into a Dominion award. Auckland and Dunediii broke away, however, and accepted other proposals, those now ruling in Auckland being in effect the recommendations of the Conciliation Council. The onlv matters really left in dispute were'wages, classification.of and preference He had. been, instructed to base the

union's fresh' demands on the Auokland agreement, although they considered that the rate of wages fixed was too low tor a highly-skilled trade. He asked, however, that the agreement be made the basis of a Dominion award. He called

no evidence on, behalf of tho union. Mr. Grenfell pointed out that there wero in Wellington two distinct classes of employers ailected. and' lie submitted a proposiil to classify workers according to these (.wo classes. Employers had-beoii subject during the past ten years to' competition from imported articles, atid he proposed to submit evidence us to the extent of it.. If tfio wages «ere wised he was -assured that it, would affect the meu

employed in the industry, and that it would tend to kill the industry. It was hardl,\ reasonable for the union now to ask that the agreement niado iu Auckland should be niado binding upon 'Wellington employers who had not been con

suited as to (he terms of it. The employers admitted that the old award rate, ls. lid. per hour, was a reasonably low -minimum wage, and ho would cull evidence to show that it had been treated as a minimum Wage, and that T7 per cent, of the workers in the trndo wero

receiving moro than this rate. Thomas Garland, senior member of tne fivm of T. Cuirlnnd' and Co., said ■ that

there were not so many hands employed in the trade aa there were a few years This • w«s duo to the revolution which had taken place in tho method 0/ producing tinplafo goods in the O.'il Country, and owing to the high wages to be paid here local manufacturers co'jld not reduce their prices much. Scvjral articles which ho used to niauufur.ture

ivorc now always imported. To increase wages would necessitate «mploycrj. increasing their importations,, unil changing the nature of their business. When the award came into force in 1U0" he imported no innnufiicturcd article. , , To Mr. Xoot: Witness did not import very much, but his firm was feelmg its way into tho importing business. Machinery for the manufacture of such articles, as were imported was now so highly diversified that it would not pay 2! per cent, on its cost i' used by a New Zealand manufacturer. The demand for such goods was not sufficient. He hail paid the minimum .wage generally'j his business did' not permit of his- paying more. ' ...

George T. Mackay said that the imported goods were mostly madi; by automatic machinery and girl labour. Any further increase in cost of the locally manufac-

tured • goods would reduce salesi and increase importation. Hβ had built up his business, by his own hard work, starting witli a capital which ho had • saved by his own thrift. His average hours wero ten hours per day. Ho paid most of his men more than i.hn award rates.

Charles Sims, ironmonger and importer, said that he had run a tinwaro factory for a year, but had closed it down bocause it paid better to import the goods. Henry T. Ballingcr said that in his factory he manufactured the better class of sheet metal work. He had tried the other, and found that it did not pay. As the Auckland agreement stood, it might embrace coppersmiths and brassfinishers, who all did some sheet metal work. He paid all of his men save one more than the award rate, Is. lid., and some received as much as Is. Gd. per hour. .

Isaac Kutner said that he was employed by Mr. Mackay, and ho was paid Is. IJd. per hour. Ho was perfectly satisfied with the wages, and he was content to work on at his trade. If wages were raised, be was afraid that, he might lose his posi-

lion. lie bud wnrlii'd in plumbers' shops, nnd bad I'uiiml Hie work totally difterent lie was merely u fnctiiry tinsmith. Mr. Niiuf. called in rebullnl one witness I'red House said thai lie whs 11 fnclnrj I.insmilli, wiirkiiij; in bis nwii simp. He seldom employed hands. He liad employ. I'd Ilirri! men, imc lit Is. !.[(!., mill hvii a( Is. Id. It paid him to employ a l-000. man ul. ls. Id.

Appliciifiuii for exeinpliiin was made on ljehii.il' of the Cias Company on the ground Hint slienl. rimlnl workers employed ,n Iheiii required In liavi! a Icmnvl'cdgo of (fas. 11. was therefore impossilili- lor ((to company In uh.wrvn tho terms of tin; preference clause.

-Mr. jVooI. u.vplnintd Dint flic union h«4 lie minn-el wflli tlm ii.miwiiy. who imid high wages, and tbe company bad been joined nl Hie raciest of .some employers Decision was reserved.

FURNITURE TRADE. BECOMMKs'DATIO.N'S OF COUNCIL. TIIK PKEI-El(Ki\C'E CLAUSE. Tim Furniture Trailo dispute camo finally before the Court for .settlement. Mr. D. Moriarly represented the union, and Mr. \V. A. W. Gienfell (ho employers. -Mr. Morinrty said that the union had come (0 the Court simply (.0 make au award of tho recommendations of the Conciliation Council. Alter Iho dispute had been referred Hack by the Arbitration Court, the council had mot in a number of centres throughout the district, and finally came to a settlement in Wellington.

Mr. Grenfell admitted that in the main the employers had accepted the recommendations ot tho council, but they still disagreed with them on certain pdint?. They asked that pioturc-frnmer.s and furniturepackers should be exempted from tho award. The preference clause as drafted would probably surprise the Court. He described it as preposterous. Mr. Moriarty said that furniture packers were included not at tho request of the union, but of country employers. As or the preference clause, it was no new thing. It was an exact copy of the clause in the bootmakers' award of 1001. On behalf of a number of master builders and joiners Mr. Alex Campbell ap plied for exemption from the preference clause. He said that the work Uiev did could not properly be styled cnbineUiaking. and'the inclusion would cause chaoe , Mr. Moriarty said thai the. work done in some of the shops was cabinet-maker's wort, but owing to the rules of the Carpenters tiiiion cabinet-makers were not permitted Jo do it. The union's difference was not with _the employers, but with thrCiirppnters- T;mon, and he asked (he Cmirt to rectify matters to make it possible for cabinet-makers to ply their trade 111 joiners shops if opportunity offered. ills Honour did not use haw 11-af the c"urt aS UID iO ' UCTS ,VCTe nOt bcforC Decision wns reserved.