A OTHERS SEE US.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1334, 11 January 1912, Page 6

A OTHERS SEE US.

FRIENDLY CRITICISM. DR. l\ SCHONE ON NEW ZEALAND. OUR LA BOUK-LEGISLATION. A most interesting address was delivered nt Victoria College last evening by Dr. 1 ,, . Schohe, a German visitor to tho Dominion, who spnko entertainingly'of.his impressions of Now Zealand. Professor ■T. A. Hunter presided. During tho cour.se of his remarks, Dr. Sehonc referred to the labour legislation of tho Dominion, of which, ho said, ho had been making a special study. The question constituted, in his opinion, nne of tho most modern and- up-to-date chapters of social evolution. "There' is," he said, "a certain similarity between industrial arbitration ami international arbitration, in so far as public minds wore divided into two camps, the, one belicvin* m the final success of industrial arbitration; that is to say, in tho abolition of strikes and lock-outs, as a great manv serious people- hopefully believe in tho final abolition of wars; the other, more pessimistic, not expecting more than a transitory success of either. There is no doubt that industrial arbitration, as far as now has almost everywhere whore it. has been established, proved more or less a failure. New Zealand is (he oulv country where serious efforts are made not to Jot it bo a mere farce, as it certainly is to a certain degree in some of inVhf I f lan St 'V es - And tl,ele is n ° doubt that a good many beneficent improvements have taken place here in New Zeaand since the original Act was passed ILtrili r? fl ~3,1, ,3 , 1 " n1f 1 ,1e '« nwdevn industrial life that there wero no strikes in IMI to .1906. Oi course, opinions are be srthnk d this has to

Signs of Unrest. "On the other hand," he said, "there were only very few strikes before the Act came iiUo lore* and there Jiave been a good number of strikes in the last year, in the majority o f eases in conflict with the iajv, ana it you look round you observe" all sorts of signs of unrest in labour circles. _ ."50 even in New Zealand the problem is still far from being. solved; and even if it.were-solved a system working nero in a far-off country with a small population would more likely than us not work in our densely populated European countries,-still it is of immense interest to us to watch tho experiments you are making here and which you can make here so much easier a.s you are in a posi-tion-to risk a failure, the consequences or which might prove in Europe of alarming seriousness. I have found it very diincult indeed to form a definite opinion on whether the advantages of the Arbitration legislation outweigh the disadvantages or no. There is no doubt that the authors and supporters of the Act were filled with the ardent desire of fostering industrial peace, of establishing friendly relations between omplovers and employees, to protect the labouring classes against sweating' by unscrupulous employers, etc. But even if it were possible to prevent strikes and lock-outs by legislative measures like this, I am afraid not more than the outward appearance of industrial peace, of concord'between employer and employed would and could thereby.be secured. I am afraid it would at the best not mean more than preventing the opposed parties going to extremities. But can the of the truo spirit of concord between men and master be hoped for- by the enforcement of legal clauses?

"More and more the workman is coming under the influence of revolutionary Socialism, the propagators of which will tell him time and'again that'"capitalism is at the root of all evils and that his employer, the capitalist, to whom ha practically owes his existence and to wlm;" the world qw«i to a, great extent all modern achievements, and progress, that this man is his natural enemy, that their interests are im-eoncilablo and that there can at the best be established—to borrow again a word from international intercourse—correct relations, but never relations of ti-ue nnd sincere friendship between them. Tlie Arbitration legislation tries to build a bridge over this gully nnd in New Zealand anyhow with a certain success. But by the very building of this brids-e the existence of that jrully is, as it were, omphoiised and perpetuated .is a fact that could not be removed. There now seems to bo no other wav than over that bridge for employer and employee to mret. and the chance of filling up the gully and of so establishing a broad level meetin? ground for friendly intercourse between the present opposed parties seenis to be definitely forfeited.

Creating Dissatisfaction. "There is another obvious disadvantage of the arbitration legislation. It certainly does not diminish, but increases the number of industrial disputes, that is to say, of utterances of dissatisfaction. To return to the simile of the bridge. It is only human that people who haro felt perfectly happy,' although being separated from another place by a gully too steep to negotiate, as soon as there is a bridge built over tho gully will not only honestly soon feel it a vital ■necessity, but also find out all sorts of pretexts and alleged occasions to make the most frequent possible use of it. So the arbitration system carries as it were a new unrest into the camp of Labour. The object of the arbitration legislation, besides establishing peace between the employers and employees, was to improve the conditions of life of tho working classes. I sincerely sympathise with any efforts mado N in the direction of raising tlui standard of life of tho working classes- But the men naturally Togarded the Arbitration and .Conciliation Act as a welcome instrument for obtaining increases of wages, shortening of hours, etc., in regular periods, but for the asking, and here the expected happened that as soon as the Court could not reasonably any more comply with their continued demands, haying to take into account the employers' interests just as conscientiously, tho men began to grumble and the difficulties .commenced.

The Cost of Living. "As a matter of fact, conditions for Labour are hero more favourable than anywhere else in the world, and they would be even better if the very improvement of their situation by increased wages, etc., had not added anyhow lo the general increase in the cost of living. On tho other hand the extraordinarily dear labour is certainly not in the interest of A'ew Zealand's development at large. In epito of her isolated position, oi - , perhaps, just on account of. it she'will, and must, try to mako herself more and more independent of foreign imports, she must try to increase the industries of her own so as to be able to supply herwlf what New Zealand want.-, and at the same time she must try to find foreign markets not only for her primary produce, but also for her manufactures. But she will never be able to compete successfully on the world's market with the output of European industries if she does not succeed to adapt quality and price to the standard and level ruling abroad, Under the present labour conditions this seems more or' less impossible. And I think it is a patriotic duty of every labourer in New Zealand to realise tins and to eventually rather refrain from, pursuing any trivial personal advantage than to delay or endanger the future of 1113 couutry.

"To me personally," concluded Dr. Schone, "it always gives a somewhat painful sensation to hear peopk' openly admit that they are fighting for the highest possible pay for tho least possiblo work; it borders on claiming a higher pay than ono's work is worth, which would mean to claim a premium on either laziness or mediocrity. On the other hand, it proves that those people look upon their work as a. thing they hate, and not as something that they have dearer at heart than anything else. Doing the work cheerfully necessarily improves its quality, whereas labour that works by mere compulsion, that objects against immigration -from fear of competition, and that concentrates all its ■energies on fighting for advantages out of proportion to tho industrial niid economical state of things at large, is bound to cheek the energy and spirit of comjmercial and industrial enterprise. What Xew Zealand wants is, firstly, people, secondly, ]>eople, and again people." The Liquor Question. Dr. Schone also touched upon the prohibition movement in New Zealand. "J was most sorely impressed," he said, "bj the harm that is done in 'thia couatrj

by excessive drinking. The number of drunken men you meet in tin; streets even in broad daylight is shocking. With this state of things the statistics do w,t .-win lo tally, somehow, trachini; us that the consumption of alcohol per head of population in New Zealand is an absolutely and relatively small one, bcioß, iu gallon*: Jit-cr, !Ui; wine, O.lllli; spirits, 0.705; as against, in England, beer, :).S; wine, 0.5; spirits, 1.5; and, in Germany, beer, :u; wine, .1.25; spirits, 1.75.- And still—anyhow with us in Germany—you will, on taking into account tho very dense population, meet with hnrtlly any imlicatidns of insobriety or excessive drinking. Many n British traveller .has told me that he never met a drunken woman, and hardlv ever a drunken mini, iu the streets o'f the German.(owns. So the mere quantity consumed cannot be the rcnl danger.' And, to a German observer, the real evils present themselves pm-haps more distinctly than to the moj-l of you who may, o'f course, find fault with a good many things iu connect ion with drinking, apart from quantity, but who may at the same time be prone not to believe in the possibility of altering them. Well,, to me tharo seems a greater chance of success in view if it were attempted to meet Wiree of Iho main abuses: (1) The 'shouting'; (2) the lack of a light, good beer; (3) the bar system. I am satisfied that things could bo considerably improved if ways wero found to abolish the 'shouting,'" to encourage the brewing of a decent light and cheap boor, at the same time putting a very heavy duty on whisky and other spirits, and to encourage the establishment of good restaurants, with good and inviting, seating accommodation, where no drinks would be sold at the bar, and where it would be the rule not to take drinks without food.

A Sporting Country, "The New Zealanders arc enthusiastic sportsmen," said Dr. Scheme. "They seem to be devoted to sport even more thau tho Australians. Old and young, poor and rich, boys and girls, women nnd men of .all parties and classes are united in the interest they take in sport. And a. sportsmanlike spirit pervades them all, and shows its influence on oil their doings and feelings. Just to quote an instance : When I watched the recent huge fire of the Mackay, Logan and buildings in Auckland. I could not help feeling that the watching crowd's attitude was very much the same as that of watching a cricket match. The partners in the play were—as it were—the fire on the one and the Auckland Fire Brigade on the other side. And the gallant members of the latter scoring doggedly point after point against their furious opponent, were freely and heartily applauded and cheered in their successful efforts of mastering the unchained element. And through all the recent election fights too there seemed to go a good deal of that sportsmanly feeling of justice, to give the other side-a chance." A hearty vote of thanks was , accorded tho lecturer when he resumed his scat.

■ •Mr. W. B. Wilson, who has boen in the employ of Messrs. H. C. Gibbons and Co. for the past -fifteen years, is leaving early in February for Melbourne, where ho has secured an appointment with the 1\ It. Proprietary, Ltd., seed warehousemen. The "Southland News" records the death of Mr. Thomas S. Nicol, a wellknown residentof Southland. Mr. Nicol, who. was born in 18-15,' came to New Zea-. land by the Strathmore, he being then 11 .years of age. He was first a nurseryman, at Invercargill, and from there went to Kawarart Falls Station, where ho remained for 23 years, and of late years residod at Centre Bush. He was an enthusiastic Oddfellow, and was noted for his.musical ability. ■ Mrs. Lilian Robinson, 33 years of age, who resides at 31 Adelaide Road, fell from a tram-car yesterday morning and was seriously injured. She was admitted to the hcspital at 9 a.m. yesterday, unconscious, and was found to have sustained fracture of the skull. At an early hour this morning she had not regained consciousness. Whilst working at the Stewart Timber Company's mill yesterday afternoon, a single man named William Ilill, aged 29 years, fell down a shaft and received a slight concussion of the brain." He was removed to tho hospital. Further inquiry with regard to the reported "strike" of yarders at the Wellington Meat Export Company's works at Ngahauranga on Tuesday, discloses the fact that four yardmen, whose whole business was to urge sheep through a gateway, asked for more wages. They were tolil that the company could not afford to pay higher rates for this particular class of work. As to the cessation of work as tho result of the reported "strike," Mr. W. Ci. Foster (managing director of the company) states that for certain business reasons they were not killing on Tuesday, and that circumstance had been magnified into a strike. Work was proceeding as usual again yesterday.