STRIKES, GO-SLOWS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 114, 7 February 1920, Page 8

STRIKES, GO-SLOWS

AND THE COST OF LIVING AN OPEN LETTER TO MR MASSEY (Per Favour The Down cos;) Sir,—This is a time of exceptional difficulty''throughout tho world. On every, side wo hear of the high cost of living. Apart from profiteering (of which unfortunately there is more than enough), the cost of the necessaries oil life hnvo in reality risen owing to tho. fact that war and' the urgent need for Vthe munitions of war have occupied the full activities of those who would otherwise' ' have been occupied in producing the necessities of life. In consequence of this, though money appears to 'to plentiful, ami though possibly some people are the richer for the war, the world as a whole is very much the poorer owing to the fact that for four years and a. half there has been a ;ess:itmn of production. . : As a cure for this state of affairs, every one is clamouring for an increase of wages. This rise in wages increases the cost of producing what the world must Have, and the price of commodities rises, and a still further increase of wigra y demanded. Such a, cure for a world shortage is in reality no euro it all. It may. end sometimes does, give temporary relief, but it is no mora efficacious as a permanent remedy than a dose of morphia is a cure for cancer. The inly way of righting things is for production to take p'aco faster than consumption, so that the -world shortage may m time be overtaken. To.work, r,nd;"ork hard, and livo economically, therefore, is the oi-ly method of living which will per. roanently reduce tho cost of living. 11 this be done a shilling will buy in tho future what requires eighteenpeuce lor its purchase to-day, -nd when such & condition is arrived at wages will nnv* naturally and legitimately incrjused by BO per cent. This, Sir. seems to be the common sense of the position, but is it bem» dono? On the one hand, we find far too many spending lavishly on the mistaken idee, that money is wealth. I venture to think. Sir, that such -neoplo will one day awake to the fact that when they xuost want it the money is r.o longer there. The present' is a time for una economy, not for lavish expenditure. On the other hand, we find the wholo atmosphere charged with strikes and goslows. But while cxtiavagnncc is a gin, the punishment for which v. ill recoil upon the sinner's own head, strikes end go-slows are a deliberate offence by a body of men upon tbs wholo community. Just now, when owing to ; circumstance (viz., ;thc war) over which neither the workers nor any one else hns really had much control-when owing to I this there is a serious 'shortage—to deliberately make that shortage -even more accnte is a serious offence against the people as a whole. The rate of t reduction must be' increased and not dimm-. ished if the cost of living is to fall,.and ■vet here we have a body of men who say they will not produce all they ran. and yet who do not hesitate, to complain and complain bitterly at. the cost of com n-odities. It is not as iv they had r.a other remedy for any real grievance. The Arbitration Court has been constituted for the adjustment of rcnuirie prievancps, but these -aen will only invoke its aid and abide by its decisions when such decisions are in their own favour. This, Mr. Massey, is an intolerable'position. To allow it to continue is to allow, the world to drift into chnoj and possibly even Woodshed' and civil war. A remedy must bo found, and J. believe it is not very hard to find. Two forms of punishment naturally have been suggested, and whilst they are hoth theoretically possitfe they have just as naturally failed ,because they are practically impossible. One of these w imprisonment and the other is fining. Whilst such a proceeding would certainly be just, yet it is not really within the bounds of prnctical politics either to tine »or to imprison men in such large numbers as those concerned in strikes and go-slows ,-:and the men know it perfectly well. When an award of tho Arbitration Court or an agreement they have' entered into does not any longer suit them they ignore it and take the law into thcir'own hands, and the Government sits by and looks on iinpotcntly, and allows the awards of its Courts to be flouted and agreements which; it | should uphold with absolute impartiality to be ignored and broken, c Appeals to it aro vain, it waves its hands helplessly and says, "What can we do!" And that is just the question: What can be done? You, Sir, have possibly thought of many solutions, but there is one (by no means tho only one) which I think would be effective and which you by your triumphal return to power are' strong enough to try. The State or com. munity has it in its unalienable power to confer certain rights and privileges on its members. It docs so in giving them police protection and postal feci]]-1 ties, and in innumerable other ways. When men disobey tho laws of the country, imprisonment or fining are the usual penalties imposed, and these are generally effective, because as a general rule the offence is usually that of an individual or of a comparatively few individuals. But, applied to largo numbers, Buch forms of redress becomo futile in the extreme. They cannot be carried out, . and the law become? a laugihinjr stock and the community, suffers grievous wrong.

But that -very fact that large numbers aro concerned makes another remedy which I am going to suggest most effective. The State confers on all its adult members the privilege (or rig'ht, whichever .word you like) of having a voice in the making of the laws by which the State is governed, and those laws are made by the representatives of the people elected to Parliament. However wrong a law may ho it is the duty of all to obey that law until that law is repealed. Whilst they obey its laws they have a right to all tho privileges tho State but when they cease to obey them it is not unjust for the Stato to restrict or to totally remove the privileges it gives. Now on& of tho rights conferred by the State is tho right to rote for Parliamentary and other representatives, and if tho laws those representatives make when they are so elected are not obeyed, then the State would bo perfectly justified in removing that right for a longer or a shorter poriod according to the gravity of the oftenec. If then tho penalty for striking or for going slow were tho loss of the right to voto at the next election such sins against the community as a whole would, I believe, speedily disappear. They are most frequently organised and engineered by a few" men some of -whom perhaps aro aspirants for Parliamentary honours, and they aro fiometimes— and encouraged by a few who have already boon elected. How much support would either of these two classes of men givo to a suggestion to go slow or to strike if they know that by adopting such a course tho men who did it would ipso facta be unable to givo them thoso votes upon which their hoped for election to Parliament depends. And how welcome would professional agitators bo amongst a body of men who realised that, the very worst way to get a low repealed (however unjust it might be) was- to strike against it? Make no mistake, Sir, no ono wants an unjust or iniquitous' law not repealed. Give these who would otherwise strike every facility for tho proper ventilation of their grievances before an impartial tribunal, such as tho arbitration court ought to bo and as I belicvo it is. But having laid their grievances before such a Court, let them as citizens of a well-ordered slate abide by its deoisions—or if they will not do that lot them forfeit tho right to'have a voice in the making of now laws in that Stato or in tho repealing of thoso already in force. In this letter I have dealt with strikes.and go-slows and their hearing on the cost of living, mther than with lock-outs, not because they are i.ny jrreater an offence against the community but becauso they aro very much commoner. Lock-outs when they occur—as they do on very rare occasions—should also be regarded as a serious crime against tho. community as a whole and dealt- with drastically, though perhaps not in tho eame way. Tho whole matter must bo decided by an impartial and most just arbitration court, which while it gives tho worker good conditions and reasonable wages gives the employer a fair profit. From its considered decisions no taking-the-law-into-

your-own-hands as is done in strikes, go-slows, and lock-outs should be allowed.

My apologies aro due to you, Mr. Editor, for the length of this letter. The importance of tho subject must bo my excuse.

Tho suggestion I have made is not a new one, though I know that there aro many to whom it has not occurred. As, however, I havo no wish to claim it as my own, but rather to get it discussed whilst I enclose my card, I desiro lo bo known as and to remain AN ELECTOR,