INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION. ANNUAL MEETING.

Evening Post, Volume LVI, Issue 76, 27 September 1898, Page 2

INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATION. ANNUAL MEETING.

The Wellington Industrial Association held its third aunual meeting in the Chamber of Commerce last night, Mr, S. Brown (the President) in the chair. The Committee's annual report, v precis of which has already been published, was adopted. In moving its adoption the Chairman said he thought the Association might fairly bo congratulated. During tho three 3 r ears it had been in existence it had run a successful exhibition, and h<id boen the means of presenting to the city a handsome building now in the course of erection, and costing over $3000, for the purposes of technical education and cookery. The next meeting would be held in premise? of their own, with the use of a good technical library, five scholarships at disposal, cas!i in hand, money out at interest, no debts, and an increasing roll of members. Such wa? tho position at the end of the third year. Of course all this had not been accomplished without a good deal of work and careful management. They had to interview the Government to get the subsidy of £1 for £1 which enabled the building to be started for the purposes of the School of Design. A very large portion of the year had been taken up with discussing the various measures before Parliament which might affect the manufacturing interests. That the manufacturing interests were important lo the colony members would see on being told that there were engaged 82,000 persons, the capital invested in plant and premises was over £5,796,000, the output over £9,549,000, while v £1,907,000 was paid in wages. One of the difficulties that manufacturers had to face was the labour question in its- Various phases. The late Colonel Dyer, President of the Employers' Federation in the great engineering strike, gave it as his opinion that "in the modern industrial system, in which hundreds of men were aggregated under the v management, a workmen's society was necessary to carry on the frequent negotiations which must be held between the general body of workmen aud the general body of employers." Our workmen's societies here, said Mr. Brown, were more of the nature of what were known in' Great Britain as new unions, which mostly professed to be simply fighting unions. In that respect they differed materially from the old unions, which avoided disputes wherever possible, provided help for members when sick or out of work, a superannuation fund, and burial. At the same time they looked sharply after their members. In one instance 12 men were dismissed from the Union for leaving the town they worked in while in debt, and two were dismissed for being drunk in their employers' time. Unionism like this would be a boon to the whole community — better, even, than the much-talked-of old age pensions scheme. After referring to the improvement the introduction of the latest machinery would bring about, 3Mr. Brown said that in some works in America there were two rates of pay for piece-work of the same class. The longer a man took the less he was paid. Thus the clever workman was not only paid for more work, but also at a higher rate than the slow worker. The result of this from an emplo3 r er's and national point of view was to more than double the output of the plant. It was said that the greater production of the States was opening the markets of the world to the American workman. There would seem to be some truth in this, as each year they were increasing their exports by about 10 million pounds sterling. Board of Trade returns went to show that America and Germany were fast grasping the trade in the East hitherto done by Great Britain — in fact, beating Englishmen out of the market. One of the last statements made b.y Colonel Dyer Mas that "the time was fast coming when the British workman and his employer would have to stand shoulder to shoulder to keep the foreign invader from their own throats." This ,advice Mr. Brown in his concluding remarks urged New Zealand to follow. Nine new members were elected. The election of officers for the ensuing year resulted as follows: — President, Mr. S. Brown; Vice-President, Mr. W. H. Milhvard ; Secretary, Mr. C. D. Morpeth ; Treasurer, Mr. J ? . C. Crease ; Committee, Messrt. T. Ballinger, B. Bannister, L. Ulundell, W. Cable, W". Chalmers, H. Plockton, G. Finn, H. Gaby, H. Hurrell, P. Hutson, J. P. Luke, D. Robertson, A. Scoullar, J. Wright, J. Murrell, C. Hulke, W. Littlejohu, J. Ross, — Allan, N. Reid, R. Hannah, E. Bull, D. Sladden, W. Dimock ; Auditors, R. Wilberfoss and J. B. H.arcourt. Eulogistic reference was made to the services of the retiring officers, the President, Vice-Presideut, and Secretary (who were all re-elected) coming in for specially warm commendation for their untiring services.