A LABOUR SAFEGUARD.

Evening Post, Volume LXXI, Issue 81, 5 April 1906, Page 4

A LABOUR SAFEGUARD.

The Chief Justice has lost little time in disposing of the very serious flaw ■which ens Magistrate at Pahiatua had imagined himself to have dibcovered in' the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. In brief compass the facts of the case were that the plaintiff, who is a minor, had entered tho service of the defendants, a" firm of printers, and subsequently to the coming into operation of an award of the Arbitration Court, to which tho defendants were made parties, and which fixed a minimum rate of wages, he received from them payment at a rate lets than that bo fixed. This breach of the award having been brought before the Arbitration Court, the employers were finecf £10, but no part of this amount waa made payable to the plaintiff, and even if ha had got it all, his total receipts would still have been more than £40 ! short of the minimum prescribed by the award. The plaintiff having sued for the difference between the wages received by him and the legaJ minimum, the Magistrate gave judgment for the defendants on the ground, apparently, that the matter waa one for the Arbitration Court whose award was in question, for it is difficult to suppose that he can have attached much weight to a number of other ingenious, not to say audacious, pleas which were urged on defendants' behalf. It was urged, for instance, that as plaintiff had without question received his wages, he could not now be heard to complain that he had not received full wages ; that the contract between the parties having been carried out, there was no remedy left; and that if the contract was illegal, the plaintiff was debarred from recovering because "the parties were in pari delieto. It would indeed hnjo been an astounding result if a minor who had received x«t .lower wj^n than, thq law kid de>-

clared him to be entitled to had been deprived of his right to recover the balance on the ground either that the Work having' been concluded, the Court could do nothing, or that he was as much to blame fon taking too little, as his employers for paying it. The Chief Justice who decided on Monday the appeal which uhe plaintiff brought from the judgment of the Magistrate to the Supreme Court, reduced this contention to an absurdity by pointing out that it would have equally debarred plaintiff from recovering anything if '•he had received no wages at all, and he also held that the "in pari delicto" argument could only apply where the matter of the contract was unlawful. Here "the appellant was doing a lawful work. What was illegal was the fixing of the wage contrary to the decision of the Arbitration Court, and "the respondents were seeking to rely upon an illegal condition which they had introduced into an otherwise lawful contract. But the most instructive part of his Honour's judgment ! was that in which he expounded the revolution which the Arbitration Act has worked in the relations of employer and workman ; a status prescribed oy the Arbitration Court has taken the place of the conbraoturol relation existing before. "The Arbitration Court," €aid D the Chief Justice, "really fixed the status of a workman, and prohibited contracts inconsistent with • that status. The right of a workman to make a contract was exceedingly limited; the right of free contract was taken away from the worker, And he was now placed in a. condition of servitude or status, and the employer must conform to that condition." In the present instance the privilege which the workman acquires by the benevolence of the law is more conspicuous than the "servitude" which it imposed; and the limitation of the plaintiff's power to contract himself out of the benefits of the award resulted in a judgment in his favour. Now that the workers are lamenting the insufficiency of the protection which the Act affords them in other ways, they are to be particularly congratulated apon a decision which rescues the minimum wage provision from sheer futility. _______________

A question, of some importance to settlers at the h&adwaters of the Wanpairui river has been raised by the opposition of the Government to th© rafting of timber down the river from Taumarunui According to a recent deputation which waited on the Minister of Lands on the subject, the Wanganui river at present affords tho only profitable, and, in fact, the only outlet for the great bulk of the timber in the forest country around Taumarunui. Auckland absorbs a small percentage of the output, but the real market Has in the South, and the absence of railway communication, which is likely to continue for a period of two or three years, makes the river the only means of outlet. A great part of the standing timber affected is leased from the Government, and it is stated that in some cases the lessees are unable to pay their rents owing to the fact that there is no means of placing their sawn timber on the market ; and unless that means ts provided the millers and the whole district must, bo. heavy losers. The objection of the Government to timber-rafting on the Wanganui river is not altogether unreasonable. At much expense the river has been cleared for steamsr service, and it now affords one of the most popular of the colony's tourist trips. Ti.mber-rafting, unless carefully restricted, would interfeie to some extent at least -with the steamer service, and might easily disoignnise traffic on the much used overland journey to aiit. from Aucklamd via the Wanganui river and the Hoi Lakes district. At tho 6ime time those interested in the timberm.llinc- industry are quite reconciled to the need of "restricting rafting, and, moreover, point out that the rafts can best be sent down during the winter months when tho river is very little us.d for tourist traffic The Government has decided to further consider the matter, and iv view of the importance of the issue to the timber lessees of Crown lands affocted every reasonable effort should be mude to meet their requests.

A considerable length of the North Island Main Trunk Railway will run through native land. In order that this land may be available for settlement as the line progresses, the Government is arranging for one or more Judgea. ot the : Native Land Court to devote their '. whole time to the ascertainment of the ; title to the land adjoining the line. When the squadron was in port recently a lad named J. L. Inkster, 11 years of age, who attends the Terrace School, made a drawing of the flagship Powerful and sent it on to Vice-Admiral Fawkes. He received the following reply in the Admiral's own handwriting:— "H.M.S Powerful, Australia. — My Dear Boy.-^-J am very much obliged for your picture of my flagship. 1 think it is very good, and I hope you will get on well at school with your drawing, and some day paint a good picture. — Yours truly, W. H. Fawkes." The new retorts at tie Petore municipal gasworks were used for the first time yesterday, the Mayor (Mr. G. London) throwing on the first shovelful of ] coal. These retorts will have a producing , power four timei> the old ones. The. whole of the new plant, which is working satisfactorily, was constructed under the supervision of the Borough Engineer, , Mr. W. H. Cook. j About half-a-dozen bylaw cases were dealt with by Dr. M' Arthur, S M , and Mr. T. A. Peterkin, JP., at the Hutt Court yesterday, and a number of parents were fined for not sending their children to school regularly. On the civil side, judgment waa given for plaintiffs in the following cases: — J. L. Barlow v. G. Mitchell, claim £1 15s, costs 8s ; same v. H. George, 15s, costs ss ; Bust and " Sons v. J. Sherlock, £1 9s, costs 6s; Henderson v. Rubic and Burton, £42, costs £4 12s. The defended case J. L. Barton v. P. Speedy, claim £5 4s Id, was decided by a, judgment for plaintiff, for whom Mr. Wilford appeared, for £5, with £1 13s costs. The Wellington Land Board held its adjourned monthly meeting to-day. The greater part of the morning sitting wan taken up with the examination of intending eettlens and those desirous of making transfers. Four Wellington applicants for sections in the Steward Settlement (near Oamaru) were examined, and all were found* eligible and given certificates which will enable them to take part in the ballot for tho sections. An applicant for a section in the Tawaha Settlement, which lies about two miles from. Martinborough, was also examined. During its inspecting tour in the Wairarapa last week the Board held a. sitting at Martinborough and considered eleven other applicants for sections in the Tawaha Settlement. The Christchurch case of Cowlishaw and another v. the Christchurch Press Company (commenced yesterday afternoon before the Court of Appeal) was continued' to-day. The chief point at issue is the tax value to be paid on certain shares (under the Deceased Persons' Estates Act) in the estate of the lato Mr. Cowlishaw. It is asserted that moneys devoted by tJie defendant company to purposes of its business should have been divided amongst the shareholders. Plaintiffs are deferred shareholders in the company, and they contend that they were entitled' to a share of moneys that were otherwise applied. ! 'Mr H. D Bell and Mr. Strintrer are 1 counsel for plaintiffs, and Mr. Hopkins and Mr. WVtie for defendants. After the morning had been spent in further argument it was deemed necessary to remove the case back to the Supreme Oourt, and an order was made accord- , inely, plaintiff to have power to there [ ! add to the case suoh parties as may be deemed advisable Costs of the Appeal | Court were fixed at forty guineas, and the Supreme Court is to make such order as to costs incurred in its own Court as may be thought reasonable. Some members of thp police force had an exciting time last night. A wellbuilt man named Jnmes Diggs, aprainst whom there were previous charsres of theft and assault, met another man j (James O'Shea) in Ghuanee-slrect, and after conversing with him for some minutes attempted to snatch his watch and_ chain, the result being that the j chain was broken. Sergt. lutton and ' Constables Cullen, O'Connor, and Carmody then came on 'he -cene and arrested Digsjs, who resisted violently, and it was only after a -great deal of trouble that they got him to the lock-up. A young man named Edward Kelly incited Diggs to resist arrest. He was also taken into custody, and on the way to the Mount Cook Police Station ho tripped up -Sergt. Hutton and struck him heavily on the jaw. Th" police then handcuffed the man. Diggj and Kelly were brought before the Magistrate's Court to-day. The former was charged with (1) attempting to steal O'Shea's watch and chain, and (2) with violently resisting Constable Cullen in the execution of his duty. The oharees were proved, and accused was sentenced to fence, the sentences to be cumulative. His Worship also convicted Kelly on charges of having assaulted Sergt. Hutton and incited Diggs to resist arrest. For the assault he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment, and for inciting Dißg3 he received a sentence of one month's imprisonment. The New Zealand Express Company, Ltd., makes a specialty of handling furnituro locally, and also of packing and shipping same. Experienced and reliable men. Rates moderate. Telephone, , No. 92.— Advt. What is smarter than that little touch 1 of smartness given by smart neckwear? It creates tho necessary "finish" to the 1 appearanoe of a lady who is at all anxious ' to look "drossy." C. Smith's laco and : fancy department is now repleto with a ! great profusion of laco goode. Novolty neckwoar, in silk or lace, dainty goods, I prices fora Is lid, 2s 6d to 4s 6d each ; veils and veiling, full range in all fashionable colours and designs, from 9d to 2s ' lid yard ; motor veils, 3yds long, any 1 colour, bordered, 5s 6d each ; very Bpecial 1 lino of silk ribbon, 6in wide, any shade, Is 1 yard ; imitation Malteso laco ties, all silk, . 4s pd to 8s lid each, marvellous value ; ladies' fancy handkerchiefs, every imaginable prico and lovely designs, from 6d to [ 2s each ; a lino Of silk niched trimming, . any shade, Is 6d yard. O. Smith, Cash Draper, Cuba-street. — Advt. At the Ingestre-slreet Gospel Hall to- • night Mr. M'Clure will lecture on "Thyatira." ' Messrs. Searle, Joy and Co. call atten- ; tion elsewhere to the arrival of the i Monarch Visible Typewriter, and invite inspection of same. Tho Monarch is de- . scribed as being fitted up with tho latest . improvements for quick and accurate work.