Evening Post. THURSDAY', NOVEMBER 18, 1909. IMPROVED RELATIONS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 121, 18 November 1909, Page 6

Evening Post. THURSDAY', NOVEMBER 18, 1909. IMPROVED RELATIONS.

There is a silver lining even to the dark, cloud which has overshadowed the trade of the country during the last twelve months. If the financial stringency, of which we have all been feeling the pinch, has affected our commerce with stagnation, it has also brought industrial peace. Such is the diagnosis of the improved relations between capital and labour, which finds favour with the Employers* Federation oi New Zealand now holding its seventh annual conference in this city. The report of the executive, which was adopted by the conference yesterday, notes with satisfaction "that the signs of industrial unrest, which were so apparent when last year's report was written, have almost entirely passed away." While conceding that more causes than one have contributed to -the changed attitude of organised labour and its -leaders which has brought about this happy result, the report expresses the opinion that "the principal cause oi the present period of comparative industrial peace is the recent depression in trade, and the consequent surplus labour supply." It is pointed out that "it is a much more difficult task to get workers to cease work when there are plenty of others to take their places, than when they know that the demand exceeds, the supply. ' While this is capital's theory of the truce, and it must be admitted that in the preceding year labour had usually been the aggressor, the retort of labour would probably bo that during the past year the. pressure of a common misfortune has al&o had its effect upon the employers in moderating their tone^and reducing the occasions of friction. It would be gratifying indeed, if one could assume that the comparative harmony which has prevailed between capital and labour during the past year would continue after the depression which has put both upon their good behaviour, has passed away. It is not denied by the Employers' Federation that the setting up of Conciliation Councils by Mr. Millar's amending Act of the last year has had "a considerable effect upon the situation." Though the number of "disputes" filed — it must always be remembered that an industrial dispute does not necessarily mean a quarrel, but often merely represents a demand — is declared to have been as large as ever, the process of settlement has been much less litigious and irritating than it was under the previous system. Of the 43 disputes settled between the Ist January and 30th June, only nine had to come before tho Arbitration Court; and of theso three had been partially settled by the Conciliation Councils. The other settlements are accounted for in the following .way: — By the parties themselves, four; by the parties and the Conciliation Commissioner without the aid o* assessors, thirteen; by the Conciliation Council, eleven wholly and three partially. Compared with the acrimony and futility of the Conciliation Boards, ifc is clear that the record of the new machinery during the first six months of its operation is an excellent one ; and as against the pacific influence to which the report refers as helping the commissioner and the councils in their work, ifc must .be remembered that the weight of the cat-and-dog traditions of the old regime must havo been a much more serious obstacle to their first efforts than it can ever be again. No radical change in the law governing these tribunals is suggested by the employers, but they indicate the appointment of assessors in disputes and the payment of fees by the Government — the amount being determined by the number of sittings held — as "sources of danger." This method of payment was so utterly discredited by the procedure of the Conciliation. Boards that we arc surprised to find that it has survived the attentions of Mr. Millar's new broom. The report also contains suggestions for allowing appeals from the magistrate to the Arbitration Court in enforcement cases and empowering inspectors of awards to bring such cases •before- tho Arbitration Court in the first instance. It is satisfactory to find that the frontal attack upon the jurisdiction of the Magistrate's Court in, these matters has been abandoned, partly 'because "the ridiculously high' fines imposed by some magistrates are not now being inflicted." The lack of uniformity in the decisions is undoubtedly a. drawback, though not more in these cases than in any other branch of the ■magistrates' jurisdiction; but the promptitude with which tha law is asserted Bgainst the wrong-doer does far more than compensate for any uncertainty of this kind. He punishes twice as effectively who punishes quickly.