N.S.W. PARLIAMENT

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 89, 11 October 1913, Page 5

N.S.W. PARLIAMENT

♦ BH,LS THROWN OUT. BOTH HOUSES "WORKING HARD. (By Telegraph.— Press Association.— Copyright.) SYDNEY, 10th October. The closing hours of the session are proving disastrous to the Government's measures. The Legislative Assembly haß thrown out the Vaccination Bill, while the Council has rejected the Eight Hour Bill. Both Houses have been working at high pressure during the last few days with a view to finishing the session this week, prior to the dissolution of Parliament. ADJOURNED TILL TUESDAY NEXT, (Received October 11, 9.55 a.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. The House has adjourned till Tuesday next. It is awaiting messages from the Council. ' EIGHT HOURS A DAY. In introducing the Eight Hours Bill for second reading, Mr. Holman (the Premier) stated that the trades mentioned in the schedule as coming within the 'operation of the Bill already enjoyed eight hours, and the Bill would give to the existing practice the stability of the law. The experiment of eight hours had been given a long trial, and in view of the success attendant upon Australian trades, might be regarded' as having been justified. Organised workers, however, had frequently to fight to retain the privileges they had won. Originally they resorted to strikes, later they had the Arbitration Courts, and it had been the desire of the organised workers of the State to be relieved of the necessity of permanent warfare, to maintain for themselves the privileges of a shorter working day, and to be given the protection of statute for these. The Bill preserved all existing privileges by giving Parliamentary sanction to what had been gained byi the workers for themselves, and paved the way for a gradual extension of the area to which the eight-hour principle was to apply, in that the Judge of the Arbitration Court might at any time recommend to the Governor to add new industries to the schedule. Mr. Wade (Leader of the Opposition) said he was at a loss to understand tho reason for the measure. The eight-hour principle had been recognised before some members of th« Chamber were born. But whilst the ideal might be to bring every trade as near as possible to the eight-hour basis, it was recognised that there were some trades wherein that basis could not be enforced without harmfully affecting those carrying on the business. The best tribunal for deciding these matters was the Arbitration Covert. He would be prepared to have the schedule added to on the certificate of the President of the Industrial Court, stating that he was satisfied from his experience of the trade that the eighthour day or the forty-eight-hour week was the best basis to work on. But Parliament was the wrong tribunal to decide what trades shoula be included in the schedule. He had, for instance, evidence that the coal mining industry would be imperilled by inclusion in the eight-hour schedule. Mr. Wood described the Bill as an effort to re-introduce in different form the Mines Eight Hours Bill. The second reading was agreed to.