WHO SHALL CONTROL?

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 147, 18 December 1913, Page 7

WHO SHALL CONTROL?

MISCHIEVOUS AGITATORS DISORGANISATION OF TRADE "THIS SENSELESS STEIKE." Pointed reference to the strike waß made by the chairman Of the^ank of New Zealand (Mr. Beauchamp) today. "In the midst of so much that was favourable in the circumstances of the people, of this country," he said, "a bountiful season, with a large prospective export of wool, butter, cheese, mutton, and other products ; with good prices ruling in the markets of the •world ; with abundance of work for our people at a high average of wages fixed j by agreements made under the authority of our Courts— New Zealand w»o suddenly confronted last October with a strike, at first a small affair, but quickly turned by mischievous agitators into the most serious industrial upheaval that the country has ever experienced. What the trouble is all about," Mr. Beauchamp went on, "most people have a difficulty in explaining precisely. It is not wages, for thatr at one time fruitful cause of dispute is not mentioned; it is not hours of labour, for no one has complained. The real question at issue appears to be whether the Fijieration of Labour shall be recognised as the controlling authority in Labour questions. THE EMPLOYEES SAY NO! "The employers say, No! because the Federation has declared itself as inimical to existing social conditions and a' disregarder of industrial agreements and obligations. The employers claim that they should be expected to treat only with Labour unions so constituted as to provide a means whereby the equitable settlement of any • disputes that may arise shall t be assured. For this purpose they claim that the unions register themselves under the_ Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, which provides the necessary tribunal for hearing and adjudicating upon industrial disputes. This certainly seems a reasonable attitude to take up in the interests of all concerned ; but it does not suit the Federation of Labour, which aspires to being itself the sole arbiter of such questions. And so the strikers, who are under the domination of the executive of the Federation, remain on strike, and presumably will continue so until they throw off the yoke of the Federation. THE WORKERS' CAPITAL. "In the meantime the only certain things are that the whole trade of the community has been disorganised and upset, and that a systematic attempt hag besn mad© to absolutely destroy means of communication with the outside world. No regard appears to be paid' to the enormous loss of wages to the workmen, who, themselves, seem to forget that men who- earn their living by work paid by the hour dn never overtake the hours lost, that it is just so much absolute"ly%cut out of their lives. "A merchants whose business the strike throws out of gear does not suffer in a similar degree, because, generally speaking, he is able to sell to-morrow the goods which the strike has prevented him selling to-day; but not so the workman, whose time is his capital, for with the wsste Of one goes the loss of the other. THE GEEATEST LOSER. "It is indeed a strange thing that the workman cannot see that in movements of this kind he must, on every occasion, be the greatest loser, and,' indeed, thd most extraordinary as well as the most certain conclusions to be ' drawn from the circumstances of this ; senseless strike are, first, the astoundi ing ignorance of the workman of tl»« economic nature of his own valuable capital, viz., his labour; and, secondly, his equally astounding credulity m .listening, oblivious of the most obvious lessons of his life ? ' to the wicked and stupid, representations of unscrupulous demagogues who, in order that they may be spared the necessity of doing any honest work themselves, sponge upon j him for the means of leading an idle life ? while they poison his mind with their absurd, ' impracticable, and revolutionary theories. THE SECEET BALLOT. "It has been an encouraging feature of the struggle that the call of the Federation's executive for a general strike was not uniformly responded to by the Labour unions. This BhoWB that a large proportion of the workers of the Dominion are not in sympathy with the aims of the Federation, and are not disposed, at the bidding of revolutionary Socialists, to voluntarily involve themselves and their families in needless sacrifices, and their countiy in serious losses. I believe, if the Labour unions we're to make it a fixed and invariable rule that no strike should ever be called until a secret ballot of the union or unions affected had been taken and had resulted in approval of a strike by a majority of at least one-fifth of the votes polled, strike troubles would not loom as large as they at present do in the industrial landscape. It will be within your recollection that the secret ballot of the General Labourers' Union resulted in a vote of three to one against striking at the call of the Federation of Labour. THE PRODUCER AROUSED. "As the strike developed/ there naturally occurred a certain amount of disorder, at one time presenting a threatening appearance. But the strike leaders very evidently underestimated the resources of society for its self-preserva-tion, and they entirely overlooked the fact that it was not in the least likely that the producers of more than ninetenths of the exportable produce of the country were going to sit idly by while their property was being held up or destroyed at the bidding of a small knot of irresponsible persons styling themselves the executive of the Federation of Labour. "Shareholders beyond New Zealand may be interested to know tha^ shortly after the declaration of the strike, new unions of waterside workers were formed and registered under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, and these unions, largely composed of country hands, and known as the Arbitratiomsts, have been able to successfully cope with the loading and discharging of produce and merchandise at the various ports throughout the Dominion. THE YEOMAN AS PROTECTOR. "The farmer has indeed proved himself to be not only the* backbone of the country (as has long been recognised), but also the country's guardian and protector. If the present attitude of the leaders of the Federation of Labour is to be taken as an indication of Labour's attitude generally, it evidences a design to disintegrate the existing social order; and in that case the salvation of the State, as well as its prosperity, wouftl Seem to lie in the multiplication of the yeoman proprietary to the utmost extent possible. Thus the strike developments have furnished a fresh argument in favour of the enqouragement of land settlement and the subdivision of our large estates. The Government is to be complimented on the firm way in which it has dealt with the disturbance and is now bringing to justice.

offenders against law and order and others charged with incitement to crime. Conduct of the kind must, of course, in the interest of society^ be rigidly repressed and severely punished. The thanks of the community are due to all the special constables who, at considerable inconvenionce and bodily risk to themselves, placed their services at the disposal of the authorities. They are also deserving of praise for the admirable self-control they displayed in tho face of occasional extreme provocation from the lawless element among the mob." THE FOLLY OF STRIKES. "Before parsing from the subject," added Mr. Beauchamp, "I feel that it devolves upon me, as representing an important section of the financial interests of the country — interests which really concern the honest, well-doing worker as much as the employer—to stress most emphatically the exceeding folly of the resort to strike methods with th« object of righting a wrongreal or imaginary. Profit cannot result from the precipitation of loss. The waste involved in a strike is simply deplorable, and the set-back which industry sustains is almost incalculable. And to crown all, the strike usually fails to achieve the end for which it was planned. Therefore, when considered calmly and dispassionately, resort to uhe strike can only be regarded as little short of inaa-nity on the part of the workers." As showing the enormous loss that may be entailed by strike action, he quoted some 1 statistics as given in The Economist newspaper of 27th September and 4th October. It appeared that in the year 1000 there were in England 648 industrial disputes, affecting ' 188,500 workers and involving a loss of 3,150,000 working days. In 1911 and 1912 there wero 1724 strikes and lock-outs, affecting 2,400,000 workers 1 and involving a loss of 50,600,000 working daya. Other countries had suffered similarly} but he had only available the details re. lating to France, where, during 1912. there were no less than 1116 strikes, affecting 267 ; 000 workers, with a loss of 2,318,000 working days : an improvement, however, on the previous year, when the loss through strikes was equivalent to 4,096,000 working days. "These are significant figures," Mr. Beauchamp, concluded. "They " show that these struggles are imperilling national prosperity, and indicate that, if allowed to go on unchecked, they will almost certainly lead to national disaster. Every true patriot must feel that they emphasise the urgent need for careful consideration of the difficult problems "involved, with the object of discovering a satisfactory solution."