"THE SPIRIT OF THE ACT"

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 40, 16 August 1921, Page 6

"THE SPIRIT OF THE ACT"

!' , 10 181 IWTOB. ' Sir,—As to.the »ocurvy of yoxutrtport of certain statements swd to have '• been made in the Arbitration Court at Invercargill, lam not conoerned, but ■ • what is a matter <)f grave imjpbrtance i to the community is' the admission of . two members of the Court, in a letter " t published by you yesterday, that the - Court \ has abrogated the tvlain terms • 5 of an Act of Parliament and admims- -^ t tered itTo its'own satisfactiop by inter- ■< s polating the word "ascertained," thus s turning the section upside down. Many . words are used to justify this, but b nothing written has any real bearing r on the point at issue. The Legislating r made a law providing that awards made \ j should not be retrospective as far as t the cost-of-living bonus is "concerned— . the"* Court has now decreed otherwise. , t It is.a common practice to blame the r other- fellow for wrong-doing, but. one j would hardly expect such a declaration s from two members of the Arbitration ' j Court as that placing upon, the shoulders j of the late Judge of the Court tho j blame for this departure yfrom, the Aot. j, They say,that when the;law was passed t in 1918 "Mr. Justice Stringer coiisulted 3 a number of Judges of the Supreme r Court on the matter. They agreed that a strictly literal effect could not be given to the 'Act, but they also agreed 1 that the practice then and now adopted t by the Court was the correctVpractice, 1 and carried into effect the intention of £ the Legislature." Just bo, tout what s did Mt. Justice Stringer himself say, as 3 late as the end of 1919: "It appears > to the Court to be reasonably, clear , - from the language and purpose of the , Act these considerations," viz., other , relevant considerations; "must be limit--1 ed to matters similar to those previously 1 defined," the cost-of-living bonus.V'and f arising subsequent to the, making of the 5 award." Not a word "ascer--5 tamed," or any other method of evading 1 the fair and strict wording of the Act. \ ' Indeed," the" Judge continued: "It re-" 3 mains to deal with the ground of the f increased cost-of-living _ since the date s ■ of the order (7th Marsh),'", and instead of 3 awarding a bonus on. the terms stated . > by the two assessors (that is, for awards s made between Ist November and 30th I April, the bonus to be calculated from j the previous half-yearly period, or 30th 1 September) the bonus^was only calcula- !• ted from the Ist of May after the makr ing of the award (7th March). '" Andt this was done despite the statement i of the Judge that the wages paid were 1 not commensurate with the high degree i of skill required. No statement wa3 ■■ ever made in the Court by Mr. Stringer I resembling in any way the assertion . made about him by the two assessors, | and I have shown that, on one occasion, , at any rate, Jie stated exactly the opi [ posite. i Indeed, he^ emphasised his position by having the wopds "since tha date of the award" printed in italics, , and adding, "it will be seen that the | main considerations which axe to guide j the Court in determining whether or , not to amend an award are matters which have arisen after the making of the award" (the six last words being again printed in italics to emphasise > .them). Will the two gentlemen reconi cil* their assertions ijuth my ifadts? • Then about the "number, of Judges of' ■ the Supreme Court." A "number"/ would surely be at least four—why not » say who they,are, so that the couple ' left would not remain under the stigma , of altering the terme of the Act? But • as I have shown that the practice of Mr. Justice Stringer was contrary to ■ what he is credited with by his two '■ assessors, perhaps the number of Judges he consulted concurred with his reading, but that reading i*as not the read- . ing of the present members of the Court of Arbitration at Im'eroargiU. In conclusion, let me point out tihe ■ reductio ad absurdum of the sub-section 1 with the interpolation: "Any increase ' ascertained since the date of the .award : in the cost of living affecting .the workers engaged in such industry " What, ■ in the name of goodness, does that mean? Any increase ascertained since the date of the award! How long since? 1 Oh, no, the" Legislature does perpetrate some peculiar clauses, but to say that was 1 the intention of .the Legislature is to write nonsense. r Will the two gentlemen only, once more depart frpm the unwritten, rule and show how Mr. Justice Stringer's clear and plain statements in 1919 can be reconciled with their own version in 1921? -lam, e tc, FBffiM| • 15th '■ August.