NOT FULLY TRIED

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 110, 10 May 1923, Page 6

NOT FULLY TRIED

The new waterside employment scheme is being abandoned before it has been fully tried. It was introduced for the benefit of the men; not without some hesitation on the part of the employers. Now it is the men who have decided to revert to the old order. For many years some better method has been sought, especially some means of reducing the evils arising from casual employment; and Mr. Justice Frazer, when hearing the waterfront dispute, earnestly recommended the parties to endeavour to frame some scheme which would mitigate those evils. It may be argued on behalf of those men who voted to abandon the new plan that in practice it caused hardship to some of their number who had earned their living on the wharves for yefti's, aiad that the majority ua-

selfishly threw away their own chances of betterment so that their comrades might be saved distress. But it must not be thought that any system which promises genuine improvement for the majority can be introduced without some temporary inconvenience. The greatest good for the greatest number must be the aim. If there are too many men seeking work on the wharves some must go elsewhere. H they will not, and if no other effort is made to give regular employment to a special number, all must continue to suffer the demoralising effects of the casual system.

Possibly better results would have been achieved if the general employment position had been better, so that the men displaced could have been more readily absorbed elsewhere; but at best there would have been some difficulty in finding work quickly for a considerable body of men. The labour market is easily disorganised, and if efforts at reorganisation are not made with patience and perseverance little can be achieved. It may be pleaded that the scheme did not embody all the features desired by the leaders of the men—that it failed because it was not sufficiently far-reaching; but a more comprehensive scheme would have involved greater unsettlement in the .initial stages. Admittedly this was a first step, and the men have insisted on retracing it. First steps are difficult to make, but they cannot be avoided—even by taking a run and jump at reform. We hope that those men who have desired to reorganise waterfront labour will not be discouraged by the setback, but will persevere with their efforts. They may be able' to glean a little helpful experience from what at present appears only a disappointment.