The Evening Star TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 1909.

Evening Star, Issue 14003, 9 March 1909, Page 4

The Evening Star TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 1909.

The ' Lyttelton Times' is probably

right in surmising that The Addington the mistmderstanding Workshops between the Minister Inquiry. of Railways and the Addington employees would not have occurred if fnll publicity had been given to the negotiations from the beginning. There is not the slightest reason to suppose that the muddle was caused by a lack of good faith or reasonable intention on either side, the employees evidently having misconstrued the position taken up by Mr Millar regarding the special representation of their interests at the inquiry. At the same time, it is clear that the workers have shifted their ground to some extent since last week, and though the intentions of both parties are clearer, the practical difficulty remains, even if it is not more acute than before. A few days ago the men were ostensibly willing to aecept an arrangement by which a member of the Executive of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants or some other railway employee would be allowed to present their case before the Commissioners. They had somehow got the notion that the Minister was disinclined to meet their wishes in this direction, j but when this misapprehension was partially removed the secretary of tho Amalgamated Society wired to Mr j Millar in the following terms : | Mr Ell informs me that you are willing to allow any railwav man to • appear on behalf of the men at the Addington inquiry. If this is so, kindly advise me early, and I will j submit the name of a member, when! selected, for your approval. We have! never been advised that any members! of the Execntive could appear. j Presumably the secretary was in touch with the men, and at least knew the nature of their first wishes in the matter; but it soon became evident that those wishes had changed. In answer to the telegram fust cited the Minister explicitly stated his willingness "to accept any member of the "Executive or any member of the "Railway Service to represent the " men " ; but the Addington employees proceeded virtually to throw over the secretary of the society and resolved to stipulate for an '' outside representative " at the inqniry. They followed up this resolve by submitting the name of Mr T. E. Taylor, M.P., as a suitable person. The Mimster does not see his j way to accept Mr Taylor or any! other " outside representative," and we are inclined to think that the disinterested section of public opinion will recognise the soundness of his decision. The choice of the able but rather too pugnacious and self-assertive member for Christchurch North would be open to some exception on personal grounds, apart from the general principle involved ; but it was not necessary for Mr Millar to dwell upon this aspect of the matter. His objection to outside representation is based upon a clear recognition of the practical import of tho inquiry. It is an inquiry of practical men into certain statements, and can only be dealt with by practical men. In other words, it is an inquiry set up by myself, consisting of experts outside of the Railway Service, to advise me in regard to certain allegations which have been made. The whole object is to ascertain whether the work is done efficiently and economically in the Addington Workshops. Mr Millar reasonably contends that he has offered the men as wide a range of selection as they can fairly expect: " the whole of the Railway Service is ■Vgjgen to the; JBsequr^-

"tive of their Union, who cond.nct all! "their business, technical and other-1 "wise." Moreover, it is a range of! selection with which the secretary of 1 the Amalgamated Society was quite satisfied (a3 appears in his telegram to the Minister) two or three days ago. Ifc might be supposed that the employees would prefer to be represented by one of their own number, having expert acquaintance with railway matters, as well as direct knowledge of their desires and claims—unless, indeed, they entertain the hope of making some sort of adventitious capital by means of the trained astuteness and formidable pugnacity of the member of Parliament whose namejthey submitted to the Minister. It will be a pity if Mr Millar's proper firmness in regard to this point should result in the non-representation of the men at the inquiry, and it is to be trusted that wiser counsels will still prevail. If the employees continue stubborn, (however—and to-day's meeting'of the men seems to leave no doubt on the responsibility will be wholly theirs, and the adequacy of the investigation is not likely to be materially affected.