THE GALL OF THE MASSES.

Evening Star, Issue 14786, 30 January 1912, Page 7

THE GALL OF THE MASSES.

OR THE STORY OF THE LABOR MOVEMENT IN NEW ZEALAND. [Specially Written fop. the Dt.wedi.n'Stab,' by David M'Laeen.] No. 111. The full hiatorv of trades unionism, its riso and development in New Zealand, has never been written, and in regard to many matters cannot now be related. Unfortunately, no one has. from the beginning, seen fit to keep exact records, and much is lost, to the disadvantage of all serious students of sociology. The Dominion Executive of the trades councils should tak9 speedy stops to see that this is remedied as far as the future is concerned, and appoint someone to collect, preserve, and properly classify the records of the movement. ' The Government Labor Department should materially assist in the execution of such a work,'to the advantage of the country as a whole. The study of our industrial, political, and social problems cannot be effective to the ends of sound statesmanship and wise official administration until wo pass from the stage of mere rule-of-thumb experimentation and build upon the relations of causes and effects. We have hitherto been proud of hearing our country spoken of as " the land oi" social and industrial experiments.'* but we shoidd now be able to draw con elusions, collate known facts, ami be able in some measure to institute methods of real scientific comparison. For this purpose historical data must be of real value, more especially to such an important branch of sociology as the movements of the industrial masses in our own country. —The Rise of Unionism.—

From investigation I made, some time ago it would appear that- about 18S9 there v.-ere only 12 registered workers'" unions in existence. It is somewhat, of a contrast to find that in 1911 there were 303 such unions registered under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act and 17 under the Trades Union Act, or 325 in a!). People-! occasionally refer to the maritime strike period of 1890 as it a danger lay in the direction of repeating what then occurred, but a litle consideration will eonvwice- anyone that in the event of Mich another industrial upheaval the problem would be much more serious, as the factors of organisation, both on the side of the employers and employees, lias undergone a verv jreat change. From data recently collected by the iion. J. T. Paul, -Mr J. \ A. .M'Cullough, and Mr James Young, secretary of the Dominion Trades Councils' Executive, I cull the following r.uugh story J of trade* unionism's past history in cur j country : j —The First Beginning.— j As far back as 1881 there was a Trades and Labor Council in Duncdin. Thw council was represented at "the tirst- Ne»v Zealand Trades and Labor Congress" (to quote the printed report) held in Duncdin irom January 8 to 13, 1885. There- were 43 delegates present, am! these societi s i were represented—Christchurch Working '■ Men's Political Association, the. New Zea- | land Protection Association, the Tiinaru ! Political Reform Association, Amalgamated i Society of Carpenters and Joiners, Anna- ; gamated Society ot Engineers, Lyttelton : Lumpers' Union, Christchurch Operative j Bootmakers, and the .Maritime Council, i The then Premier (Sir Robert Stout) ad- j dressed the congress, savin.': 1 am glad that your Trades and Labor ! Congress has recognised three things—namely, the need of political action, the need of union among yourselves, and the need of individual action to forward the interest of the working class. It is noteworthy that this "first congress" resolved " to support a Labor paper, the ' Watchman.' and that all industrial disputes should be settled bv arbitration." The- movement at this early stage docs notappear to have recognised what our i Socialist friends call "-class consciousness,'' j as both workmen and employers seem to I have gathered together at this congress, j Trade depression appears to have_ | tie trades unions for some years after this, j —After Decadence. Revival.— j A revival took place in 1589 as an out- i come of disclosures respecting acute swe-at- ] ing conditions in the tailoring trade, most j 6eriouslv affecting the women workers. On I October 7, 1889. a branch of the New Zea- j land Federated Laborers' Union was formed j at Lyttelton with 36-3 members. The ; Knights of Lahor organisation came into ! action about this time. A strike took j place at Toomer Bros.' boot factory, Christ- ' church (eventually settled bv arbitration). Tho month of October, 18S9. saw labor I trouble at the Kaiapoi Woollen Factory, | and a mass meeting oi protest in Christ- '• church. A strike took place on November \ 2, 1889. which lasted 24 days, the Canter- ' bury Trades and Labor Council belli:: - formed on the- very dav the strikers "came j out." It seems the Typographical Union j organised this council with live unions on j it to start. These- includ d Seamen audi Wharf Laborers. Bootmakers, Tailors and ! Tailoresses and Pressors. Engineers, and I the initiators—the Typographical. By De- j rember 20 eight unions had joined, and j later the Railway Union entered. At a I meeting in Kainprd an .Wicultura! ; Workers' Union was formed, and "a log. adopted, to come into force on January 1, i 1890." (That log must be King acicWthiH path yet!) j —An Exciting Period.— ] On January 25 the newiy-lrumed council ; resolved td assist the "Early Closing As- | scciatic-n." From this pc-rid things be- j came exciting—boycotting, disputes, am! ' general trouble following. A minute of August 30 reports that "the- maritime itriko had occurred.'' On September 6 the minutes show that | an Employers' Association hrul lieen formed, and the council hailed with satisfaction the proposal of the employers to eetatiish a Conciliation Herd. —First Detiniie Programme.— The following Labor political p!,i:form ! was adopted at thu period, and unionists orged to support those who stood by it : Immediate stoppage of sale ot Crown lands; cancellation of existing provisions for conversion of perpetual leaseholds into freeholds; seamen's representation; chop hours, factories, huildimrs., and other Labor Bills to he supported ; legislation for an eight-hour day; t;ix on absent landlords; uniform school books; radical reform in railway management ; progressive taxation of land held for speculative purposes; and an elective Legislative Council. —Years of Struggle.— j The unions and council* vent through i very sit; straits, both financially and numerically, for several years after 1390. It wc.uld appear that the iirst official conforfn" 1 of trades and labor councilo was held in Wellington in 1891. Union:, and councils ui-i'O talking of disbanding, and several unions actually died of inanition. A confereni-e. in 1893 was he'd at Wellington " hecause several presidents of the- councils worn M I'.s, and ihe biHlies were pressed for meaty,.*' At this conference "the Industrial Conciliation Bill was adopted after fl.'lht nrnendmont." Tho conference endorsed the plinciple of compulsory arbitration contained in the Bill, and "also the appointment of ;i Supremo Court Judge as President of an Arbitration Court." —The Struggle Continues.— In 1891 the unions commenced to manifest fresh life. The Canterbury Council •wa.s resuscitated, with eight unions in affiliation. Dunflg 1895, 1896. and 1897 the number of unions increased, tho councils were relieved from strain, and organising work was entered upon (Mr Ben Tillett taking pact in 18961. In 1898 the first resolution appeared affirming the need for an Independent Labor party in the field oi politics, about which there was then considerable difference of opinion in the unions. At this time attention was directed to the idea of closer federation of the unions. At tho beginning of 1899 the political platform*was given more attention, and the running of distinct Labor candidates discussed in the unions and councils. To summarise tho matter, I find that prior to 1890 a good number of unions •were formed, but these never attained any great strength. The strike trouble of 18S0 destroyed moat of the unions, and it was

only after the passing of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1894, that tho rail body and strength oi unionism commenced to show itself. —Tho Federation Movement.— A new direction has been taken of rerent years in the formation of distinct trades only fire of bodies (including trades council?), whilst now there aio over 30. and the line of creating federations of their local unions throughout the Domi'lirn is being adopted speedily by the generality of trades and labor unions. On "examination of the last rckurns issued under the Arbitration Act (for 1911)1 find that of the 308 workers' unions registered some 192 are joined in Dominion organisations of their trade or calling by tho name of " Industrial Associations of Workers." I The total number of members included in the unions registered is given as 57.091. and of these the von- large proportion of 44,310 are in the unions that have formed these trade federations. —Skilled Trades First.— It is worthy of notice and reflection that just as the workers in skilled trades were the first to organise in their local unions. so thev have been also first to organise on a Dominion basis. Nearly all of the skilled trades are now so organised, whilst- a large number of general workers have as yet but readied the staye of having become local unions, 'litis seems to bear out tho idea out. forward by me in a previous article that it is not the poorest, and those having least conception of property rights from their having practically nothing to con-1 serve, who seek strength in unioinsm, but the movement is mostly from those who possess, if even only their skill, a tendency towards defence in unity and active combination. —Growth and Development.— This rough record I present shows the great advance made, in unionism. _ Taking the unions not under the Arbitration Act, the total number of members of workers' unions is to-day over 60,000. Two fields that have as yet been little worked, and where unionism is much required, are in resneot to women workers and the agricultural and pastoral workers. Within this hist year or two there havo been manifestations of steps towards unionism bcinc taken by the clerical and semi-professional claw of workers, but they have not yet taken as full and definite shape as we find in some older countries. The general meaning of trades unionism lias simply been tint of activity on the part of sections of workers to conserve their own trade or sectional interests, but it is a most stupid mistake to think of this as the whole moaning of trades unionism. Men in combination who discuss their interests in trade matters soon come to realise that the matters of their own trade are related to issues affecting other trades and callings. The workers of New Zealand have seen this, and learnt that their trade conditions depend on the state of the industry, of which the trade- forms only a part, and, further, that all industries "are correlated and dependent on the national and local povernin,' policies adopted by communities and the State. —The Trend of Unionism.— Trades unionism has hero, as elsewhere, been "rowing all tho time from the local and sectional to the industrial and the national. It is industrial because tho ago is towards large industrial concerns, arid its life is in the industries, growing with their growth, expanding with their expansion, and dropping out when tho industries are depressed. This movement is also political, because our industries are affected bv political conditions. It is a most curious thing to note that in New Zealand the worker*-' unions that- are registered under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act are called trades unions, and those registered under the Trades Unions .Vet are called industrial unions. The truth is that trades unionism is a step to true industrial unionism, and through that to national and international unions.