THE LABOR MOVEMENT

Evening Star, Issue 16259, 31 October 1916, Page 8

THE LABOR MOVEMENT

[By Veteran. Brief contributions on matfrrx vith '■ reference to the Labor Movement, arc invited. NEW ZEALAND LABOR PARTY. There have been many attempts made to form a Political Labor party in New Zealand, but up to the present time the reMilts have been very meagre. This year, at the United Federation of Labor conference a ' constitution and platform were drawn up for presentation to unions throughout the Dominion as a basis for the formation of a strong Political Labor party. A provisional executive was appointed to organise the different centres sud to call a conference during the month of- July, 1917, when it is expected to establish a 'strong Political Labor party. The following aro the essential clauses of the constitution which the unions arc I asked to adopt: 1. Tho New Zealand Labor paity shall consist of Labor Representation Committees 2. The Labor Representation Committee shall consist of industrial federations and unions, trades and labor councils, Social Democratic party branches, and other properly-constituted progressive organisations which subscribe, to the constitution and platform of the party. 3. Representation of tho Labor Representation Committee shall be based on the numerical •strength of each of the affiliated bodies, on such basis as is deemed advisable by the local organisations. 5. (a) Tho executive shall consist of a president, vice-president. secretarytreasurer, and a committee of 12. with power to add: the first executive shall tie elected by the joint conference of representatives of the U.F.L., S.D.P.. and L.R.C. The executive shall convene a conference of the New Zealand Labor party in Wellington during the month of Ju1y.1917. (ty It shall be the duty of the National Executive to take such action as is deemed necessary to organise the workers into Labor Representation Committees for political action. 6. Each committee shall have full power to formulate its own municipal platform, subject to the National Executive, also such machinery as is necessarv ior the selection and running of political and municipal candidates. The following is tho proposed platform : 1. Proportional representation, the. initiative, the referendum, the recall, the abolition of the country quota, full'civil rights to all public employees, the removal, of tlte political disabilities of women. 2. (a) All existing Crown lands to he added to the national endowment, (b) Tenants' absolute right to improvements, j 3. (a) State Bank, with, the sole right of note issue, (b) State-owned shipping services. (c) State control of all branches of insurance, (d) Development of our present State coal mines, fat- i , tories, farms, and industrial services." 4. (a) Free, secular, and compulsory education from the kindergarten to the university, (b) Uniform school books. printed by the Government and supplied free of ecst. 5. Increased taxation on unearned increments and monopoly, • increased taxation of -unimproved land values, increased graduated income tax with a corresponding reduction of indirect taxation for the .purpose of removing the present burdens on family incomes. , 6 Extension of the pension system to - cover all incapacitated citizens, and increased rates of pensions. 7 (a) The right to work. (b) The , full recognition of unionism as the basis of arbitration in industrial Jaw, and the consequent membership of all workers engaged in tha various industries. 8. (a) Repeal of the Military Service Act. (b) A citizen anny on a 'volunteer basis, with standard wages while on duty, together _ with, practical measures for the promotion of peace. I do not know whether Labor Representation Committees have been set up in other centres or not, but there has been none in Dunedin' up to date, as the following letter will show:— Dear sir,—l am directed to inform you that a meeting of delegates of Labor bodies was held in the Trades Ha.ll Dunedin, on the 28th September, for the purpose of forming a Labor Representation Committee :u Dunedin. At that meeting 16 , unions, together with th--Social Democratic party and Otago I/abor Council, were represented, when tho following resolutions were passed : " That in the opinion of delegates present, it is desirable that a Politic? 1 Labor Representation Committed be formed in Dunedin." -That in the opinion of tho delegates, jln> Labor Re .presentation Committee should affiliate with, and becomo part of the New Zealand Labor party." As the delegates nad not been given authority to pledge their •unicns to the formation of tiv i ommittee, '-it was decided the' Otago Labor Council to submit the resolutions passed to the unions for their endorsement, and to convene another' meeting of delegates at as earlv a dnt* as possible. In responso to that request, tne council have directed me to submit .the two resolutions for vour union's consideration and adoption" Ithe unions are favorable to the endorsement of the resolutions, the council would like them to appoint delegates to attend another meeting to be held in the 1 raaes Hall on Thursday, 9th November, at 8 p.m., and to instruct their delegates to support the formation of a Labor Representation Committee. For the information of tho members of your union in considering the endorsement of t-he resolutions, I am enclosing copy of the constitution and platform -of the Sew Zealand Labor party. Tho endorsement of resolution No. 2 will carry with it the endorsement of the constitution and platform of the New Zealand Labor party. Trusting you will give this matter your earnest consideration andfavor mo with a reply at your earliest convenience, —R, Breen, secretary. The last plank in the proposed platform calls for particular attention at the present time, "Repeal of the Military Service Act." If that plank- were deleted probably there would not bo much difficulty in the way of the adoption of both constitution and platform bv a lar-e majontyoF the unions. It will be remembered that when Compulsory Military Ser li™ tt' 3 -! suggested in New Zealand the _ United federation of Labor called a tonierenco of all unions in* the Dominion, whether affiliated with tho federation or not, for the purpose of protesting a~ain«t(,'or.scnption. Of coarse, the resolution pt protest was carried at the conference but, «i I pointed out at the ',ime, not oiie-lourth of the unions were represented and come of the largest organisations! among which Otago Labor Council, opposed tho holding of the conference so it cannot be said that tho opinion of Labor _ was expressed by the resolution J he circular letter of the Otago LaborCouncil qnoted above shows that only 16 unions were represented at the meeting on September 28, when tho two resolutions referred to in the letter were passed, and the delegates had no authority to pled«e their unions to the formation of the committee. He:ro the necessity of callinf another _ meeting or. November 9. "The council having seen fit to call particular attention to the fact that the endorsement of resolution No. 2 will carry with it the endorsement of the constitution and platform of the N;ew Zealand Labor party is significant, and indicates that at least some of the members of tho council aro not in agreement with plank 8 of the platform (aepeal of the Military Service Act), because there is nothing else in the platform that is new or that has not been m previous political Labor platforms. Under tha eirenrastsnees. I have detadlsd above, it cannot be raid that anyone has authority to Toie« the opinion of Labor in Ot«,go on the question of military service. or *ny other--lubject, . for that matter. Yet w% find that a manifesto has been sent to Australia by the executive of the New Zealand Labor party advising the workers to vote "No" on the referendum which is to be'taken-on the 28th' irist. It is said v that there are. 18 signatures .to the mani- . f«sto,„. among them being the: names .of Mr J. T. Paul, M.L.C., and MrX Walker,

[M.P. Ae. both of these gentlemen belong t.7 Dunedin it must bo presumed .that .they , profess to be voicing the opinions of the workers of Otago when they nay " the organised workers of- New Zealand are opposed to conscription." The two gentlemen referred to are both highly respected by the rank arid rile in the Labor movement, hut many are asking who gave them authority to speak on behalf of Labor on this question, especially when thev make statements which they would nave difficulty in proving. I have had an opportunity of getting the opinion of a number of men who are in close touch with unionists and workers generally, and they all agree that if a referendum were to bo taken for or against the Military Service Act there would bo found to be an overwhelming majority for it in this district. The question of Compulsory Military Service is_ certainly going to week the' Labor party in Australia, and unless the leaders of the Labor movement in New Zealand are very careful it will have the effect of considerably retarding the formation of a Political Labor party here. ******* SHEARERS- PAY. '" U.0.J..' in his Labor notes in the Wellington ' Evening Post,' savs : " Reports are contradictory aV to the" rates of pav offered and accepted bv shearers. The A.r.U. have demanded ""25s per 100, and the Sheep-owners' Federation have recommended their members U» nav 20s, with a, war bonus of 2s 6d Branches of the A.P.L., including Wellington, have resolved to insist on the rates laid down by the annual .conference; but farmers' organisations contend that the-demands" have not been conceded by all sheep-owners. Jt would appear that," whatever mav happen in isolated cases, 25s is the ruling rate. The attitude of the farmers themselves seems to be that thev do not object to vhe increase—which, after all, does not amount to a very large sum. though it is 25 per cent,—but they do not wish it to become permanent, by agreement. They mwi look foiward, Micy eay. to a possible fall in wool prices after the war. and not commit themselves to too much'/' * * » * * * # "DEVIL'S OWN" AND " GOD'S OWN." At the British Labor Congress on Sn p . tember 7, Mr Ben Tillott (Dockers, London) moved—"That this . congress re«ret the unfair privilege which has' been given b> the .Government to members of the clerical profession by granting thorn exemption from the operations of the Military Service Act. Wo view with rc-ret that a large class of able-bodied men who are engaged in unproductive employment should not be used to better purpose during this critical period. We.call upon the Parliamentary Committee at once to approach the Government with a view to removing this anomaly." He did not wi-dt to make any attack on the clergy, for he bad seen something of their good work it the front; but he protested' agairiet the anomaly of their exemption as "a profession. There were 20.000 able-bodied parsons and clerics in England. The majority of them were at the beck and call of the conscriptionists from the beginning of the war; but when conscriotion came nri" they went through the back doors of Parliament to get exemption. Two hundred theological.students of Bangor thought it would be far better to be "a live parson than a dead soldier. They were not playing the game. The lawyers had created'a '• Devils Own," and it would be far- more to the. credit of the clerical profession if they would create a '• God's Own." Wliv should these men who were so fond of talking about Heaven be so afraid to -o through its sates? He protested against the action of " these cowardly creatures sneaking out of their obligations." Mr A. Law (Spinners-), in seconding the resolution, said that he was a lav preacher in a section of the Church wh'icli had k paid ministry and was not exempted, but lay preachers—working men like himself—in another section of the Church which hadiio paid ministry were exempted. This wns an intolerable'injustice. Mr J. Sexton (Dockers, Liverpool), while not opposing the resolution, protested against Mr Tillotfs speech. There was not a university or training college which had not contributed generously of its men to the army. Why single oiit the clergy ] for attack? There were tome others exempted who were doing a good deal more I mischief. " j Mr C. G. Amnion (Fawcett Association) reminded Mr Tiilett that he himself had done much to make the imposition of conscription easy, by going about the country to attack his own class at> slackers and loafers. As to Mr Law, it was not the business of the congress to help one amateur sky-pilot who had not got exemption to vent his feelings against professional brethren who had. To pass the resolution would bo to approve again the whole system of conscription. Mr G. Milligan (Dockers,.Liverpool) said Mr Tillott must have some private motive in Taising this question, which would create bitterness all over the country. To introduce his anti-clerical ideas into the congress wns a shameful thing, while his seconder was merely a blackleg minister. Tlm resolution said the clergy were engaged in unproductive employment. Well, what did the dockers produce? The production of morals was surely a far nobler employ-1 merit. The resolution was carried bv 1.379,000 votes to 1,200.000. ******* MR HENDERSON'S NEW POST. A cable published in the 'Star' on Wednesday last announced that Mr Arthur Henderson had been appointed Minister of Pensions in the British Cabinet. That fact appeared in every English newspaper at the end of August, The Chelsea Commissioners of whom MiArthur Henderson, M.P., becomes chairman by virtue of his appointment as I'nv-master-General, are the purse-keep*, s of the British Treasury, as far as pension; are concerned. They have to admi-iistc* " fatrate" pensions—i.e., pensions on a definite scale in certain stated cases, but they exercise discretionary power in regard to many cases of injury. As chairman of this Commission, Mr Henderson will he able to' bring his practical experience and business qualities to Lear in supervising pension administration. The new position is by no means a nominal one. The influence of Mr Henderson will bo exerted in the direction not only of humanising the whole business, but also of bringing into play a hard common sense which will not take "too much account of red tape.—Exchange. ******* NOTES. The Railway Officers' Institute have re-., solved to again approach the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants and the- Loco.. Engine-drivers, Firemen, and Cleaners' Association with a view to taking action to have the constitution of the Appeal Board amended and the Ministerial light of veto abolished. •* * * A l>;g Ameiican gramophone company has reduced its working hours from 54 t.'o 44-i without wage reduction. The company states that " after a thorough investigation into the' conditions in our manufacturing department we have concluded that it was the Tight thing to do." They did it before they, were compelled to. * * * • After being out 1 in the cold for several months, the Dunedin Waterside Workers' Union have at last signed tho agreement with_ employers for the higher wages and conditions which were obtained by the Waterside ■ Workers' Federation early in the year. _ It will be remembered that a number of unions, including . Wellington, Dunedin, j.nd Lyttelton, .refused, to ratify the draft agreement owing to tho inclusion of a clause providing'for work after 10 n.m. Subsequently this clause was modified, and the unions gradually came into line. Lyttelton, owing to the special circumstances obtaining at the port, refused to accept the clauso, and ultimately obtained the higher.wages without it. With its application to Dunedin the agreement covers all'ports of any importance.