THE LABOR MOVEMENT

Evening Star, Issue 16463, 29 June 1917, Page 5

THE LABOR MOVEMENT

[By Yeikban. Brief contributions on matters with reference to the Labor Movement are invited. , ' STATE v. PRIVATE ENTERPRISE. ' Since its inauguration tho Queensland! toth Insurance Office has fully justified the aost sasjuins anticipations of those responsible for starting it. It Is stated that tho Commissioner in charge is accepting fire and nuscellaneous accident risks at 20 per cent, below the charges of private companies priorvi- <f tal>lißl >njent of ths State Office. The publio have not been slow in, responding to if- 6111 *° patronise the State Office, which belongs to themselves. It is intended to divide the profits among policyholders, so the saving to those taking out policies may be more than 20 per cent. Tho result of the Government competition has been that some of the private companies have expressed an intention of allowing the same bonus as the Government are doing; but, os a whole, they have not yet committed themsolves to ' this policy. The State Office has been- only a short time In existence, but, as showing how the business has increased, the staff have grown to a strength of 120 at the head office and branches. These aro all kept busy, and o great deal of extrn work will be entailed by tho administration of the Workers' OompenBation Act Amendment Act, 1916, which comes into force on July 1. Payment of claims for immediate relief made through the clerks of petty sessions, has proved a complete success, thereby avoiding tedious delays, and sometimes great distress, to widows and orphans of men who have been killed and left their dependents with no other assets. Up to the present, between ■ 6eyen and eight thousand claims have been dealt with in this way, relief being afforded m a few days instead of perhaps many weeks under tho old system. Under the new system there are very few complaints of delay, and when these are sifted it is gonerally found that the fault lay with the claimant. .When tie Government started their insurance scheme the companies asserted that it wag impossible for any- single office to handle oil the workers' compensation work in the State. The answer to that is that the State Office has issued 40,000 policies of this nature, and that of these 20,000 wero issued in tho a first month of operations. Another enormous advantage under the Queensland Compensation Act is the readiness with wlrich claims are settled. Instead of having to wait sometimes for months be- , fore a case can be heard (as is the ease in New Zealand), a large proportion of tho olaimants for compensation simply hand their claims to the Public Ourator, and he represents them in effecting a settlement. Often a few minutes' conversation over tho telephone between the Curator and the Commisv sioner results in a settlement and immediate payment of a claim, with practically no cost to tho claimant. Besides greatly facilitating settlements, this system gives relief at once to those who may be in dire need of aid. The Queensland Labor Government have placed tho relief of the widow, the orphan, and the suddenly destitute under the adimnistration of a department the prime object of which is to serve the interests ,of the whole people humanely and in accordance with the requirements" of advanced public policy. Mr Ryan (Premier of Queensland), on being aeked for his views on the political situation, made some very importap.t statements. Referring to the entry~of tLe Government into tho field of State enterprise, the Premier said that it had been most satisfactory. " The most striking success," he said, "has been the State stations scheme. The Government now own holdings of a total area of 10,581 square' miles, carrying 128,600 head of stock. Then there are the butcher shops. There are four State shops in Brisbane—namely, those at Roma street, Fortitude Valley, Woolloongabba, and Paddington. We have three shops in Rockhampton, and one each at Maryborough and Townsville, and arrangements are practically complete for the opening of a shop in Gympie. Steps are also being taken with the object of establishing shops at Toowoomba, Bundaberg, Mount Morgan, and other important centres of the State. Our policy," continued the Premier, by way of explanation, "i 3 not to destroy private enterprise altogether in the sphere of retail butchery, but rather to practically iemonstrate by our own shops that the prices may be reduced, and at the same time keep .control over the prices charged by private butchers. The people must bear in mind that not only are they getting cheap meat at the State butcher shops, but also that, if these shops had not been established, the private butchers would be charging prices far and away higher than they are_ now charging on account of State competition. The establishment of these v shop3

was stoutly opposed by the Tories, and one J, of their first acts, if they were returned to \ power, would be to abolish them. The workers, in my opinion, axe beginning to realise • that the fight ahead of them is largely a fight to maintain the advantages which they have already gained from Labor legislation, and once thev realise that fact a great deal of the apathy which has been displayed recently will be speedily removed." * * f * * *. * THE I.W.W. In tho course of a long statement regarding labor matters generally, Premier Ryan also had something to say with regard to the I.W.W. "We all 'know," he said, "that nothing is further from the truth than the assertion that the Labor party arc dominated by tho I.W.W. The policy of the Labor party is diametrically opposed to that of the I.W.W. The Labor party's policy is one of progress and production by means of legislation. Their policy makes for the contentment of the people. Tho policy of the I.W.W. is one which has developed principally in the United States of America. It Is a policy of despair, and consequently nothing that makes for tho contentment of the people suits its aims. Large, numbers of •workers in America, through the corruption that existed thero in politics, gave up all hope of accomplishing reforms through political action, and henco the I.W.W. was formed. It is very much more in the interests of the I.W.W. that the Liberate should bo in power than that the Labor , party should hold office, because with the Liberal FusionMs there is a much better chanco of discontent arising in the ranks of the workers, and the operation of despair could then be better developed. The greatest obstacle in the way of the advanco of 1.W.W.-ism is the Labor party's policy of reform through political action, and the settlement of industrial disputes by arbitration. u "l may concluded the Premier, "that, in my opinion, there has been no time in the history of Australia and the Labor movement in Australia when it has been more necessary for the workers to etand truo to the ideals of tho Labor party. Tho > Labor movement is not a selfish movement. i It is not a movement that looks merely to tho advantage of to-day; it looks also to tho future. Therefore, it behoves the people to \ realise the responsibilities that rest upon them, for themselves and their ohildren. They must Btand united, determined to achieve victory in the cause of humanity against the forces of selfishness and capitalism which are arrayed against them." THE WAGE SYSTEM. Many people aro speculating as to what is to bo tho condition of the workers after the war. There eeem3 to bo a widespread opinion that we will be faced with tremendous industrial troubles. I am indebted to ' John Bull's Register' for the following extracts from an address by Mr W. Mellor, secretary of the National Guilds League:— "The wago system with all its tyranny must go. It has produced nothing but bitter strife between workers and owners j it has meant inefficiency and waste; it has taken away the possibility of a full life from countless workers; it has raised an army of unemployed, arid helped to create thousands of uneinployables; it has delivered tho worker over to; the bondage of tho machine, and has made Him a cog; it has ,of necessity produced a race of slaves. Even the capitalists, appalled at the results, are to-day talking of . the need for taking Labor into partnership, whilst the Collectivist of the old school look 3 tfitb kindly eyes upon schemes for some form »f producers' control. All aro realising'"that Ihe function of trade_unionism is something bigger and more important than they have hitherto believed. The producer has been discovered-; and, even more important still, the producer has found himself. Six years ago ho asked for simple nationalisation; today; with the lessons of France and South Africa before him, bo Is reaching forward to joint partnership with the State. It is hero that bis demands link themselves up with the ideal of" national guilds. ."National guildsmen maintain that the wage eyistcm can ; be ended and tho world set free by a method that is simple and in the direct line of evolution. Recognising that there are both buyers and makers of all commodities :, and services, and that upon the creation, of a balance of power between these two interests depends the stability of the commu-r-ij7* t,le y wor k for 'the establishment of self-government in industry through a system of national guilds working .in conjunction with the State." Like OoUeotivfcrta, they

would have the ownership of the community's wealthy vested in the State; Uko the Syndicalists, they believe that in the actual management of industry the right of tbo producer must be supreme. But they reject as partial and ineffective the solutions alike of Syndicalism and of Collectivism. The reason ia obvious. To tho Colleotivist and to the Syndicalist they put this question: 'lf there is no conflict of interest, no difference js the point of view, botvrcen consumer and producer why do you mutually distrust each otnors schemes?' If producer and consumer arc tho same, it mattors not a jot which scheme is accepted. As they are not, it makes all the difference. There is a producers point of view and thero is a consumers point of view, and if our aim be equality and a stable community, then both niy/it bo accorded recognition. National guildsmen hold that freedom must obtain in the workshop if it is to obtain in tho city, mid they also hold that the workshop and the city aro not tho same. Man is both a citizen and a workor. To deny him either as a worker or as a citizen is to curtail his development and to limit his freedom.** Mr Mellor asks tho question: In it possible to form and work those national guilds? and answers his own question thus: "The machinery from which the guilds can bo created lies ready at hand; the men who will conduct the guilds are already there. Out of the existing trade unions and professional associations will grow the guilds of the future. By internal reorganisation by the adoption of tho principle of industrial unionism, by the breaking down of barriers between craftsmen and oraftless men, by the linking up of hand workers and brain workers, the transformation will be accomplished. A trade union can no longer be regarded merely.ns an association of wage-earners for the bettering of conditions; it will have to be looked upon as an association of workers for the control of industry. No ono is satisfied with capitalism as it is; no one loves the servile State that so rapidly approaches. The alternative is national guilds. Industrial democracy is the solution to the problems of freedom, and industrial democracy can arise only from trade unionism."