ARBITRATION COURT CRISIS

Evening Star, Issue 17765, 13 September 1921, Page 7

ARBITRATION COURT CRISIS

BUSINESS DISLOCATED. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S RULING, DEFECTIVE CONSTITUTION. The last netfs yesterday was that Mr M'Cullougli had consented to accept renomination till a successor could bo elected. In the meantime, the sitting of the court at Auckland fixed for ) Thursday has been indefinitely postt poned, and a lengthy opinion is published from the Attorney-General by which it appears that the court cannot he constituted without tho presence of Mr M'Cullough so long as he continues to he the nominated member, unless he is disabled from attendance.. ATTORNEY-GENERAL'S* STATEMENT. The Attornoy-Oeneral has handed to tho Press the following statement, bearing upon the constitution of the Arbitration Court and Mr M'C’ullough's resignation as a member of that body: The Court of Arbitration consists of three members appointed by the GovernorGeneral ; one member is a judge, and the other two arc the nominated members, appointed by the Governor-General, one upon the recommendation of the industrial unions of employers, and the other on the recommendation of tho industrial' unions of workers. When the industrial unions of employers and of tho workers respectively are invited to make a recommendation the Governor-General selects four from the persons so nominated —two from tho persons recommended by the unions of employers, and two from the persons •recommended bv tho unions of workers. The Governor-General thou appoints one of the two in each case to bo the nominated member of the court, and tho other to be the acting nominated member of the court. The acting nominated member is only authorised to act as a mdmber of the court in place of the nominated member if the nominated member is “unable bv reason of illness or other cause to attend any sitting of The court on the day fixed for same, and it is likely that he will bo unable to attend any sitting of the court within seven davs after the day so Air M'Cullough is at present the nominated member, who was sc’ected by the Governor-General from tho persons nominated by the industrial unions _of workers. For reasons which are immaterial to this statement Mr M'Cullough determined to resign that position: but, with the object of obviating, as far as possible, a dislocation of the court s business consequent on his resignation, he sent it in to the Governor-General in the form that it was to take effect from a day to be named by the Governor-General If it had been possible to duly constitute the court by the presence of the acting nominated member (Mr M. J. Reardon), in the place of Mr M'Cullough, much inconvenience to the court and to tho public would have been avoided by the form of resignation used by Mr M'Cullough. Procurement of new nominations from the industrial unions of workers of a member to replace Mr M'Cullough, and the selection by the Governor-General from the persons so nominated of the new nominated member involves a cl o'a v probably of some five weeks, during which the court, not being fully constituted, cannot sit. The Government had anxiously to consider whether that inconvenience could effectually be avoided by tho. temporary substitution, under the authority _of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. of Mr Reardon for Mr M'Cullough, and greatly regrets it Ms unable to advise that course. It has devolved upon the Government to advise His Excellency as to the date from which Mr M'Cullough’s resignation shairtake effect. The only purpose of advising that that date should be postponed beyond tho date of the receipt of resignation would bo to keep the court still constituted of three members, and to allow Mr Reardon to sit as the acting nominated member during the interval. That means that the question before the Government was reduced to a single question : Whether the terms of the Act would authorise an acting nominated metnber to sit under such circumstances? That is a question of law. upon which, necessarily, I hare had to form a separate and individual opinion. As the principal law officer of the Crown. I have been unable to ’advise the Government that during the period since the date when Mr M'Cullougn sent in his resignation, and any clalefrom which that respiration should take effect, Mr M'Cullough ~ is “unable by reason of illness or other cause to attend any silting of the court, on a day fixed for same,’’ Mr M'Cullough is, in fact, able to sit. but unwilling to sit. Anv other interpretation of the words of the Statute would enable anv nominated member to abstain during the whole term of office from sitting, and to substitute for himself the acting nominated metnber, and I am quite satisfied that such cannot ho the true interpretation of the language of'the Statute. In consequence, I have felt bound to further advise Cabinet that the postponement, of the acceptance of Mr M'Cullough's resignation would have no effect other than to prolong tho period of dislocation of the court until Mr M‘Cu!lou.crh’s successor can bo nominated and appointed, inasmuch as tho court cannot be constituted without the presence of Mr M'Cullough himself, so long as Mr M'Cullough continues to be the nominated member, unless Mr ■M'Cullough is disabled from attendance. With regret, therefore, tho Government has been forced to the conclusion that Mr M'Culloueh's resignation must be accepted as from the date when it was tendered, and that nominations from the industrial unions of workers must bo taken, and that the Governor-General must be later advised to select two names from the persons so nominated, one to be a member of the court in place of Mr M'Cullough i

and tbs other to be the acting nominated member. The casual'vacancy occasioned /by Mr M'Cullough’s resignation creates a vacancy not merely in his office as the nominated member of the court, but also in the tenure of the position of the acting nominated member, held at present by Mr Reardon. The Act requires an amendment in * this respect. There should be' due provision for the continuity of the court, and it must not be possible in future;;that the business of the court ehopld be'delayed for a long period by the death or resignation of one of its members. SEAMEN'S ATTITUDE. The- Seamen’s Executive Council, through Mr W. T. Young, general secretary of the federation, has passed the following resolution, a copy of which has been forwarded to Mr J. Reardon “ That this council expresses its anpreciation of the action of Mr J- A, JTCullough in resigning from the position of workers’ representative in the Arbitration Court for the reason which he staled, and endorses the resolution, passed by the recent unemployment conference asking the deputy representative not to take the seat, and recommending oragnised Lhaor not to nominate any other person than the previous occupant of the position.” In a covering letter. Mr Young deplores | the action of Mr Reardon in seeking nomination, and states that the council cannot recommend him to seamen,