COURT OF ARBITRATION

Hawera Star, Volume L, 19 December 1930, Page 9

COURT OF ARBITRATION

SUGGESTION OF ABOLITION EMPHATIC PROTEST MADE WAGE .RED ITiOTTONS NO PAN AGE A (By Telegraph—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, Dec. 19. A protest against the proposed abolition of the Arbitration Court and any reduction in wages was made by 700 people at a. meeting in the Civic Theatre last evening. Speeches- setting out the Labour Party’s view on the present economic situation of the Dominion were made by the Mayor (Rev. J. K. Archer) and four Labour members of Parliament. The meeting passed a resolution: “That this meeting of citizens confidently affirms with Mr. Philip Snowden that a reduction in wages is no panacea for trade depression; on the contrary, it aggravates the position by lessening still further the effective demand. What is wanted when trade is bad is to increase the volume of purchasing power. This is the philosophy of Mr. Henry Ford and other leading industrialists.

“This meeting also emphatically protests against the insidious and sustained propaganda by Chambers of Commerce and others against the Arbitration Court. This propaganda lias already had most detrimental effects on trade and industry, as every retailer and manufacturer can testify.”