The Star. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 1911. FARMERS AND THE LABOR QUESTION.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXII, Issue LXII, 2 August 1911, Page 4

The Star.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2, 1911. FARMERS AND THE LABOR QUESTION.

Delivered every evening by 6 o'clock in Hawera, Manaia, Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Mangatoki, Kaponga, Awatuna, Opunake, Otakeho, Manutahi, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea, and Waverley.

During the late conference at Wellington the Farmers' Union delegates gave considerable attention to the labor question. The matter was brought under notice in the first instance by the President, who in his address quoted the expressed belief of the Chairman of the Bank of New Zealand that the activity of the labor unions and their never-ceasing demands were responsible for unwillingness on the part of capitalists to enter upon new enterprises. In a discussion which took place on the closing day of the conference the question was again raised by a resolution asking for an enquiry into the working of the Arbitration Act as it affected the industries of the Dominion. The resolution submitted was as follows:

"That the conference take into consideration the operations of the

Arbitration and Conciliation Act, with reference to its bearings on

the industries of the Dominion, as it is of opinion that it is seriously

retarding their development, and the Government be asked to ap-

point a Royal Commission of practical men to enquire into the operations of the Act."

There was unanimity on several points, but a good deal of difference of opinion as to the wisdom of asking for. a Royal Commission, and ultimately another course was adopted. The speakers, or most of them, dwelt on two or three special objections to the present system. One was that citations came not from the men who worked, but from agitators who were not personally -associated with the industries affected, and had no intention of becoming so. Another was the evident determination in many quarters not to accept the decisions of a Court unless, they were favorable to the demands of labor, an attitude shown by the cancellation of registration. Still another objection was that a very small number of men could engineer and promote a citation, and thereby cause, farreaching dislocation. The Canterbury representatives were particularly strong in their complaints of harassment and embarrassment. Thus one Canterbury representative declared: "A leader of the farm laborers, who was in his dis- : trict last week, had told him that, if the laborers failed to get what they asked, they could affiliate with the general laborers in a huge strike, which would paralyse the whole industry." Generally the feeling of the entire conference was that farmers had a good deal to fear from the operation of the present system, that the cost of production was being increased every year, and that necessarily the cost of food products to the consumer, who already is complaining bitterly, must further increase unless some finality were soon reached. It was generally held that the whole position should be thoroughly enquired into by some independent tribunal which would bring out facts uninfluenced by party feeling. The question was, How could such an enquiry be obtained? The proposal for a Royal Commission was not approved by the majority for various reasons, the principal of which was that it would be asked for in vain. Eventually the conference decided: "That a committee be set up, such committee to be the Advisory Committe of the union, to consider the operations of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, and watch the proposed amending Act now before Parliament, with authority to lay any proposals agreed to by the committee before the Minister for Labor for his favorable consideration." This can hardly be accepted as a satisfactory solution of the difficulty, but nevertheless the committee may be able to get together facts which will compel consideration; and the time would appear to have arrived when there should be some enquiry into the working of the arbitration system and the effect it has had on the position of the worker, on the position of the employer, and the position of industries generally. It is a curious fact that from all three points of view there is more or less adverse criticism. Another | question now ripe for really independent investigation is the co-operative system of conducting public works. Nobody knows the truth about the actual working of that system excepting people who have no duty to speak and people who are politically interested in its maintenance. It is very significant that no private employer, nor any local body so far as we are aware, has considered it good enough to adopt as the result of nearly 20 years' experience of its operations on general Government work. All sorts of rumors get abroad from time to time, but how far they are fact and how far fiction the public do not know, and an independent searching enquiry seems beyond hope.