NATIONAL SERVICE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXVII, Issue LXXVII, 31 July 1918, Page 8

NATIONAL SERVICE.

AND LABOR'S ATTITUDE

SIDELIGHTS ON A CONFERENCE. (Special to the Star.) WELLINGTON, July 30. There appears to be a perpetual feud between the moderate elements in the trades union movement and the leaders of the Federation of Labor. One phase of this antagonism is discl.sed by the Railway Review, gives a new version of the recent conference of Labor organisjJtions called by the United Federation of Labor -for the purpose of protesting against the conscription of labor under the powers of the national service clause of last session's Finance Act. The railwaymen's paper states that two written* invitations came to the A.S.R.S., and it was resolved to'send the Society, secretary, .Mr M. J. Mack, to represent the big organisation. "It quickly became evident," says the Review, "that a section who ha,d come to the conference with -their minds made up to a certain course of action were greatly concerned over the presence of Mr Mack, who represented a kind of unknown factor to them, inasmuch as he had not publicly committed himself to wholesale condemnation of the Government's plans before they had been put fully forward." The railwaymen's paper states that certain extremists at the conference, who in a general way support a reform in voting methods, opposed taking a vote on tho basis of membership of unions represented, on the ground that they were not going to be bludgeoned by the- big organisatoiu. Mr WE. Parry asked leave to move a motion that the presence of Mr Mack .was inimical to the best interests of organised labor, inasmuch as he had been a member of a, military service board. This motion was read, but ruled out of order, though Mr Mack was not given an opportunity of putting his side of the case. When he was refused a hearing he walked out of the conference. "But the fire-eaters," continues the Review, "though they had succeeded in getting the conference largely to themselves,, so far as voting was concerned, by disposing of eight thousand men at least, found that they had to reckon with several fair-minded delegates who had not been pushed out. Evidently they heard- enough frank talk about their "tactics to make them ashamed" of their position, for the conference passed a resolution inviting Mr Mack to return. He did, <-*■**;,iiut was again refused thc'rlght of putting his views in j-.eg.-Ird to the motion. He could well have said that the more any union was opposed to the Military Service Act the more it ought to regard as important the presence of Labor representatives on the administrative boards^ for whether they oppose the Act or not, trade unionists are being called Mlp for service, -and these boards constitute their only protection against undue; hardship." The journal goes on to criticise the inconsistency of this protest motion, in.yiew of. the fact that two members of the conference, the Hon. J. T. Paul (who jg chairman of the Labor Party), and Mr S. Boreham, were nominated for positions on the boards by ' the Otago Trades and Labor Council, while the e*S=presideht of the Federation of Labor, Mr P..^C. Webb, was consulted by the Government and nominated as a member of the Military Service Board Mr Goodall, of Greymouth. Finally the Review quotes from a pamphlet written by Mr Robert Semple to show that this opponent of national service actually wrote a lengthy plea for complete national service in war time, urging a national-stock-taking, the prevention of profiteering, and the placing of all citizens on t_e same economic level.