The Star FRIDAY, JULY 28, 1922. TRADE UNION BOOKS AND ACCOUNTS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 28 July 1922, Page 4

The Star

FRIDAY, JULY 28, 1922. TRADE UNION BOOKS AND ACCOUNTS.

Delivered every evening by 6 o'clock in Hawera. Manaia, Normauby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Margatoki, Kaponga, Awatuua. Opunake, Otakeho, Manutahi, Alton, Hurleyville, Patea, Waverley, Mokoia, Whakamara, Ohangai, Merwuere, Fraser Road, and Ararata.

Mr. V. H. Potter, member for lloskill, caused Labour members of the House to "sit up and take notice" when he asked the Prime Minister on Tuesday if he would bring down legislation making it compulsory for the Alliance of Labour and similar organisations to have their books and accounts audited by the Government auditor with a view to protecting the interests of the workers contributing to the organismg1 fund. Mr. Potter stated, in reply to a question put by Mr. Holland to the Prime Minister, that the Arbuckle case showed the necessity for the innovation.

This remark brought several interjections from the Labour benches. Mr. Massey said that it was amusing to see how interested members were in the question. To show How many are the levies made upon some trade unionists we quote the following statements from the evidence- given by Mr. Peter O'Rourke, secretary and treasurer of the Miners' Federation, at the triai of Arbuckle: "The federation consisted of an unlimited number of members of the Coal, Gold, Shale, and Quarry Workers' Unions. The- federation received certain moneys from these unions. There were ISew Zealand dues amounting to 3-Jd per member per week. Is per member per quarter for the delegates' fund, and (id per member per year for affiliation to the Alliance of Labour. In addition, they shad to pay whatever levies were decided upon by the federation for assisting men out on strike, or those who were victimised. There was also a hon-se fund—a levy of 7s 6d per member for the purchase of a house for the secretary of the federation to live i«. Arbuckle was the secretary at tlrat time. A levy ©if 1-Jd per cent, on wages was struck for the Broken Hill miners by the Australian Federation, and this was endorsed by the New Zealand Federation. Later the levy was increased to 1\ per cent. All these moneys were forwarded to the secretary of the New Zealand Federation, and were supposed to hare been paid to the federation's credit in the Te Aro branch of the Bank of New Zealand." It will be seen that the totar" tax imposed upon the members of the unions forming the Miners' Federation amounts to a considerable sum, apart from the subscriptions paid to the unions, and surely there should i be a guarantee that it is spent for the purposes for which ft is raised. Large sums of money are raised by levies on unionists each year, and they must reduce their earnings very considerably. A balance sheet of the Miners' Federation some four years ago showed (we ! write from memory) tha£ of about £6000 raised for the period covered by the balance sheet 2 per cent. (£120) was"aciually spent for the direct benefit of the miners who had found the money, and those benefits included funeral expenses. The rest of the money was spent mainly in paying officials— ; Arbuckle was one—in management expenses of the federation, in legal expenses, and in contributions to the Maoriland Worker. The writer pointed out to four minors the meagre return j icceived and the extraordinary expenses i of management, and suggested that it looked as if a thorough inquiry should 'be urged. The men, who were suiprised that a balance sheet should have got into the hands of an outsider, admitted that it looked to' them as if there was ; something radically wrong somewhere. , They had never seen a balance sheet i reduced down to a percentage basis. and they said that they were surprised to find tha£ they were only receiving £2 in each £100 back in benefits. That was only one case which one outside of the unions happened to come across, and no doubt, were the whole of the balance sheets of the unions and federations of unions which are included in the Alliance of Labour made public, there would be some interesting disclosures. But, apart altogether from the methods and expenses of management of these organisations, there is the question of whether money collected from a miner, who is, say, a Liberal, should be used either directly or ( indirectly for supporting the Parliamentary labour Party in its electioneering. It should be borne in mind that a member of a' union in the Miners* Federation is compelled to pay whatever levies the Federation may decide. A strike was once duo to the failure of a few of the miners to pay a levy called by the federation to support the Australian shale workers. A few men in the West Coaft mines refused to pay the levy, and a strike occurred and lasted for about three weeks. We think that the majority of the unionists would welcome a compulsory Government audit of the. books and accounts of the organisations to which they have to belong under our1 system of unionism, which is practically compulsory unionism. ] n Great' Britain trade union books and amounts arr si^ert, tn Government audit, so. wTiv til- 3 tn'e Labour members in the' W-hc-a Wn™ «.«, excited over Mr. Potter's question?