A MOMENTOUS INQUIRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15922, 7 May 1912, Page 6

A MOMENTOUS INQUIRY.

Fovk members of tho Imperial Government appear to have undertaken quietly a task of almost stupendous Magnitude. Sir Edward Grey, Mr !, <;\<l George, Mr Winston Churchill . : r! Mr Sydney Buxton have been con- ■ '■'. utcd a committee to investigate the prevailing industrial unrest and report to the Cabinet, presumably with a view to legislative action. Wo may assume, that the inquiry will deal with broad principles only, biit even then its scope will be exceedingly wide and it is not easy to understand how the Ministers aro going to do justice to the subject without setting aside for many months most of the ordinary duties of their office*. Probably they will direct their attention first to'the question of tho minimum' wage, which is likely to be tho chief bone of contention among employers and workers in Britain for some years to come. The miners have established a precedent that cannot, be disregarded nnd the Labour Party's national programme includes a demand for a miru-

mum wage of thirty shillings a week for every adult worker. No doubt it was a realisation of the full effect of the miners' Minimum Wage Bill that prompted one prominent Conservative to describe tho measure as "a nerveless surrender to the desperadoes of tho Labour movement." But the adjustment of wages alone will not allay industrial unrest and the Cabinet committee will have to probo far beyond tho surface manifestations if it is to discover tho cause of the discontent that is afflicting tho workers. Probably Mr Lloyd George has his remedy already compounded. His attempts to alleviate the miseries that are caused by unemployment, invalidity and land monopoly show the direction of his political instincts. Mr Winston Churchill, too, will incline towards socialistic measures, whilo Sir Edward Groy and Mr Buxton may be regarded as the representatives of a moro cautious school of thought. The outcome of the deliberations of the four Ministers will bo awaited with very keen interest in all parts of the Empire, and we may be sure that they are approaching their task with a sense of very heavy responsibility.