INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17982, 26 December 1918, Page 9

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.

10 THE BDITOK. Shj—ln your icauing tarticle in today's " Lytoeiton limes" dealing with '* Workers" letter, you state tuat oue of the aims of sane " agitators " saouid tie to woric lor equality oi opportunity. Opportunity tor wnatf To become exif uiere are exploiters thero must be exploited, and your proposal simply amounts to a suggestion tor improving tlio nanaicappuig m the race or me. It will make a keener race, but will, not after,.the fact that usually tnere is only one winner. lour reiererico to me.n who by superior energy and power of organisatuviu liavo bucctwueU' iVnere ou.u.a ...in; failed shows that you arc thinking of inuusDriai conuicions ihat are obsolete. One of the great causes of modern industrial unrest is the lack of personal contact between the employer and tuo ompioyec. One of the great difficulties wiiicii labour organisers encounter wnou trying to organise workers on farms or in small ousiuesses is i that tho workers are " too much under the influence of the hoss." In other words, there is frequently in such cases j a genuine sympathy between, employer ! and employee. In the case, howover, of j most large businesses the real owners of the concern, the shareholders, take ] no part in the management. Ik?, sue- j cess or failure of the concern depends on the efforts of wage Workers from the managing director downwards, and j on those other elements which may bo I grouped together under tho name of " luck." It is in such industries that | tho greatest industrial unrest exists, i and on reading the balance-sheets of many largo concerns, which have appeared recently, I eamiofc bo surprised that there is unrest. Employees in these great industries have-no opportunity of becoming anything but employees, and very few can rise above tlm lower rungs of the ladder. Even if all the employees were equally qualified for tho position, only ono managing director is "required. Increased efficiency 'on tho part cf the individual only benefits him so long as he Tias a partial monopoly of that efficiency. Increase it all round, and the on y result is keener competition. Take the case oi tho much-abused coal miner working on a tonnage rate. If one individual by hard work increases his output, his earnings are increased. If, however, all miners greatly increased their output, the first result would be that the bins would get full, shipping would not be available, and thero would bo an enforced holiday. If more, shipping were provided, T'io market would probably become glutted, the price of coal would be forced down by the competition of the mine-owners, and the miners would thon bo told that owing to the unremuneratiro prico of coal they must accept lower wages. If they refused, then a period cf idleness would enable the mine-owners to dispose of their accumulated stocks at an enhanced price, and sooner or later tho miners would be forced by hunger to accept their employers' terms. This kind of thing lias happened often, and there we have tho reason why the working-class movement everywhere haa become a Socialist movement. The Employers' Association pathetically laments thai as soon as the employers find they can trust some Labour leader, tho workers throw their leader overboard. Surely that disposes of the suggestion that discontent is manufactured'by the Labour lenders or "agitators." The Socialist Labour Party e,vervwhere is tho only party that has a definite policy of social reconstruction, and tho signs of tho times seem to indicate that very shortly the breakdown of the capitalist system will giro Labour the opportunity of carrving out its poiicy.--! am, etc..

C. MORGAN WILLIAMS Ohoka, December 21.