THE LABOUR BILLS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8629, 27 July 1891, Page 6

THE LABOUR BILLS.

MEMORIAL FROM THE EMPLOYERS' ASSOCIATION. The Conference of Delegates of the Employers' Associations throughout the colony which recently met in ; Wellington have forwarded to the Government a memorandum on the Labour Bills. We give the following extracts : — The Conference fully recognised that the success of any enterprise depends very greatly upon the health, prosperity, intelligence, and independence of all engaged therein, and it would exhibit extreme shortsightedness to do otherwise than aid in elevating workmen of all classes to the highest possible standard. But it must be apparent that this end is not to be attained bv harassing the employer or by crushing him so as to deprive him of opportunities to introduce beneficial reforms. If the employer is oppressed by the uncompromising tyranny of labour uiitil his productions cease to yield a profit, the result can only be a reduction of wages; and it must surely be in the interests of the employed to foster industry and commerce rather than cripple them by what is in reality the penal legislation of these Labour Bill. ■ - ■ '■ "' . . In the suggested amendments to the Bills therefore, such alterations only have been made as the representatives of the various trades are aware would press with such undue severity as to interfere with or put a stop to production : whilst at the same time the interests of those employed have been carefully protected, and regulations operating for their benefit have not been opposed. It is by refraining from approaching disputed questions in a hostile spirit, but meeting them with a wise and voluntary cooperation, that mutual benefits will ensue and the solution of the problems which are now unsettling the world will ultimately be attained. Having thus briefly outlined the views of the employers, I will now refer you to the Bills, and the grounds for all the material amendments proposed:— THE TRUCK BILL. . Subsection 2 of clause 6, disallowing the employer to claim against wages for goods supplied to workmen, is struck out, and an amendment proposed in subsection 6. of clause 21. This is intended to meet the case of contracts in remote places, where food would not be procurable except by the contractor himself supplying the men's needs, j or guaranteeing a storekeeper.. It is found, as a rule, that many men come penniless to j the work, and in a number of cases fail to pain on receipt of their wages. I Clauses relating to recovery of debt for stores will operate prejudicially to the men, as storekeepers will decline to give credit where recovery is prohibited. As a matter of fact, contractors are by no means anxious to supply their men, and this Bill seems carefully designed to meet evils which do not exist in this country. SHOP HOURS BILL. This Bill will act seriously in restriction of trade, and to the great detriment and inconvenience of those who receive their wages i weekly. - The proposed addition to clause 3 is to provide for the business done on Christmas Eve and other like occasions. The subject of the Saturday half-holiday was exhaustively discussed at the Conference from every point of view. It was recognised that there should be one half-day closed in each week, and, as it is an almost universal custom to pay wages on Saturday, the closing of shops on that day would not only prevent workmen providing for their weekly requirements on receipt of their wages, but, amongst a too large class, their weekly earnings would be dissipated in public-houses between Saturday and Mon- j ay, leaving their families unprovided with the necessaries of life.

>■; If it is contended that wages might be paid on another day than Saturday, the insuperable objection is that the Saturday pay-day is the outcome of years of the most convenient practice; it is the day preceding the Sunday of rest,; and it would be quite impossible now by a mere Act of Parliament to upset the time-honoured custom so closely observed and so deeply rooted in the minds of the people. In Wellington the butchering trade has solved the difficulty of its own motion, without an Act of Parliament, by closing on Wednesday afternoons owing to the impossibility of closing on Saturday. Thebanks, merchants, Government offices, and numbers of business people who themselves originated the Saturday half-holiday could not possibly observe any other day, and the convenience of the public can only be met by the continuance of the existing system. It may be noted, however, that this large and growing class who have A voluntarily given the Saturday half-holiday will be punished for so doing by being forced by law to give another in the middle of the week. ■ It is important that the day selected should be identical in each provincial district, as it would be invidious to make different days in close adjoining districts. , Clause 13 is struck out, as it carries the assumption that citizens who have presumably been selected as Justices of the Peace from their known probity and conscientiousness are capable of acting in the most corrupt manner. THE FACTORIES BILL. . „ This Bill is irritating, and calculated very largely to frustrate the intentions of the promoters. Whilst employers think it right that workmen should be protected by the State against abuses, the severe penalties with which the ' Bill abounds give it the appearance of a criminal code rather than a measure to regulate industries which benefit the country, and which in an enormous - majority of instances are directed and owned by men who carefully conserve the interests, welfare, and comfort of their servants. Clause 6: "!Names of Inspectors of Factories to be submitted to the Trades and Labour Council before appointment." If evidence were required to demonstrate the E artisan spirit in which the Labour Bills ave been conceived, it is exhibited in this clause, which proposes practically to make the inspector of the employers' factories the nominee of the workmen. It is needless to say that under such conditions factories could not exist, and that those who had the means to employ labour would certainly remove to countries where they were not so restricted, taking with them their capital, their energy and skill, to build up factories elsewhere.

INDUSTRIAL CONCILIATION BILL. The Conference objected absolutely to clauses in this Bill (1) giving the rules of trades unions ; the force of law; (2)_ to the compulsory clauses (3) to the .Colonial Secretary having any function in connection with its working. It may be said that employers are not called upon to consider clauses affecting the employed. The employers, however, regard the interests of employers and employed as largely identical; and it seemed to the. Conference that the employed, quite as much as the employer, require to be protected against the theoretical measures of trade reformers and idealist doctrinaires, whose methods may be mischievous, whilst their sincerity is not called in question. The desirability of attaining a higher and better state of things than exists, even in this country, unsurpassed as it is by any in the world in its standard of living ana comfort, is also fully admitted by employers. . , The Conference was emphatically of opinion that the originators and promoters of these so-called " Labour Bills" fail to recognise the possible limits of attainment, consistent with the continued progress and expansion of the business of this country, and that when restrictions pass a certain limit, whether in respect to the limitation of hours or output, regulation and inspection of factories, custom duties, &c., they operate in the direction of creating monopolies, whilst the increased well-being of the wage-earner is more apparent than real, and the burdens of the occupiers of land are increased. With regard to the clauses in the Bill (60 and 61) affecting the management of the railways, the Conference viewed the proposals contained therein with the greatest alarm. The efficient and economical management of our railways is of the first importance to all classes of producers and traders, and the public generally; and the Conference was unanimously of opinion that the proposed compulsory clause!! will have the effect in practice of taking the management of the railways out of the hands of those who alone bear the responsibility. The proposal to practically put the management of the railways under a hoard, of which some members may be railway servants, is an unhappy retrogression, and there will be no safety for'the public if the control of its most important undertakings is removed from those experienced in tneir management, and placed in the hands of an irresponsible board such as is proposed. The whole principle of compulsion is most strongly objected to, especially where it takes the form of direct or indirect Government interference.

This Bill would have received the support of employers had it allowed of a voluntary settlement of disputes between master and man; but as it stands it is an considered to be an unwarrantable interference with the freedom of the subject and most prejudicial to the progress of trades and manufactures. * employers' LIABILITY' BILL.

Clause 5 and the second paragraph of Clause 6 have been struck out, but with these exceptions the employers see no objection to this Bill.

In conclusion I must add that the evil effect of legislative interference with trade can only pioduce disastrous results, by »a-

troducing elements of uncertainty and want of confidence as to what the future may bring forth. i The present depressed condition of the colony is owing to the feeling of insecurity which has arisen since the late strike, which has entirely stopped the development and enlargement of many industries necessitating the employment of a large amount of labour; and it is to be regretted that legislation does not take the direction of restoring matters to the state of confidence in which the country has hitherto prospered, instead of introducing unnecessary and disturbing • measures, which cannot do otherwise than alarm all who have a real stake in the welfare of the country.—l am, etc., Henry Wright, j Secretary to the Conference.