THE RAILWAY CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 9269, 3 August 1893, Page 5

THE RAILWAY CONFERENCE.

• ■ HV TELEGRAPH.—SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT. J Wellington, Wednesday. A DEPUTATION from the Amalgamated Employee-* Society have urged before the Premies that the recent Railway Conference was not representative. They averred that the recent conference had consisted of five stattonmastera with two extra votes, one tratlie inspector with an extra vote, one yard foreman, two clerical men, 14 vote* against four wages men who were nor. given extra votes, and one doubtful. At Christchurch a general meeting of society and non-society men was held. The chairman said the meeting was only for those in favour of tho scheme, and the bulk of those present left the room, but a few attended a subsequent meeting, and at it a committee was appointed. Only thirteen attended a meeting called by the chairman of this committee to elect tho delegates. At Auckland the men had only a few hours' notice, and no time to consult each other. TheOtago delegates were appointed at a meeting of 30. Nine were present at Invorcargill, 10 at I'almerston, and 25 at Oamaru, 11 of whom voted for a man who was told that ho could not go. Out of 4402 employees therefore only 100 attended all the meetings. The Society desired an insurance scheme, but claimed that tho men should have the right without coercion or persuasion of officers to express their opinions on it. When it heard of the conference it, endeavoured to have it postponed, and when it failed in this submitted the names of six employees as delegates to the conference, but "for this the consent of the Commissioners was nob obtained, the reply being that large meetings had already been hold. The men wore canvassed to obtain signatures to the petition, for in many cases it had been lying for two or three days without result, until the officials canvassed the men.