NOTES AND COMMENTS ON LABOUR QUESTIONS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13226, 11 July 1906, Page 7

NOTES AND COMMENTS ON LABOUR QUESTIONS.

.' . ! IJT AKTI = A.V. '" '■ BscumtATipxa; at the Sydney Labour Bar- j during May *'tnw an increase in . the number of men seeking work. ... .:,.•.:.. j , ■— ■■'. ■■ i Mr. R. F Way visits Wads! this week j and will in all probability organise a ! branch of the Independent Political Labour ] League in thai centre. ■•■■'■ i The New South Walts Labour Bureau re- j ports that labour is scarce in some'" of the i country districts owing to the good wages I earned by rabbit trappers. "' , j Tom Mann says 5000,-male-wage-earners';! are out of work at- the present" time ■ in i Melbourne, and (hat 50.C00 'people in Vic- I toria are existing below poverty Sine. , i The concert organised by the Operative ; ; Bootmakers' Union in aid of Sergt.-Major ■ Morgan eventuates this (Wednesday) even- I ing. A first-class .programme of vocal and | ; instrumental music is provided. '.■'.' | Broken Hill " mineowners re having a ; slack time. Seven hundred members of "the i A.M.A. are registered on the books as I workload, and the total number of unemi ployed in the Silver City is t'stiihaAed at | 1400. ,';"..:.. *, There are now over a million and a-half trade unionist!) in Germany, and, as in England, every one of them organised for political action. :-' Intelligent workmen everywhere are laughing to scorn the old foolish cry of ."No politics in the union." The German Engineers' Trade Union ("Der deutsche , Metaliarbe iterverband") tops the poll for members, having a membership ol 300,000, and it* journal a circulation of 307.000 copies, livery man of them well chilled. The Gnmdiggers' Union is gradually organising and gathering the diggers into the union. There is now scarcely a gumfield without its branch of the union, and the union will in the near future exercise a powerful influence over the industry and all connected with it. ' ) A meeting of delegates to consider what steps shall bo taken to celebrate next Labour Day is called for Thursday, the 19th inst. The notice is very short and a number of the unions will be unable to appoint delegates to attend. Formerly about six weeks' notice was given, as some of the unions only meet once a month. A.« soon as the award is delivered in the Carters' dispute the Auckland Carters' Union intends to call a public meeting of all employees connected with or affected by the award so that the men will be enabled to have the award explained to them, and so understand the conditions under which they, have to work. Both union and non-union will be invited, The Japanese official Year Book shows the daily wages paid in Japan for skilled labour to be: Carpenters Is o|d, plasterers Is coopers lljjd', shoemakers le oj?d, harness-makers Is Id, dyers 7d, blacksmiths Is OJd, paperhangers 7d, confectioners 7d, typesetters 7-{d, printers 7£d, farm labourers, for men and 4d for women : maJo weavers 7d', women weavers 4d.

The proposal laid before the Auckland City Council by Mr. Gregory it* one that deserves the earnest and favourable consideration of the Council. The Council lias the necessary authority to undertake the erection and maintenance of workers' homes. Good as the homes are that : are about to be erected at Ellerslie by the Government, thej* are totally unsuited for a large section of workers under existing conditions of transit. This section of the workers is entitled to the benefits of workmen's homes, and if the present Council was to undertake the work they would do /.something -of a practical amd beneficial nature.

Work in Auckland' has been very broken during the last week or two owing to the inclement weather. The building trade is good for the period of the year,. there' being fewer men unemployed than if usually the caw? for this month, though full time is not being made by the majority of the workmen. "The,, furniture trade is on the upgrade, pa/inting slack, order tailoring onieC though an improvement is expected shortly, engineering quiet, boilermaking fairly busy, moulding fair. Work, is fairly plentiful on the wliaa-ves, though there always seems to be surplus of labour offering for this class of employment. The unskilled labour market is over-supplied, quite a number of men having left work in the country and returned to town for the winter.

The trade unions of New Zealand are unanimous in expressing their confidence in Mr. Tresear and his administration of the Labour Department. The unions bold that whatever views Mr. Tregear holds on social and economic questions do not ill any way disqualify him in the execution of his duties. In speaking on the manifesto of the Employees' 'Association a prominent Labour man in the South said that it would be quite as reasonable for a petition to be presented asking for the removal of the Chief Justice. Sir Pobert Stout, owing to the' strong views held by His Honor on the liquor ouestion as to ask for the removal of Mr. Tregear owing to the socialistic views held by him. This view is strongly supported by. the local unionists, and should there be any likelihood of Mr. Tregear' removal taking place there will be a storm of indignation from the workers from one end of New Zealand to the other.