THE ARBITRATION ACT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13480, 3 July 1907, Page 4

THE ARBITRATION ACT.

s Sir,— I notice that lit a. ArKif^**: ; Court opened its proceedings at '.Na ?" j cently in tno u*ual way. by imohmiLl (campaign of fine, and p ( ,|. ;<l< agai«« » . , number of rentable cities for \»r * breaches of sundry clause* of I hi, •' 1 . si bio " Act. As 1 have before written £ must be some thin* radically and inherent* -! wrong with a Jaw that causes so manv „ th ,l . y , ; wi~o strictly law-abiding people » 0 '( w ' ialmost involuntarily i-rifrin/ers of its ~r " f , ; men is. Mr. Trejwar. Secretary . Lathiur Department. in a !,<: ur „' in \V *' * in plan recently, said that our ' Arbit-ati'on Art mqntr-d fln» i i. 1 !.i„.„,, he th i„ tiie •' way <>[ providing : i,;, labour -toind a -nan. of Ihe profit, of -j,e privMo iud>. ,' trial enterprises of the colon v. ,j„ n ' ; the.-,-. (ratios, miwii; are ail affr the orefit.' ;i hat what about the , n ,i B J| a,'* othVr •n-Ks and roMnm-dmiii..-, £» I j nt on tiio . ''successful conduct of « ktrje industrial w >n- •' 'jcern? Are they prepared to take a *har« ■ ;of these :> 1 -<.» '■ Not 11>"11• 1:. They're no* ■ having any. Tile »app»i u-r-i of this \ (t ■'are fond of reiterating that it Mi'd-ii -, t| H . ' I reasonable il'Tiami; cf canital and labour 1 . and that ul i'u i- fi: a 1 ix-ic n-ima fro,,. (| • Maria Van Dienien ;•> the Mini! i 1 ... j, ■; it ,o'.< The man that «e; U - 4,,,. | N! ,„ V ,' 'where the pineii is. and it K the rnanniac - ; hirers anil employers of labour who aim >> dure qualified to <:i v<> a correct, on;iron ? 11 to the good or e\ d < tl'.-ct of indu-adai comi i pul-ory arbitration. i venture to s,v, there •ii* 'lot' 0110 such v. boo. opinion is worth ant- ~ ?! thins; who would not ah-olnu-h condemn ijt ho whole system fion, ton to hotnnn. It, ■ | has been Mated ov.-r uttii over avaiii that . j strike--. were impe,--ible in hi- colony u». . jder our arbitration law-. Mv own opinion .'from the very first iia> b--en that, giu-i, .J the opportunity, the trade* unions uoiil,] •! " kick over ho (races." whenever it suited .them to do si;. 'litis has happened', us , witness our 'tramway strike if Amldim,). , j and the slaughtermen's .sink'" in ho South i Island. Jim, ,-aiil the arbitration), t.<, the (law will deal fairly with all -ut-fi ca.-ts, lllas it'.' ' Mmpiovciiia\e been hauled' i.,». '• fore the Court all over the colony and titled "'right and left, and forced to pay, or sutler ' forfeiture of propel tv and oilier penalties '! if they did not do so. lint when a ' j slaughterman in Oainaru. one $ the strikers land therefore a bieakei of the law. -ms fx* ••won't pay. Mr. .lustice Williams says the • j law is defective and he can't In? forced to. 'jit follows that if all the other slaughter •'men who did pay tliei. lines had defied ' the law they uouhKlnue j;.'| oil " Su>t ■free." What sort of a law i- that? t . think that all those manufactur. rs and employers who have been fitted and had to i j pay up have a good claim on tins CJt»vorn.meat. for compensation, or to have their i t money refunded; tor surely " what ii i sauce for the goose is sauce for jht* gan- ! del*. " Tile arbitration i-ts again .say; — i" Amend the Law." I say it is hnpele-s ; ; tempting to amend a law like hi-, oven 'if you went tin until Doomsday. It would i still want, amending. The majority of [matters which our compulsory Arbitration | Act was set tip to regulate are already regulated by the eternal law of supply and | demand, and no artificial laws can justly itiiike the place of that. 1 consider the I Arbitration Act. has failed all round. The . | measure of apparent success which has. followed if is not. due to the law, but to the phenomenal prosperity which the colony ; has so long en joyed. When once the tide | turns and a slump sets in (which, of course 110 patriotic colonist wants to see) the whole arbitration "house of cards" will fall to j the ground. This Act has ricted trade. | It. has failed to satisfy employers. It has jfailed to satisfy tin- workers. It has oncouraged interference with natural law. It ; has .sanctioned in many cases preference- to ; unionists, which is a cruel and tyrannous ,1 onactmont, and quite contrary to the la.v i■ of (Jod, which says that, every man, c*>m- ■ 1 potent or incompetent, has tin l inalienable ; j right to earn his living if lie wishes to do ■ so without, going, cap in band, to a trades • union secretary for a permit. It. has limit. > Ed the empkiyiuent of apprentices to such > an extent that, at pro-hut it. is almost, iin- ; possible in some trades and factories to i get a suflieietit supply of competent workers, . And, finally, in spite of all these defects in ■ 1 our industrial laws, the I bin. Mr. Millar 1 talks of imposing more restrictive legisla- . tion still. A J''iti£Kiu)i!.\ IJIiITUN. Auckland, .Tune 25. . I