THE BASIC WAGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19129, 22 September 1925, Page 7

THE BASIC WAGE.

RISE IN NEW SOUTH WALES. THE FORTY-FOUR HOUR WEEK. [FKOH OlJIt OWN CORRESPONDENT.] SYDNEY. Sept. 10. The fixing of the new basic wage at £4 4s per week for adult male 3 in New South Wales, and at £2 2s 6d for adult females, lias not been joyously acclaimed either at the Trades Hall oar among the big body of employers. Tho amounts represent an increase only of 2s per week for males and Is for females, and while, with characteristic human weakness, the workers would liko a little more, the employers view tho increase with some little disquiot in face of the added burden which has shortly to be shouldered under the proposed 44 hour legislation. That burden they will probably pass on to the public. But that is their attitude. Tho cost of building will advance with the shorter hours and increased wages, and there will be a disposition to raise rents, although there is now a distinct leaning on the part of the Fair Rents Court to bring rents down, frequently to such an extent as to leave landlords staggered. The whole thing will probably resolve itself into the old story of tho dog chasing its tail, or what is more commonly called, tho vicious circle. The 44 Hours Bill will be ono of the first measures introduced by tho Government. Tha opposition in Parliament to tho shorter hours, as revealed by the Address-in-Reply debate, appears to be largely on the ground that it will place manufacturers and the State generally at a disadvantage economically, in competition with other States, notably Victoria, which work the longer hours." If the short hours aro Australian-wide in their application, the opposition to the proposal will lose not a little of its force. Tho Government, however, has made it one of its vital plank?, and will not be thwarted by the opposition to it. The fact that one of the very few independents in the House has pronounced himself typically Labour in his sympathies, has strengthened the Government's position.