PEACE IN INDUSTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20827, 20 March 1931, Page 8

PEACE IN INDUSTRY.

WIDER CO-OPERATION.

EMPLOYERS AND WORKERS.

APPEAL FOR NEW SPIRIT. r A powerful and able plea for a greater Spirit of co-operation in industry is made by the late Lord Melchett, formerly chairjnan of Imperial Chemical Industries, Limited, in an article which appears in the February number of the Rotarian. The problem which faces industry at the present day, according to Lord Melchett, is that of diminishing and eventually abolishing the conflict of intorest, which is harmful to all groups involved, and is also harmful to the nations.

In industrial disputes there is an uufortunate tendency to use the terminology t>f war As soon as there is a trade dispute involving the payment of nn extra shilling a week to some worker, ifc is immediately described as an industrial war. This misleads the public, inflames opinion and makes it more difficult for those on both sides to come to a reasonable settlement.

" All Partners in Industry." It is obvious in any successful industry, Lord Melchett continues, that capital and labour alike can receivo only what is shown in the results. Profits cannot be divided when the industry is faced with losses, and good wages cannot be paid when the industry has no assets. - The problem of distributing the results of industry is not a new one, but has been in existence for at least 60 years, although it has not gained much recognition until comparatively recently/ But it is in this respect that the terminology of industry should take an entirely new trend. People who talk 'of masters and men, employer and employed, forgot that they are all partners in industry, and the salvation of modern (industry is to adjust as fairly as possible the giving of awards to the different partners who are entitled to them. In the big industrial undertakings the pitanagement, labour and shareholders are all co-partners, and the first purpose in any business must be the consideration of the lelaiions between theso three To expect to reach the paradisian state of entire satisfaction for all parties would be as absurd as to expect p. family to live forever in a state of freedom from friction. Between those in (industry there are sometimes discussions #ind sometimes disagreements as to the claims of the various parties concerned, but (he recognition of the fact that they are partners and the recognition of the fact that each should bo considered as persons and not merely as commodities, ;will do much to clear the air. A Notable Example.

The old economists used to preach the doctrine of labour being bought and sold in ft) 6 market, but that idea must be abolished. Capital and labour are two complementary forces. Separated, they are equally useless, but combined, the,y are all-powerful. The old conception of antagonism has been largely brought about by the false doctrines of Karl Marx, whose very interesting and able book is limited by the fact that he looks, like most economists, only at one corner of the problem, "lhis idea of antagonism has permeated deeply the minds of many, people and has, therefore, to be (eradicated. The' world is struggling toward the ideal of avoiding war. For this purpose there is the League of Nations, and the States are endeavouring to create arbitration treaties, to promote disarmament among nations, and to build an edifice of successful international co-operation. And yet there are people who seem to think it curious that one should attempt to scd up in one's own country a league of industrial peace. "I have had such a very fortunate experience in my own industrial life, that I should like to extend that experience in other directions,'' Lord Melchetb writes. "In the chemical industry, for over 50 years we have never had .one single day's stoppage because of an, industrial dispute. This is a good record and it is largely due to the fact that the founders of the firm were far-seeing men with humanitarian ideas, ■who regarded those who worked for them as friends and comrades, and who did not wait to be approached, but gave benefits aiid advantages when the occasion offered. They frankly went out to be pioneers in new directions. Valua of Holidays.

"This was tho first firm to introduce an eight-hour day for continuous work in England. It was not considered philanthropy, but something which would be of mutual benefit. We also began tho idea of extending holidays for workmen, because they want holidays just as much as do their employers. Holidays benefit the health and men come back to their jobs happier and work more efficiently than before. I have been brought up with 'that kind of outlook all my life, and I do not believe that we in the chemical" industry have done anything which cannot be extended to any other industry." Jt is necessary and possible, Lord Melchett) continues, to evolve some system by which investigation and arbitration could bo made the normal method of procedure in the case of disputes and disagreements. Discussions would then rculaco strikes and lockouts, which arc brutal and wasteful, and so often entirely inconclusive. In his own industry, for many years, special facilities have been given the workmen to become shareholders in tho business. The scheme has produced great stabilising effects. Workers are much less likely to down tools because tliey know that to do so would not only loso them wages, but would surely damage their own dividends. Friendly Contact Needed.

It is essential to obtain a friendly contact between those who are engaged in tlie policy and organisation of a concorn /and those who arc on tho job in the works. A great deal can be done in this direction by work councils, which try to link, from the bottom to the top, all those engaged in each factory so that I hoy will feel they have representatives in contact with the pcoplo engaged in policy and direction. Ouo of tho difficulties at the present day, in all countries, in dealing with tho conditions of hours and wages, is the fact that instead of dealing internationally men are always dealing nationally. The world must accept a better standard of living, and it would then be possible to stabilise the conditions of industry as they havo never been stabilised before. "There arc such things as intangible assets in the world," Lord Melchett "There are such things as goodwill, but theso cannot be put into balance-sheets. Yet these intangible assets are very real and they liave a more fundamental effect upon the the profits of the industry, the assets of a country, and tho progress of a nation than all the figures of statisticians and economists."