MANY SPEAKERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22402, 24 April 1936, Page 17

MANY SPEAKERS

HOURS AND WAGES ARBITRATION COURT SYSTEM DIVERGENCE OF VIEWS [BY TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER] WELLINGTON, Thursday Two maiden speeches figured in the second reading debate on the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment Bill, which*was continued in the Honse of Representatives to-day. Those speakers were Mr. C. L. Hunter (Government —Manawatu) and Dr. D. G. McMillan (Government —Dunedin West). Altogether ten speakers took part in the debate during the day. *An assurance that it was not the intention of tho Government to impose harassing conditions on employers, but to provide the people with greater opportunity for leisure and with more of the good things of life, was given by Mr. Hunter. The virtual abolition of the Arbitration Court, he said, hud opened the door to exploitation and some unscrupulous employers had not been slow to take advantage of it. He did not think any decent-minded employer wanted to see tho Court abolished. It gave protection both to the employee and to the employer. Farming Conditions "I realise," said Mr. Hunter, "there are certain industries to which a 40hour week will not be very suitable and the bill gives the employers the right to state their objection before tho Court. Mr. W. J. Poison (Opposition — Stratford): Why should the farming industry be put in that harassing position ? "I do not think it is a harassing position at all," Mr. Hunter said " There is room for improvement in farming conditions. 1 am not blaming the farmer. He has not got the money with which to provide better wages and conditions. It is the system that is at fault. We are going .to give the. farmer an opportunity to pay good The lack of elasticity in the Arbitration Court was criticised by Mr. H. G. Dickie (Opposition—Patea), who said that fault would be aggravated by the bill. The representatives of the workers and the employers on the Court took their own natural view of matters, but the judge of the Court was frequently in the position of having to grant increases or being responsible for an industrial upheaval. Functions o! the Court "The judicial functions of the Arbitration Court have given rise to a ridiculous situation which has not arisen in the legal system of any other British country," said Mr. S. G. Hol•land (Opposition—Christchurch North). "The Court makes its own laws and awards. It is the Court in which its own awards are enforced. It gives interpretations of its own awards and laws and there is 110 appeal beyond the Arbitration Court itself. "I am not here to defend the unscrupulous employer, but I do advocate a wage as high as industry can afford and conditions for the workers as good as the industry will allow. I would liKe to see a rate of wages and a get of conditions which would remain something like constant during trade fluctuations." An assertion that the low wages ruling during the depression had had the effect of indirectly increasing the rate of maternal mortality was made by Dr. D. G. McMillan (Government — Dunedin West). The bill was a first step toward the reduction of the maternal death rate. The next step would be the provision of a cheaper maternity service and that would follow naturally. Tho debate was interrupted by the adjournment.