The N. Z. Times WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1909. WORK FOR WORKERS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 6745, 17 February 1909, Page 4

The N. Z. Times

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1909. WORK FOR WORKERS

TCMH WHICH IS iMOOItPoniTKD THR "WXUiIHPTOS INDKPKHDBKT." E6TABLISH3D 18*6.

In a goneral sense any meeting of citizens called to consider the question of unemployment deserves to be regarded seriously, for the problem it desires to approach is a really, pressing one and of fundamental importance to society. Unfortunately, such gatherings are confined to those occasions of depression which occur periodically in all countries through dislocation of the money market. When " times arc good" do one thinks of employment ever being scarce again. Everyone has sufficient for the day's requirements—none are concerned with the evil spectre of hard times. Unemployment is one of those social phenomena about ■which comparatively little is known beyond its actual existence. Its causes have, never been made the subject of special study, its " recurrence never satisfactorily explained. All that is known is that the wheels of progress suddenly commence to revolve less rapidly, public and private expenditure becomes restricted, the demand for money reaches an acute stage, and tho labour market is congested. Something goes wrong with the machinery of industry, and it comes to a standstill. Then, without apparent reason, they ■ revolve again, and all is well one© more. The causes which bring v about unemployment in England may spring from the same source as those which show the same result in New Zealand. On tho other hand, they may not. The former country has the countervailing advantage of a great' mobility of business, brought about by free trade. Against that she has a very rigid system of trade union organisation, which, it'may be parenthetically remarked, voluntarily accepts unemployment among its members for long periods by the initiation of strikes. Further, the fixed or standard wage may diminish employment, for there is no elasticity in this branch' of cost to meet the diminished demand of bad times. Possibly tho trade union system has become too rigid to respond perfectly to the fluctuations of modern industry. This, at any rate, is the view held by many great employers. We believe it is also conceded by Socialists, for they are not disposed to look upon trade unionism as a "solution" of industrial difficulties. In New Zealand the position of labour is vastly different to that in England or America, but it cannot bo doubted that one of the most potent influences on the demand for its co-operation is the stability of finance in other countries.

In the face of depression it is, of course, more or less futile to meet the demand of men for work by speculation on the causes of the position, in which industry finds itself. The presence in a community of men able

and willing to work but imable to secure employment manifestly represents so much waste. These people are a byproduct of the social system, and it is the business of society, first of all, to evolve moans of absorbing their labour so that they may keep themselves and their dependents. Those gaseous orators whoso voices are heard most distinctly when this matter comes up for discussion stigmatise as " absurd palliatives" all suggestions for relief except thoso which emanate from themselves. Nevertheless wo must confess to being distinctly partial to employing palliatives while physicians and patients are quarrelling about relief. If there is any public work required which can without loss to the taxpayers be prosecuted it should most oertainly be proceeded with when men are out of work. Further, if the extension <f any existing undertaking can be justified that also should be gone on with. This may b© the " adoption of palliatives." We believe it is, but it certainly means that men now idle would have the opportunity of earning the money they are without. A policy or this sort can .bo adjusted to the ■ existing state of society. It is practicable. Wild resolutions about currency and capitalists serve no immediate purpose, and it is the needs of the hour that call for first consideration. Consideration of the wider aspects of unemployment require time. There is no panaoea ready made up like a cure for fullness after meals. Certainly there are golden opportunities for extending employment in New Zealand and at the same time increasing the productivity of the country. The land and the land alone offers the solution of unemployment. But pending that great subject being grappled with in real earnest, the palliative must not bo demised. The "meeting of unemployed" held in Wellington on Monday evening was, as was inevitable, disfigured by a few professional organisers who desired to fulminate about "State notes," "capital," "idlers," and so forth, monopolising the discussion prior to singing " The -Blood Red Flag." Jt would be absurd to make any objection to this, but it may be pointed out that the just claims for consideration of man , genuinely anxious for work are tremendously discounted by the introduction into what should be serious deliberation of extravagances which have the effect of alienating the sympathies of the great bulk of the community. The resolutions proposed by Mr Wright, M.P., and Mr McLaren were propositions which had the merit of being capable of realisation. They were reasonable. But instead of the meeting confining itself to the consideration of things that can be dono, it branched off into a rambling debate on the Government being requested to facilitate the transition of the means of life from private to public ownership. Neither the unemployed nor their friends are doing their case any good by this sort of thing. On the contrary, they do it much harm. In the development and settlement of this country there is work in plenty for many thousands more people than are iii it now. If the industrial classes will only keep that fact in view and direct their energies to securing the opening-up of the land, the settlement of the people upon it, and the prosecution of development works tho field for labour will be one of ever-widening dimension.