FATS' FRONT.

NZ Truth, Issue 161, 18 July 1908, Page 5

FATS' FRONT.

NO TIME FOR THE WORKER.

Is Joe Ward Going to BtaM by Him?

Or Are Those Drastic Amendments

a Fake?

Will Joe Ward permit, his amended Gpncili^tigp and Act to pass intp' law, and has he purposely made the amendments so drastic as to ensure Defeat m the House, and so hand the jesnonsibility ' on to', the people at the' General Election? It is difficult to conceive of an experienced genacal like Ward flying m the face of Labor on tlie evjj cf a General Election, for that way , lies disaster. The Conciliation and Arbitration kct. much as it has done for the Wage earner, is an imperfect enactment, a sort of elderly fire engine that requires modernising and bringing up-to-uate, and which shouldn't be' abolished simply' because it isn't doing so much work as it would do if it were better equipped. If it were , done away vfith, and nothing were substituted* for ,tc, thjT fcasual cori- ■ flagration that happens when the insurance is satisfactory would sweep through things industrial like thp great fire .'of London m the dim and distant past, and ,even the most scientific engine that modern' thop^it could devise woqld be powerless to cope the outbreak. ', Tlie fiery evil which was responsible for the invention of the Conciliation' and Arbitration Act, is the gross greed of Fat, whose monopoly ol tphe gpfld thing? of this-, world was attacked by the new law.' >b That attack was not sufficiently forceful to EXTINGUISH THE MONOPOLY, but it 'reduced the flames 'cqnsiderafrly. , and lie fire would have been fiercer, and stronger, and mqre destroying, had there been no Arbitration engine to pour cold water on the disastrous outbreak ofenterprise. ,J The Act is, imperfect apid bears the s<mie relation to therA;c|tras-itrsho.uld-he as a manual fire engine bears to the steam fire engine and •High pressure of modern times. ; Its de- . , fjpnts lie m the basis and scope of the '■■■ Arbitration Court, ?rii!ich unfluly recognises Pat' as a necessary animal and a pteponttering: influence m industrial- dis--1 piftes. unioh!s representative," rer ,'maxEed Judge Sims, m effect', the other day, .^.believes iihat there £re only two factors m production, namely, labor and miteriilP'but there is a third factorCapita."'?^ entering " into an academiß:;discussion on economics, it might be rSeritibned, with emphasis and truth, that Capital is' the product of Labor! unduly held primarily by npn-lab.oriers, and is; a factor merely as furnishing , a medium of exchange. Had Judge Sims remarked' that the . thr.ee factors m mod-, crn industrialism are "labor, material, arid nionppoly," he wfcmld have hi% upon a great truth, so obvious to the naked, eye I&at it obscures everything else for miles around. The imperfectai;it?n qf the. Arbitration Court lies m the fact that it is hased upon the astonishing fallacy that rriononoLy is an inextinguishable arid necessary part of our industrial system, arid the President of the^ Court is a gentleman "with a legally-trained mind,, honest, according 'to his. lights, but '.whose standard of- .equity is \ased upon his knowledge of English and colonial statutes made for the co nser vation of v -, FvAT'S BLOATED INTEREST^.; T^ue_ . arbitration would require Fat' -to nrb.dupe a balance-sheet for the pasj five years,' or- longer," s howing"h is cross taking, bis ' expenditure, his proi-ts, an,d his •disbursements on -.luxuries. As' thp principal creator of- wealth. Labor gets the skin and the pips of thp apple.,- and Fa^ ; monopotises the frpit ;. kaftpr tramps m the "brojken boots." of pflVerty, while _F, at the non-producer, rides m the motor-par pf prcfeperii^ along the t^QjfdugMaie' ttf life. No rpal evidence is adduced be? fore the • Arbitration CovEt as- to the capacity .of the employer to pay an in-" 'creased, wage. The testimony deaSs with /thp cost, of living, rents, the ;w#ges naid fpr-' similar work m other olaces, tjieu'nheaMfty character of the toil, e,tc.. hpt his Higior would be' appalled were It suggested that . he shdiiltl call fpr the only "evidence upon which ah award should Be based, "namely, the actual turn" oyer pf the business employing .the worker; arid not the proAts only, but the employees very household Jfepppsesv It 'is' conceivable that a Stout -JEerson who .occupies a twelve-rqomed. hopse. reserves, dress circle seats for the family nlghtlyf _ runs a riiotof- car, back_s ■ horses, gambles .-'- at his club, and does sundry 1 I other costly things, should show- an unsatisfactory balance m his business at the end; of the year, but tbe biz!

PAYS JIOR HIS. LUXURIOUS LIVING, knd the claim of the; worker (who produces the wealth) to some of these intstimable blessings seems reasonable and even convincing. By "worker" this paper means every person who toils by brain or hand. A doctor is a yporker, a lawyer is a worker; Judge Sinis is a' worier, and a navvy is a worker, llnder the existing system, the wealthy employer shelters himself behind the small employer, and the award is niade upon the capacity of the small employer to pay, yjhpn it should really be hased upon, the promts of the wealthy monopolist m the sanie line of business. - Were tbe awards>; so determined, legislation would, of course be'- necessary to prevent or punish breaches of the award.: but when the Arbitration Act is .breaking down simply because tlie scope of the Arbitration Court is m the -interest *of Fat. any amendment- should not be m the direction of binding unjust awards upon the worker, but of increasing the scope of tbe Court tq wrest from Fat a bigger porr tion of his huge monopoly. The Act was first introduced to cope with the curse of monopoly, and until it attacks the wealthy person m the manner described above it is useless to try and fine ahd imprison workers because they are dissatisfied with a starvation wage. That is what the amendment qf Ward and Millar proposes to do. It is ukased that when a strike takes place m any ind.ustry, whether or not affected by an award or agreement, the striking worker is' liable to a' fipe .of £10, together with a pjenaity qf. £1 a -.week during the strike's progress. Should the industry be one of such nature that

DANGER TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH or . safety or injury to the nropp.ity of an employer has resulted from the strike, strikers are liable to a fine of £ip, or three months' imprisonment. Penalties are recoverable civilly, and if the . striker doesn't comply with tbe judgment, the ihspectpf of Awards may instruct thp delinquent worker's employer to deduct qp tp qpp-fourth pf the wages due until the amount of the fine is collected. The employer is fined larger amounts m the case of a lock-out, but Pat commands the wealth produced by the worker, anji that isa sihall matter to him. It is the worker who indirectly pays all fines. Tbesg (provisions would hp equitable' m an enactment which set up a court that did riot recognise monopoly as ap essential part of opr economic syst m. If the Coqrt didn't recocn'sc the monopolist, the person most liable to go under qn strikr would he Fat himself. Minister Miller promised to pure the impprf°ctions of the Arbitratipn- Act, |>pt lps amendments merely pprpetqate those imperfections apd secure to tfat his unjust monopoly. As hinted m the opening parapvonh of these illpminntinir- remarks, it, is doubtful if Ward seripuslv cont^mvMcs passing the amendments into law. If he doe? well- — r