THE LABOUR MOVEMENT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 8861, 19 July 1890, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE LABOUR MOVEMENT.

TO THE EDITOB.

Bin,—Since writing my letter of July 5,1 find sur anonymous correspondent "Justice," haa %& another fling at labour's development. This me, howovcr, it ia not the Shag Point Colliery, at the Grey Valley Coal Company that enlists ia sympathies, and the zeal with which he leads for the reduction of 20 per cent, off the len's wages would almost load me to suppose tiat he has some personal interest in^ the disute. :Now what are the arguments which Justice" advances to show the necessity for bin reduction of one-fifth of the men s earn--1." That if the working of the mine dooa not iay at its present rate of wages, and the men fill cot Eubmit to the reduction demanded, it nust cease work altogether." This is palpable inougli, but it affords no sufficient reason why he workers should give their consent to such an irrangement. The general public will have cosl, md if the Grey Vitlley Coal Company cannot idord to supply it without reducing tho wages if the miners 20 per cent., tho sooner they close ;hc-ir mine tho better, as the men will then be ree to follow tho custom and obtain omploynent in other collieries that can conduct their Mjiness with a ptoflt and pay the workers a fair remuneration for their labour. But we shall require stronger evidence than a_ mauager's statement to convince us that the mine is being yorketf at a !osa. " Justice " ignores his own dic;ual _« tho universal market rate of supply and lemand must regulate wages." The " demand" it the present time is for a good coal at a fair price, and the " supply " can easily be obtained f coal owners are content to abate a small 'raction of their profits in favour of the producers. 2. If capitalists " are forced to give up their business operations through the demands of their workmen, tho workers will be the first to suffer." Nothing of the kind. The trade will ouly shift itself to other fktns which have less greed in their dealings, or more business capacity in their management, and as water finds its level, bo will labour. Eat in this particular instance it is not the workmen who demand a rise, but the company which insists upon a reduction of 20 per cent. ~ 3. " By fixing a uniform rate of wages for al workmen in the same trade, all the second and third-olas3 hands will be driven out of employment." In this sentence " Justice " shows that he knows nothing of the principle which has guided the various trades unions in compiling their wage scale. They fix the minimum scale below which even third-class hands must not work, and for this minimum rate bhe " third-class hand? " return a fair equivalent. IE employers, however, require first-class skill for superior work there is nothing to prevent them paying a higher rate of wages, and obtaining it to any extent they desire, and upon this principle the largest firms act. But the great grievance of "Justice" consists ia tha fact that ho cannot command the highest skill at the minimum rate, and this he never will iv any trade_ that has its union to throw its protective shield over its members. 4. " Increased rates of labour will lessen the dotnand for work." This is another fallacy of the political economists. Increase of wages, accompanied by decrease of working hours and overtime, meaas increased demaud for labour, a more r-qual division of employment, and an extecded circulation of trade among the whols commuuify, Tho wages of labour invariably fiad a free current through the innumerable arteries of society, and as money is only the representative of wealth it matters little whether bread is a penny or a shilling per loaf so long as the worker ia iv a position to obtain the money to obtain it. When the_ markets are glutted and the unemployed stand iu!e at the corners of our principal streets, the noces3Eries of life, however low iv price, are beyond their reach, trade is restricted, and poverty becomes general. 5, " Under union rules auy workman who does not join tho union will be debarred from getting work at bis own trade." So much the better for all concerned, as it will induce all respectable msn to join ths organisation of labour, and exclude tbo3O who aro worthless— the loafer, the profligate, snd incompetent—thus conferring a great benefit upon employers as wsil as the employed. 6. " In the circumstances of tha colony when there is a cry for retrenchment upon all sides, the working classes will be wise to moderate their demands." Indeed! Cannot tho work of retrenchment proceed without labour paying the whole penalty ? Begiu with your high-salaried official1?, purge yonr pension list, dispense with your U9e!os3 department?, give up your pop-guv fortifications and ths expenses appertaining thereto, curtail your school expenditure, aud place taxation upon the shoulders of those who can boar ib; and then we should hf.vo a substantial surplus to devoto to the construction of railways, tho settlement of the land, and the development of tha natural resources of the colony. But whether the Government choose to retrench or not, labour will stand upon its own dignity, nor allow "Justice" nor any school of iiolitical ocoaomists to encroach upon its rights. While Now Zealand has soras millions of acres of fertile soil lying idle, and some thousands of bauds who would only be too willing to find employment upon the land, it is monstrous to talk about tho depression of the colony. Ths depression has been brought about by the went of statesmanship en the part of tho Government. They hava alienated tho soil from the people, Bold it to earth-craving monopolists who have locked it up by placing an artificial value upon it, and thea wo are told that to mitigate tbis pernicious policy workmen should "moderate their demands." In conclusion, I would advise "Justice" in his next philippic against labour to coisfine himself to the coal trade, of which he may perhaps know something, and not to interfere with " the firm of manufacturers at Christchurcb," of whose workings he knov/a nothing. Tha dispute is in very good hands for settlement, and I can aseuro " justice " it will bo adjudicated upon in a spirit of equity, and with satisfaction to those inside and out-ida the establishment in question. When the relations between capital and labour in any branch of industry become strained, it is folly, if not wickedness, for meddlers like " Justice " to have a finger in the pie, as they can only intensify existiag ills, and prevent others adjusting the difficulties. —I am, &c, Maori Hill, July 12. E. S. Mantz.

TO THE EDITOR,

Sir,—Having recently arrived at your port, and finding the (to me) well-worn topic " Protection to Labour " uppermost, I, wishing—as is natural to one who has been virtually silent for upwards of three months—to be "in the swim,' feel irresistibly impelled toward contributing ray mite to the general chorus, As my stay here is liable to be short, and not having the moral courago to face tin audience of more than three at a time, I see no way to accomplish it except by asking you to kindly allow mo to make your valuable and widely read journal my medium. As I always feel best when on the popular side, and that seems to be that of the oppressed and enslaved, I 6hall take that position and attempt to maintain it.

Sinca the ear'.iesf; days of navigation of which wo have a record, it has been one of the principal duties of eeamen to load and discharge the cargo of the vessel in which they sail. Recently, however, sjuce the demand for products of other countries has increased to such an extent that it is desirable to have quick despatch, wo hsve so often employed outside men to help at the work that it has given birth to a new industry known as " stevedoring." For some time past we have in most cases let out the work to the head stevedore, on condition that he employ the crew at a rate of wages that will reimburse us for their wages and food while the work is being performed.

Sinco arriving tbis time, I have been coolly informed that my crew will not bo allowed to touch a package of my cargo—or, mother words, that my crew, whom I p»y, and for whom I provide food, will not be allowed to even help to do my work. Shades of Wilbcrforce aud Lincoln ! Is this, then, to be my share of the pricelesa boon to which you devoted your great and beautiful lives ? Now, as I shipped my crew in the great and only " Gotham," whore " union " hag been "strength" for a loDg term of years, and where the brotherhood who entertain sailors have become so closely amalgamated as to epoil poor Jack's last chanco of having a dollar due when he arrives at ths next port, leaving him free to desert without pecuniary loss, I do not feel the pres; sure only to the extent that tho sablo bondslave of Alabama " befor' de wah " felt it when blessed with a master who spared the lash, Yet, as I have been trading to the Australasian colonies for many years, have been hospitably received and socially entertained, have experienced nearly ss much difficulty in detecting the difference between the labourer and the capitalist, when in holiday dress, as in my dearly-loved New England—where every boy ia warned, at a tender age, by his mamma, that he may bo called on to fill the chair of Washington and Jefferson, of Lincoln and Garfield — I feel it my duty to warn the consumers of "wooden nutmegs" that if I did feel the loss, trua to my traditional Yankee in3tinct—notwithstanding the miro erous bonds of friendship by which I am linked to these delightful isles—l should refuse to come again until it was added to the freight, and consequently to the price, of my next cargo of those delicacies.—l am, &0.,

John H. Potter, Master Black liner William Phillips. July 15.