THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13888, 27 April 1907, Page 13

THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

NEWS AND NOTES,

Br THE Hon. J. T. Paul, M.L.C.

MEETINGS FOR TIIE WEEK,

Secretaries aro requested to forward dates oi union meetings. The following unions will meet during tlio week .at the Trades Hall: —

Tc-night (Saturday).—Carpenters, Enginedrivers. Wednesday.—'Trades and Labour Council. I'riday.—Kngineers, Moulders, Master Biastcrcrs.

TO COKRESPOXDRNTS. ,V/. ll.—Xbto received; common'., thereon nei:t week. J. ■ G.—Thanks for commendation.

A PHASK 01'' THE

housing difficulty

Xnst week I intimated Jhat another phaso <jt' tho problem would be dealt with to-day. The neglected phaso is proper consideration of tho means of transit in connection •with workmen's dwellings. In the City Beautiful of the future we can hardHimagino that houses and human beings will 1)0 huddled together an in the older cities. A poet who wished to sting tho national conscience warned us that

l'ho.Devil has wrought with his broom of ' Greed, Sweeping tho land this many a day-; 110 has ■ Soaped tho people in cifa ami

towns, Next, ho will shovol tho heaps away. Tho devil must not lie allowed to do tho people's work, and "heaps" is not exactly a correct description ot modem overcrowding. But anything which will spread population over a larger area helps to solve the housing problem.

It is safe to sa.v that TBritnin is not alive to tho iinportanco of transit. Mr Hugo It. assistant, professor of political ocouomy at Chicago University, visited England recently, and last year declared that, "nowhere in Britain has tho electric street railway boon used for tho purpose of decentralising tho i-opulation; * and that, "in this matter tho British cities have shown an indifference to, and a disregard of, tho public health—physical as well us inoral—that lor • brutality liavo no parallel in, tho, rqeords of privato industry." Of course, tho worthy professor may have been puflinx in a word against municipal enterprise, but transit as a factor has been overlooked. Fares for workpeople in England aro 78 per cent, higher than in many parts of tho Continent. Our own Government may profit by its experience in Auckland, 'ami in any oxtonsion of tho State dwellings scliomo attention should bo given to means of transit. With a double line to Mosgiol, for instance, and a suitable time-table, relief may fairly bo looked for in that direction.

It is interesting to compare our prosre.ss in housing facilities und transit with other countries. I have read with pleasure and profit an arliolo entitled "Cheap Railway Tickets for Workmen in Belgium," published in that solid quarterly the Economio Journal It is from the. pen of Ernest Mitihaim. Very large numbers of industrial workers daily travel long distances in that country. In ono of the largo ironworks in Oeuiliot, 2339 men are engaged in the blast furnaces, and only 1101 ijvo in tho village or immediate surroundings. In another large -works ntar Liogc only 53 per cent, of tho workors inhabit tho village. Onesixth qf tho total industrial population uso tlio railways .:ia a HKxlo of transit to and from their work. The fares are extremely low, ranging from ona-twclffh of a penny pec mile for short distances down to one-twenty-fourth of a penny per mile for longer distances.

Last, year tho New Zealand Parliament (.xlendcd the piovisions of ilie Advances to •Settlers Act to include workers, and money is now loaned at cheap rates to working men to'build their own louses. \Vo aro so accustomed to leading tho world in Goeial reform legislation (bat. it -will quite shock some folk'to learn that, a system similar to tliis was inadn law in Belgium in 1889—17 years a.go-1 Mr Madiaim hag this to say on tho general effects of the measure:—

It is well known that tho Housing Act of IBS 9 accomplished marvels in Belgium. It permitted ' tho General Savings Bunk (under tlio guarantee of tho State) to devote a portion of i|s deposits to lending money to wotlmen who intended 1 te build their houses. Thuu tho savings of small peoplo lotura to small jwople to liclp them. . , At the samo lilue very ingenious and 'cheap combination of lifo ijisuranco secures to the workmen, his wifo, or hoira, tho ownorsliin of tltTi liohm in case of the death of the- head oi the family.

Tho law of 1339 was tho beginning of a very lemavlisble growth of publie opinion. AVo can fay that tho political -paHics luivo endeavoured to promote tho building of independent Imiiics by workmen, with zeal and generosity. . It is estimated that altogether about IGO million francs havo been spoilt in 15 years in Belgium tor building workmen's houses, and that at least (»o,ooi> families now on.joy the independent possession of their houses, owing lo tho oporaiiou of tho act of 1651).

Now, I cousid«r it is a woll-establishod faol that tho building of tho new houses is carried on more lr»rguly in tho country than in tlio (.owns. Tho reason of this is obviousbuilding is dear in towns; it is cheap in th: country. No doubt all this must attract thj .workman who intends to build in tlio country. On tho other hand, tho •proportion of nsjriauitunil workmen who build their houses under tho provisions of tho act of 18$) is vary small in comparison to industrial workmen. Thoso are, and must be, oHeiits of the rr.ilwiyß. Thus the cheap trains como to help tlio action of tho housing lihivoment, in a manner that can only bo apja-ovod of, since it chccka tluj congestion of centres.

As a natural consequence of this situation, it ir, to be noticed that tho pfico of land and of reiilii have tended towards tlio samo rolativo equalisation aa has been observed in the caso of wages. Rents in towns aro not s?o high as they would havo been had it not been for tho cheap trains, and in tho enuniry, rents must havo been maintained nt iv higher level tlian that which they would have reached' othorwiso.

Ami so good has followed cheap transit iu Belgium as an aid to cheap housing. Its influenco on industrial botternicnt will ho shortly treated next. week.

WHAT INDUSTRIAL WAR REALLY

-MEANS.

When a. strike is successful, or when a lockout, is defeatol workers ore apt to forgot .that bqth theso calamities often end otherwise.' A Clario-,1 writer has just 'Mono" tlio Ilemsworlh (Yorkfiliiro) lockout (or his paper. He recognises that " when a Labour sfcrugglo has lasted two veara ami a-half it liecomcs a bit of a bore. It loses its journalistic value, and is hot diot enough for good copy, and, as a natural consequence, thoro is small possibility of getting reported if you aro a celebrated or notorious Labour lender -visiting tho place. In all truth, there is nothing

new to Ml about Uonisworth: nothing now [or an.vono to say to the moil who .aro slill mouldering away thoir lives in penurious idleness in tin' little place (if desolation." Rows of tnnantlcss cottages meet, tile eye. Vv'.-mt. and misery have become settled in the villain, and the writer in 'inestion says hard f about, the Miners' Union. Tt must, lie remembered that he is a trade unionist, and not an ordinary journalist hunting lor "copy." Inter ali.?, he says:—

What, concerns me most, and what ought (o concern every worker, is the callous neglect end betrayal of theso. good men by their leaders and fellows. Many of'the men who wcro at first affccted by lh« lcclc-nnt havo left tho villago and marie homes.e'.sewlierc. But some hundreds remiiin, and theso nr.; struggling along on ils a, weal; f.ess contributions), and is a week for. esich child below ( working age. All they get to augment this pittance is what they can collect from sympathisers. Thoy have aslwd t'r.c-;r fellow members to subscribe a levy of 3d per v/et'k, ami their leaders refii'o to submit this request to tho association. . . What strikes me nioro forcibly is tho shocking apathy anl brutal inctiiferor.co of tho Yorkshire Miners' Association. Whether this is due to the eclfisaness of the rank and file, or to tho incapacity or hostility of the loaders and officios, tho result is ju.it the same, and it seems to me thai if the Yorkshire miners mo uot ashamed of themselves they can havo no sense of shaaio left. .

Tho trouble was at, first, comparatively small. A dispute arose oyer the price to bo paid, for working two senilis cf coal. An arbitrator Itlie coal-owners' nominee) eventually adjudicated, but the coal-owners repudiated the award and locked tho men out. And tho Clarion man now finds them deserted after two years ami a-hali of bitter struggle.

FAILURES IN INDUSTRIAL I.EOIS-

LATION.

In a very readable article in tho Adelaido Herald Mr .T. Hutchison, M.H.I', in tho Fc.leral Parliament, deals with the various Arbitration Courta and Wages Hoards set up in Australasia. ITo has not quite pot the "hang" of New Zealand affairs or tho real. decision of the lato Labour Conference. The burden of his story is the. baneful influence of tho judge, notably those of the Higher Courts. Taking his views of Arbitration Acts, which we arc for tho nonco most interested in, he argues that, the defeat of arbitration in Npw South Wales lies at the door of the courts. I recently quoted Judge. ITovdon, who. it will bo remembered, declared that that act, " had been riddled and shelled fore and aft. and reduced to a. sinking hulk by tho Higher Courts." Mr Hutchison deals with tho various Australian Arbitration Acts in turn in the following forcible manner: —

Tho AVest Australian Act has been execrably distorted by the judge. Ilis dci-erminticn that no union that uses its funds for political purposes will he allowed to como before tlio court is an interereiice with men's liberty worthy of tb darkest ot the dark ages.

Tho South Australian Act, so far as tho law courts have yet dealt with it. has been shown to bo as unlovely a muddle as tho rest of these measures.

'lho Federal Arbitration Act is not ono whit better. II may bo remembered that during tho 1203 campaign, prior to its passage, it was pointed out by mo that it would provo a, great disappointment to tho workers. Tho decision of tho High Court that an employee, and not a union, mnst originator dispute is decidedly unfair, too, An individual worker, no matter how badly ho may bo treated by his employer, cannot appeal to the Arbitration Court unless he belongs to a union of not less than 100 mombars. If he is compelled to bolong to a union bsforo ho ep-n seek redress, in the name of all that is fair, why cannot tho union plead his cause and prevent him, from probably suffering tho greater injustice of getting tho sack because in the eyes of his inhuman employer ho has become an agitator—for his right 3? •

110 concludes 111 tho samo plain terms, believing that- until tho Labour party has a working majority in Parliament present conditions in Australia wilt not bo much improved. But oven with that achieved, ha 6ays that "tho conimercialists' money will find the brains to circumvent a gcod deal of tho best-conceived legislation." Ho believes a mistako lias been made-

Ifever, in my opinion, did tho workeia make a. greater blunder than when they agreed te havo their bread and butter controlled by judges and lawyers. Whether designedly or not. the acts are invariably dafective, and while I have shown there aro judges anxious to deal fairly with botli sides, thero aro others who l:»ve no hesitation in straining the law to tho uttermost, if not actually overriding it. It would be going too fax to say that compulsory settlement of disputes cannot be made at ntiv rate a partial succcss. The best results will - undoubtedly' be obtained by courts or wages boards conducted by laymen under a workable not. Waces and conditions of labour are not questions of laiy, but ot fact, with which laymen aro as competent to deal as they a, 10 on other matters of feet that come before them as jurymen in tho ordinary law courts.

Tr . JOTTINGS. Hon. IT. P. Wilson,. M.L.0., recently lectured ho Adelaide Democratic Club on Work S °' ltlon: tIMJ an<l ' IJis

Tim Amalgamated Enginecra* Monthly .loumal is to hand from Air .J. Raynes, tho iqcal secretary, and acknowledged with thanks. It is full of good things as usual. 11l file \\aihi miners' dispute, recently heard by tho Arbitration Court, the. increase in wages nsked for was generally an increase of Is per d(iy all rqund. A largo number of witnesses were examined; for tho union alono 37 witnesses were subpn?naed. Sir W. Scotl (Hnnwiin) apnearcd for the employer', and Mr Arthur Rosser lor the Miners' Union.

Diver Hiiglios, the hero of tlm Wostralia. flooded mine rescue, is a member of tlio iCnlgoorlio nn<| Bouldor Lnmcli of the juniors' Association.

The Otago awards appearing in tlm curlent number of tho Labour Journal aro tho fo|t-hatters'. engine-drivers'. and toiloroEGCs'. A list of permits granted and an interpretation of the Nightcaps coal miners' award are also published. In answer to an inoniring correspondent the English Labour Leader replied thus: "The Socialism of tho Independent Labour Party is English. The Socialism of the Social Democratic Federation was made in Germany. Its Messiah is Karl.Marx; its Bible is 'Das TCaniial'; its creed is rigid; its propaganda is denunciatory, and its attitude to tho whole world more or loss antagonistic."

The federation of 40,000 brass and iron trade workers is being accomplished in tho Old Country. The objects of tho federation are to maintain the right of combination by trade unionism bv mutually 6iipporting tho societies within tho federation, to use even- moans to abolish the elmrnctor noto, and to promote arbitration or conciliation in trade disputes between collateral trades.

Next month will see the erection of eight wire-weaving machines in Pentridgc Gaol, Melbourne. Already the authorities have an order to supply 450 miles of prisonmade rabbit-proof fence. A builder who left. Sydney for San Francisco writes back from the latter place:—"Everything is union—bootblacks, hod-carriers, dish-washers, and waiters, and the different classes of labourers have each a union. Bricklayers and painters pay 50dol (over £10) to enter their respective, unions. Carpenters pay 30dot (oyer £6), and the wages range from 4j,d0l to 7dol j«'r day. Labourers earn, when working, 3<lol to 41doI per day."—And pay how much to live'.'

The wages of labourers at the London and North-Western Railway Company's Crowe works havo been raised to a minimum qf 18s a week. A number of mechanics havo received an advance of from Is to 2s a week.

There are employers of labour (says the liov. Bernard Vaughan) who. when they die, leave great fortunes to tbe ]Kior. To my thinking it would be better io spend the money during lifo in payini; living wages. "The British workman is still the best in the world." declared Mr John Burns recently. " lie is more solid in his work. more substantial in his methods, and more honest, iu the, quality of what he turns out than those of other countries."

The stoppage of the publication of tbo Beacon, the local Kihnur paper, brings to an end a lone lint* of name-changes imd old historic associations. The paper orisir.allv appeared as the l'orliurv News almost a. quarter of a century afro. Later il became tho Otngo Workman, the ehantio lipiiiK inndo to extend itg iiillwnco lo Urn province. In Ihe lioydey of Liberalism it was renamed I lie (Jingo Liberal, and two years and a-liulf ajju it, boeanio the pro-pert-y pf the 0t.%'0 Trades and Labour Oounoit. Over a year apo t.lio name was again clia.ii.sod to the lieacon. In iis history are perhaps more ups anil downs than are encountered bv most nowspaiwrs. Sensations wore often a-ssoeiuted with ihe paper in the old days. The forcible arguments of the London Gaiety Company were f-ne instance—and then? wore oUie-a. Since the days wlieir fair ladies used a stucWhii; (o brine: an editor io what thoy ronsulorcd rmon (ho iwnor lias become quite "respectable," and for many years not even a lital action disturbed its serenity, .And in tho lionr of pence it has unfortunately suenonbed. Phamix-liko, it may again rise but tliat is.auotli£r..sfca£i. _