MINISTER OF LABOUR AND HIS CRITICS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13889, 29 April 1907, Page 3 (Supplement)

MINISTER OF LABOUR AND HIS CRITICS.

THE EEOEM: SLAUGHTERMEN'S STRIKE. PPitytosED labour legislation. The Ron. J. A. Millar, speaking during an interval in a (lance programme at a racial held in- tho Trades Hail on tho 4th in honour of the visiting delegates to the Trades and Labour Councils and Independent Political Labour League's Conference, replied to the statements, made at the conference in respect to his and Dr Fiudlay's reference to tlic Australian slaughtermen. -■A' w. I'ttttison presided. ME MILLAR DEFENDS HIS ACTION. Mr Millar began by remarking that, the present was not an occasion when one would wish to say anything that, was likely to cause ill-will in any shape or form. They had met to do honour 1c those representatives of Labour who had come together from all parts of the country to discuss matters affecting the interests of Labour. He had always taken an interest in the workers' conferences, and had carefully studied the' roports of the same. It came ag a-surprise to him, however, to find in the papers the other day a resolution carricd W tho conference accusing hjm of having wen guilty of a contcmntible action. No moro serious charg'o could he made against ■ ai| y ma,l > «"d bo could hardly think that the delegates knew the true position when thoy carried tho resolution. It was only that ho should let those in Dunedin, V/ftom lie had known for years, as well as the delegates from other centres, hear liis ni<te of' tho ffuestion, in order that they might judge whether .'lie had been guilty i>f a. contemptible action or not. What took place was this: At a quarter-past 9 in Ihe morning, he was rung up bv telephone, and mfol-mcd that there was a strike at the Ngahawranga and I'elono Meat Works. Ho rung up the inspector of awards at Wellington, and instructed him to find out tne Muse uf the trouble, to advise the men to return to their work, and to nee what, wnild be done. The inspector went out. -no came back at a-qiiarler past 1, and ■reported that he had interviewed the men, iV i P u ' ly .Position clearly before them. They told him that, thoy had carried a resolution the previous night to cancel tho They (lid not care a-finger snap for tlio Arbitration Court; tliey belonged to Australia, and would bo in Australia ljeforo anything could ho done. "Under these circunistanccs was lie not justified in saying the Australians were atHhe bottom of the strike? Was lie going to allow Nbw Zealandcrs to bo branded-with the charge that, against tho progress of Now Zealand, they had thrown over the Arbitration Act, and had fjlniek? As, head of tho department, it •., was his duty, believing Australians to bo guilty of causing llio strike, to fasten the !™ 0 "j'J, . and he did so. Tho Minister went on to nlcntion a cjise in which tlireu New Zeahindors, who had ™ trained at the liurnside freezing. *\ orks—men %vho. c«ime out on ntrikc, ins others did, and Avcnfc hnclc again,—wore senfc i bv tlm company, who knew ' that more 1 butchers wore required at Paw*ra to join l ie slaughtering staff'ilwro. At Paveora ! two loader, an Australian, absolutely doclmcd to let; these men work, saying that- j jOhoy did the other men would tnoclc off. "no men, therefore, had to come back. Tho yhdo of the ovidouco before him, continued Mr Millar, pointed to the fact that, the AnaMtntio wcro to blame, and thev opeiily tleficd -the _ Arbitration Act. Uridcr these - (venditions it was his duty to defend tho New, Zealand workers against the charge ihat was being levelled aagnist the workers ' sf tho colony of having thrown over the Aflutrntiott Ant. Dad ihe fnll facts l>cen More the . delegates they could not liavo wjid that it ,wa* -a contemptible action on his part to endeavour fo protect- the members of the colony. Ho defied 1 anyone to, point out anything thai, he had said • regarding Australians Ixjyonil the statement that ho would not allow them to come io this colony and defy the laws. It was his duty under such circumstances as arose to act thus whether the men came from Australia or Great Britain, or elsewhere Dr limHay, his colleague, made use of the expression "birda of passage," and said he would not like to give the true designation of thorn, ns it might l>o invidious, /lie thought that was the whole expression. For fiotno unaccountable reason there were men in the labour' movement who .had deliberately tried to belittle his action eye) 4 sinoo he ontered office. Things that had pone on satisfftctorily for years, and wore going on on the same lines to-dav, were no longer;considered right. He had always ix?en willing to meet any members of the Labour paj-iy and meet them in whatever was fair' ami reasonable. But instead of Retting assistance from them, there were certain men who had octal exactly in the opposite) direction. Whether they thought this would bo advantageous to the workers was for them to decide. Thoy had plnii'ned out their own path, and might follow it. For his part, he had always tried to do all he could for Labour. Another accusation had gone forth in regard to the administration of "the department ih regard to breaches of award. He aublmtted a- return from March 31, 1906. tho latest return lib had, showing a total number of Imvichus of toward for the colony of 399. of which . 352 were won and 47' lost.\ The- centfo from which the greatest. number of cases camo wmHhe loudest in speaking against tho administration, Wellington Was rcptesentod bv 257 cases, of which 242 were won and 25 dismissed. Of carpenters' cases throughout tho colony t hete were 39 taken, Pi 36 were won and 3 withdrawn. .Thirteen' Of the number, belonged to Wellington, and wcro all won. Of cooks and waitresses' cases (all -Wellington). 24 wero taken, and all were won. Of drivers. 97 enses wero taken, and 91 won. Of these Wellington supplied 89 cases, of which 85 were won. Parliament could bo naked, if it were the wish of the workers, to repeal the clause throwing on the Labmir Department tlio onus of faking tip breaches of award, and leaving jt to the unions td tako action. If there were strong complaints against tho clause ho was willing to act ill iccordtmro with the general wish. Rut he i claimed that tho dopnrtinhnt had honestly endeavoured to carry out, the lawa entrusted to it. Ho had been endeavouring to reorganise tho department, so that it would have a better control than in the past.— (Applause.) PROPOSED LEGISLATION. He admitted that the delays oE the court had been largely responsible for tho troubles that had arisen. Those delays would have to bs remedied. At tho present tnr.o ho had a bill drafted which was ill the hands of t.lio law draughtsman. Ho could not pjve details, because it had not , yet been considered by tho Cabinet as n. whole. In tho proposals he submitted a scheme whereby any dispute should bo dealt, with within 14 days of it being filed. It became mora and more difficult for a union every day that passed from tho filing of tho dispute till tlio case was heard. Its witnesses inight have to leave the country ,or tho district for want, of employment. To get their witnesses together under such circumslitnccs meant increased cost, oven where tliey toiild fiot them back. Tlio bill would ho dealt with noxt session. Amendments wcro also required in 'tlio Shops and Uthws Act, nnd this matter was being altondcd to. In conncction with the Workmen's Compensation for Aeoidents Hill, ho proposed to submit to the House proposals which, lie hoped, would result in putting the worker who had tlio misfortUno to bo injured m a better position than now. and imijht tend io do awav with much of tho litigation now involved. If (hey were approved bv tho Cabinet ho proposed to submit advance copies of his proposals to tho 1 rimes and Labour Councils, and tho J'/inployers Associations for their careful consKierution. He should bo prepared to entertain aiiy reasonable suggestions in tho direction of amendment, and would incorporate them in the hills. He hoped beforo 1 arliameut rose they woutd have the bills ph-ced ou the Statute Hook. If lie got tho Jl'l'Cfi hills through in one session lie would liavo accomplished more iu that, time than had been accomplished in the past for Labour.—(Applause.) STATEMENT BY JIR COOPER. Mr A. 11. Cooper, chairman of tho conference, said that as secretary of tho Wellington Slaughtermen's Union ho was in a pnsition to, speak nuthoratively on tin; whole trouble. To the report Sir Millar had received from his ofticers, us to whatwas wiid bv the men, ho gaye an absolute denial. There was only one Australian in the whole committeo or six. He had no desire to discredit the Conciliation and Arbitration Act. It would l - o a sorry day for New Zealand wlion that act was in danger, and ho hoped it would be maintained in an inforced condition. Fair play was bounie tilav, and the men who, after the strike, helped, to bring about a reasonable settlement, 'were Australians, 'l'hew men had persisted in strikes on the other side, and had learned their danger from experience, and Vealised that strikes were no good Io tho men .themselves, tho employers, or the community. Those wcro the men thev had to thank for bringing the New Zealanders to <t reasonable frame of mind., and it tvas absolutely incorrect to'sav tfiev Were iu any way responsible for the strike. Ho believed the Minister made his statement iu all sincerity, but ho had been misinformed. With rcferenco jo tlio figures quoted by Mr Millar, dealing wirii the administration of tho Department, ho would point- out that tlio numberH 1 cascs reported and tho number: filed

must be a tided before & just idea could be formed, Reasonable-minded men would agree that tlio workere of the colony had been very patient and forbearing in their attitude towards the Arbitration Act. In tho last eight or ten years, to his knowlodge, (lie Trades and Labour Cqnferenco, as representing the various Trades Councils and Unions of the colony. Jiad been making complaints about the working of tho act, and urging the necessity for improved machinery. Our chief eriovance was the delay that occurred in the hearing of disputes. Year after year tliey had been promised that this should be remedied, but nothing' had been done, and tJio workers had submitted (o inconvenienco and injustice arising out of the unnecessary and unreasonable delays. It was enlircly because of the delays' of t'ne court that the slaughtermen . had taken the drastic step they had in striking (or their rights, and if their action resulted in an improved act it would prove a blessing to the country. The delays were such that. 'lUnions had been formed, registered, had framed their claims, filed them before the Ixiaid, and referred them io the court, and had lived their little lives, and had been < dead and buried before the court, came round to hear 'the dispute. They were not prepared to accept anv brokendown machine that might he brought .before them •' labelled "Arbitration Oourl.' 1 What, was wanted was a resopable and firm method of settling disputes, and for that they wore prepared ip fight. After waiting teii years for their grievances to lx> removed, they had 1:01110 to the conclusion that rather than have sueli a system as had obtained in tho past it would lx> almost better to fro back to the old system. However, he hoped' the Government, would bring in remedial measure and adjust their grievances,