THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14447, 13 February 1909, Page 14

THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

NEWS .AND NOTES. Br the Hon. J. T. Paul, M.L.O. Itetns gf information 8«1 brief comments en questions coming under this heading aro always welcome. Books, pamphlets, etc., sont to the editor of this oolimin will also be noticed. MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK. The following unions will meet during tho week at the Trades Hall:— To-night- (SnturdayJ—Buyers, Shipwrights. Moodily—Pressors. Tuesday—Sawmillors, Slaughtermen, Bootma&ei's. Wednesday—Socialist- Society, Thursday—Trades and Labour Council, Friday—Engineers. Saturday—Typographical (Beard).

TO COHRESPONDENT. J. M. l3.,_Dimeclin.—Just received your letter. Will give consideration io matter in my next: TRADER UNION ORGANISATION. If the time ever comes for writing a comprehensive history of New Zealand trades unionism, the part plavcd by the Wellington Cooks and Waiters'" Union will deserve some space. The Arbitration Court has just ratified an agreement made between the new Dunedin union and the employers, covering rliose employed in hotels, restaurants, etc. Organisation in Christohurch, Auckland, and Dunedin lias followed very closely at each place, Wellington being the premier union.

As illustrative of the benelits which have accrued to employees as a result of organisation it w interesting to know that the lower-paid men about hotels, such as kitehenman, porter, or general hand, have bad their wages increased about 2s Gd above the Wellington award. In some of the smaller hotels tlie new award' means an increase of 5s per week on late ruling wages. The union has also succcedod in fixing wages for female labour generally on a. throe-fourths proportion of wages for male labour. Waiters' wages have not been increased as a, result of the new organisation, though possibly one or two head waiters will benefit. In many instances waitresses will receive an increase of 5s per week, bringing their wages to £1. In pantry work the men employed receive no advance worth mentioning, though women workers will again receive an increase of about 5s per week. For barmen a uniform wage of £2 per week has been fixed. The G'hrislehurch and Auckland award provides for a wage of 3(k lam informed that the best hotels pay above these rate, and that in about half of them tho new award will give the men substantial in-

All the unions have a strong objection to the long hours riding in the trade. Those employed feel that 65 hours a week is altogether too long. It is said that the Wellington employees will count it Dunedin's chiefest gain that the union tare has secured a half-holiday onco a month in addition to the slatutary half-hodilay. It must be remembered that the workers in this industry are employed during seven days a week, and the lack of holidays has always been a sore point, with hotel workers.

Tin' new aivaid ha.; been made for ono year. It. is believed Hint legislation may .■liter the conditions of the industry, and n review will then take place. The preference clause is considered satisfactory, and the award will result in an all-round improvement on present working conditions, and possibly tlie creation of a strong local union. The first awards in the industry were s;ivcn in Auckland and Wellington in 1902. Two holidays in every three months were provided for. with optional payment instead of the holidays. At that time there wa6 no statutory holiday ifor hotel workers,

that hencflfc having been granted by tho legislation of 1997. Both iheso awards provided for 77 hours per week. They were secured by two small unions, whoso aggregate membership did not exceed ICO. The wages were considered so low and the hours so long that it staggered awl praetically killed both unions. Nothing further was done towards organisation until 1906 when Mr ]•',. J. Carey, the present Wellington secretary, called together a number of those working with him to consider further organisation. It was decided to reorganise, with the result, that 1906 closed with 123 members. Then the celebrated recommendation of tho Wellington Conciliation Board was given, and the cmplovers failed to appeal against it, and it became law. For some lime the refusions between the union and the eiuplovers were considerably strained, and the Wellington Looks and Winters' Union was more m tho public eye than any other NW Zealand union. In January, ISO 7, Mr Carey was appointed permanent secretary. Owing mainly to his energy and enthusiasm the Wellington organisation lias continued to grow and extend to the other centres. Mr Carey was in Dunedin during the negotiations between the Dunedin union and employers, and the union acknowledged his assistance at a meeting on Tuesday evening. A federation of all city unions is tho next projected stop.

NEW BOOKS. "ISocialism and Society." By J. R.ufsvr MacDoxam), MP. London: Independent Labour Party. " Socialism and the Drink Question." By Pllll.ll' Snoivdek, M.P. London: Independent Labour Party. Three two volumes have been sent to the Otago Daily Times for notice, and as thev come within the province of this column the editor has passed them on. They are Nos. II and VI of the Socialist Library series, published by the Uriiish Independent Labour party. This scries is published in paper at Is net and red cloth at Is M. The prospectus of the library says that "there k a deplorable lack in this country of a Socialist literature more exhaustive and systematic than pamphlets or newspaper articles." It is to remedy this that the library has ken projected. Seven volumes have been published, and these cover several phases of Socialist thought. . Mr Mac Donald's book was first published in 1905 The copy sent to as for notice is the sixth edition, published in September of hist year. It has been revised and enlarged. As a statement of the case for socialism likely to appeal to an intelligent inquirer I know of no better book. There is none of that flamboyant rhapsody so often seen in Iwoks on Socialism. The author has gone about his task apparently with an independence of thought and a* single desire to interpret tlie modern movement from tho viewpoint of a believer in "the organic type of organisation as that to which society corresponds, in its essential characteristics." He declares that there is too much doctrinairism in Socialism already, and for that reason he does not insist that everyone must accept iiis concept-ion of society. "But," says the author, "we must work upon some provisional hypothesis if political effort is to bo anything but a pastime of the useless classes." The scope I of Mr Mac Donald's book may he judged from the chapter headings:'"The Problem," "Society and the Individual," "The Economic Period," "Utopian and SemiScientific Socialism," "Towards Socialism." ."Socialism and the Political Organ," " Conclusion." Tho author states the problem as poverty-physical, mental, and moral. Coordination is the task of the twentieth century. In his chapter on "Society a.nd the Individual" Mr MacDonuld contends that political policies depend upon what view one takes of the social type of unity. Society i 6 an organisation of the biological type, and our ideas of the individual and the community must be formed accordingly. "The Economic Period" is an historical analysis of the evolution of society, beginning' with the conception that society exists for purposes of mutual aid. In ■ "Utopian and Scmi-Scientißc Socialism" the author hits some of the cherished idols of one sermol of Socialism very hard. He contends that the Utopians did not understand tho influence of Society, hence their error. He tilts at the Marxian conception of social growth, contending that it is pie-Darwinian and Utopian. When a large school of Socialists, known as tho Revolutionaries, are preaching the class war it is refreshing to find Mr Mac Donald declare that "There is no constructive value in a class war." He contends that any idea which "assumes that the interests of the proletariat are so simply opposed to those of the bourgeoisie as to make the proletariat feel a oneness of economic interest is purely formal and artificial." The tug of the' class war is across, not upwards. "Convey it in what spirit we may, an appeal to class interest is an appeal to personal interest. ... It is. an appeal to individualism, and results in getting men to accept Socialist formula? without becoming Socialists." Again: " Socialism marks the growth of society, not the uprising of a cki6s. The consciousness which it seeks to quicken is not one of economic class solidarity, but one of social unity and growth towards organic wholeness. TJie watchword of Socialism therefore is not class consciousness, but community consciousness." The book deserves to be read, as it is apparently being read, if one judges by the number of editions it has gone through. Its author holds a big place in British polities, and has written other works above ordinary merit. The , cable recently announced hi 6 retirement from the secretaryship of the Labour party, so that ho might apply his talents to writI ing further books on Sooialism.

The chief merit from a colonial point of view of Mr Siiomlen's book ties in the fact that it must be accepted as a statement of the attitude of the labour party on the question cf temperance reform in the Old Country. In no sense is it applicable to colonial conditions. Certainly it is brimful of interesting facts for anyone interested in the drink problem. Mr Snowdcti mtyy bo classed as the statistician of the British Labour party. He has a penchant for quoted facts and copious figures. In his chapter on " Labour Organisations and Drink," bo shows the surprising growth of Labour sentiment and interest in the drink question. Tho scope of his* hook is very wide, analysing with an acute mind the effects of shorter hours on the consumption of alcohol, as well as tho many other factors contributing to the growth of the drink bill. The author says that temperance reform must follow on the lines of all real progress. "The obvious evils of tho drink traffic have raised the subject to the rank of a. question of foremost political and social importance." Mr Snowden's ideas of temperance reform for the Old Country are on those lines:—"The steps taken must be (11 gradual, (2) democratic, (5) moral. They must be gradual so that wo <lo nor movo more quickly than experience justifies. They must bo democratic, 60 as to train the people to a sense of their ditty and responsibility for social' conditions. They must be moral, in the sense that the proposed changes do not violate the popular sense of liberty and justice. Parliament should lay down the broad lines on which the municipnlisation of Ihe drink traffic shall be carried out, but inside these it is most important that liberty to experiment, liberty to make mistakes, liberty to rectify them, should be allowed to the locality. Above all else we went, in connection with the treatment of the drink traffic, that experience which can only como from actual test. Only experment can prove or disprove the theoretic arguments for and against tho proposal in the abstract, though it is true that our experience of public control in general has an instructive bearing on this

particular quest ion." To those who desire to become acquainted with the Socialist view of the drink question in Britain, Mr Snowden's book will be welcome.

Both these volumes are well printed and bound, and bear trace of careful >vork in all branches of the art of book-making.

A NEW ORGANISATION. Auckland has taken the lead in the formation of a new organisation to further conserve the rights of trades unionists. I am indebted to "Industrial Tramp" (Auckland Star) for a report of the initial meeting. Forty delegates attended from various unions, and applied tliomselvcs ix> a discussion of the advisability of forming what is termed a "Central Board of Advice." Mr Arthur Itcsser was voted to the chair, and explained the objects of t.he meeting, which were to afford advice and assistance to all unions requiring it; to explain the working of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act: the procuring of the best legal assistance and advice that may be required; the securing of a united opinion troni the workers' unions on any proposed labour legislation that may come before Parliament; and. if required, to assist any union in drawing up its demands for better working conditions, 60 as to secure more uniformity in the awards given by Conciliation Councils and Arbitration Court. A long discussion followed, the general opinion being favourable to tlie proposal, but th° fear was expressed that tho institution of such an advisory board would retard tho present inclination on the part of many unions to join the N.Z. Federation of Labour. This view did not find favour, and it was finally agreed that .the organißa-

tion should lie formed, to bo called "Tim Auckland Unions' Advisor)- Board." jj, would appear that the- new organisation rarely overlaps the functions of (lie Trades and Labour Council.

JOTTINGS. The American Federation of Labour is now 1,625,000 strong. One thousand six hundred and fifty Illinois are out of employment in tho 'Western district (says Loudon Labour Loader) and 000 more have received notice to terminate work.

Women stenographers have greatly increased in number in New York, where there are now 11,200 of them competing with men.

The newspapers in Britain inform Australia that what she wants is men. Australia may be pardoned if she retorts that what Britain wants is to feed the men she has.—Sydney 'Worker.

The balance sheet of the Sydney eMit hours' demonstration shows that a profit of £1400 Is lOd was made. The money is 6Ct aside for Trades Hall building purposes. The Wellington Trade* and Labour Council, after having made careful inquiries re. garding the erection of a Trades Hall, has abandoned the project.

Sufficient signatures to the petition demanding a poll on the question of tho weekly half-holiday have already been obtninctl in Cliristclturcli. Tho Saturday Half-holiday League is responsible for tlio obtaining of the requisite number.

The women of Blackball, New Zcalanct, have sent us an address signed by over 100 women convoying I heir deepest sympathy and appreciation of Mrs Pankhursf's noble efforts and self-sacrifice in the causo o* Women's Suffrage—London Clarion.

Sir Robert Smillie (Lanarkshire) presided over the recent annual conference of the Scottish Miners' Federal ion in Edinburgh. Referring to the masters' latest- demand for a bit per cent, reduction of wages, which will bring the wages down from 6s 3d to 6s a day, the chairman said that was the last reduction the employers would get. They had no desire for warfare, and they sincerely hoped that they would not be forced into a general stoppage to fight for their six shillings minimum wage.

Two hundred delegates, including 12 women, attended tlio recent annual conference o[ Hie New South Wales Political Labour League. The full report has not yet ranched inc. but I notice the executive report makes reference to the visit of Mr D. M'Larcn, M.P. The report says that " Mr M'Larcn slated that the, action of outsiders in booming men who wore alleged to be as good as Labour men was in somo degree responsible for the numerical weakness of Ihe party, but- the workers are now awakening to the true position. The New Zealand Labour parly was a solid and indivisible party, anil there was evory prospect of many more Labourites being added to it at the first opportunity."