INDUSTRIAL WORLD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17104, 8 September 1917, Page 12

INDUSTRIAL WORLD.

• i, •- NEWS AND NOTES. Br n> Bex. J. T. Ewo. MX.OI Worker, "eew of thematter is correct. J. R. H_ Dunedin.—Tsiai4» far your favour, which has just come to hand. Student, MosgieL—lf your desire to understand hia viewpoint, read his boot cm "National Defence.' , THE SESSION PROSPECTS. It is becoming dear that great difficulty will be experienced in amending any of the Labour legislation daring the present session. As 1 have pointed out, there are a number of overdue amendments to our Labour laws which have been found necessary by experience. These -would have been made in the ordinary course of events had the war not altered the political situation. As it id the political truce apparently means that only war legislation will be attempted and that domestic legislation must be postponed until after the war. This ie a mistaken policy. Surely the greater perfection •we can attain in our internal government the better for our country. And as we help our country so certainly we help the Empire. THE WORKER AND lOT)TJSTRY. The demand of Labour to become a full partner in industry is daily becoming more insistent It was voiced in the House of Commons the other day by Mr A. S. Rownteee (Liberal) :— "The primary demand of Labour now is not an economio demand. It is a human demand. . . I want to see something done to remove this profound distrust of Government control. I want something done to make people fee] that it is not only democracy we want, not only political democracy, but a far greater extension of Industrial Democracy. You have to get rid of the idea the workers are wage slaves, and give them the chance of -using the best capacities they have in them. This experiment of giving the worker some share of the managerial control could be best tried in the Post Office. THE RIGHT SPIRIT. The official report of the recent conference of the United Federation of Labour is iurt to hand. In an introductory note by the president (Mr E. J. Howard) reference is made to the element of tolerance present at the conference, and which did much to make it a euccess. The sentiment is well expressed, and I reproduce it:— "When delegates differed, they differed in a way that showed that they valued .the other fellow's opinion. The only question that the congress nearly split on was toe liquor question. And on that question the congress showed the spirit that was animating it by turning the whole question right out Our thanks are due to the hotel and restaurant delegates for their tolerance on this question. May I be permitted to emphasise this point, because it will enable \ the rank and file to better judge the spirit of'the congress. The majority were in favour of dealing with this question, fhey could hare carried what hked; but when they found that a strong minority felt keenly over this matter, they (the majority) agreed to the whole question being withdrawn. This is the first time m the history of New Zealand Labour that such •' a thing has taken place. It speaks well for the new spirit of Labour. Workers, urate! i : A:NOTABLE ADDRESS I' Mr H- M. Murphy, Victorian Secretary for Labour, delivered an interesting lecture recently on Labour questions. It will be remembered that Mr Murphy reported on our system on behalf of his Government, and though his view may be classed as one emanating from the official mind it is nevertheless valuable. . Mr Murphy said the object of all, industrial tribunals in Australia was to fix a minimum wage, but there was no rule to guide them in determining the amount. In some cases the wage fixed 'was very much lower than the worker was entitled to; in other casee it was high. A shearer got 2s 5d an hour, and a livery stable worker B£d per hour. There were 1,190,000 people in Australia earning salaries and ■wages, and of these only 569,000 worked raider determinations or awards of State tribunals. Between 1901 and the end of 1916 wages in Australia had increased 39.5 per cent., and in the same period the cost of living had increased by 50.7 per cent, That left a balance of 11.1 per cent, against the workers. ~: figures :,were.; the result of calculations based- 'on - inf brmar tion given by Mr Knibbs, and applied to • , all workers, but wagee had gone up in trades not regulated by tribunals. The vast majority or Australian workers were honest and industrious, but very few of them indulged in " slowing down," the result of which went back to the worker, as all wages came out of production. In 1914 the strikes in Canada were 0.54- for every 100,000 of the population; in Australia they were 6.8. In 1916 the strikes in Australia were 10.3 per 100,000 people. The world had never seen such a record. It would be a good thing if all workers and all employers were obliged to join a union. Such a system would do away with preference to unionists. If the employers of Australia subscribed £1 for every £100 they paid in wages, they would have £1,300,000 as a fighting fund in 12 months. If the increase in the cost of living went on indefinitely the workers eventually would starve. Three remedies that might be considered were co-partner-ship, profit sharing, and nationalisation of industries. He thought profit sharing should be tried first by means of legislation.

INTELIJ3CTUAL FREEDOM. It would be little short of the miraculous if the endowment o-f American universities by ,rich men had'not'-directly or indirectly influenced tho opinions of the professors. To be' orthodox in many cases_ means a princely salary; to be otherwise means ' much less. One wonld suppose, however, that the' professors themselves - know best. A recent debate on the question, ' "Have American Universities Academic Freedom?" found them divided in opinion. Professor Scott Nearing belled the cat. "I know scores of; university professors who teach, what they do not believe," said the professor, "and I want to say that the man who teaches something he doesn't believe is prostituting . bis intellect." "Which in itself stamps Professor Nearing as one of the • frea. Professor Soligraan declared that no attempt had ever been made to limit the froed6m of thought and expression of university professors. This was followed by Professor Nearing's declaration that, "If any university professor dared to teach what he believes, and if what he believes is contrary to -the interests of the university that employs him, he would be speedily dismissed." To wfiiofi Professor Soligman angrily replied: "I want to publicly state 'i' that I will have nothing to do with any man . who would arraign his colleagues as Professor Nearing has arraigned them. And, furthermore, any professor who makes such a statement has no right to demand recognition m any university in this country." JOTTINGS. Following the announcement that the British Government would control the ooal industry, a coal owner stated in the Glasgow Herald: "While the Government's J (scheme • possessed undoubted disadvantages from the employers' point of view, it also possessed some formidable advantages. State supervision might possibly eliminate all labour : and reduce absenteeism among- the workers to a minimum." , Mr Justioe Higgins, _ President 'of the . Commonwealth Arbitration Court, recently t quoted Shakespeare to show that " the ideal - shepherd swain of the time of Henry VI — - wanted- not only hours of work, recreation, and rest, but also for 'contemplation.'" He could not .in these days see hie way to nrovide - for contemplation. ' London "New Statesman": " Will it be believed that even now, after two years' delay, and: in face of-the present crisis, there are thousands of adult women doing « war work on Government contracts at much less than £1 per week? The Ministry of Munitions professes to have enacted a minimum wage, "ant to this day it refuses to make the order , universal." "Much less than £l : per week" is in some cases as low as 12a. ■