THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1922. TALL TALK AND ARBITRATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18468, 1 February 1922, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1922. TALL TALK AND ARBITRATION.

The deep concern exhibited by certain speakers at th© recent deputation to the Minister of Labour over the probable effects of the proposed amendments to the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act was in strange contrast with their past .attitude towards the arbitration system. Some of those who addressed Mr Anderson on the subject have for years been consistent opponents of the principle* of arbitration and have done everything in their power to destroy the Act which embodies the principle. A few weeks ago a conference under the auspices of the Alliance of Labour attempted to paralyse the Arbitration Court. It recommended the unions not to nominate any person other than Mr M’Cullough for the position of workers’ representative on the Court, and did so with the knowledge that Mr M'Cullough had refused to act again as a member of the Court from which he had resigned. Moreover, in a hurst of boastful candour, the secretary of tho Alliance of Labour recently declared that his organisation by virtue of its membership controlled the election of tho workers’ representative on the Arbitration Court, and there were ugly rumours afloat that an effort would bo made to elect an aggressive opponent of arbitration so that the Court might be converted into something like a bear garden and ultimately destroyed. The rumours to which wo refer may have been absolutely devoid of foundation, but the fact remains that the majority of the unions which compose the Alliance have no sympathy with arbitration and have sought repeatedly to bring it into disrepute. Last week tho secretary of this organisation professed his grave anxiety in characteristic language lest the proposals by the Government to amend the arbitration law would produce industrial strife. He was particularly vehement in his expression of opposition to the provision which will deprive the Alliance of tho power of election of the workers’ representative and place it in the hands of a majority of the unions. For many years prior to 1908, during the reign of the Liberal-Labour Government, each union recommended a person for the position of workers’ represen’-ative on the Court, The

unit of voting power in the unions was fixed in 1908 at 50 members. That in itself has led to democratic inequalities, to say nothing of the new danger of allowing the enemies of arbitration to select the workers’ representative on the Court. The Bill now before Parliament proposes to limit the maximum number of votes exercisable by a union to three. That, at any rate, is more democratic than the method so long followed under the existing legislation. The sentiments of the spokesman of the Alliance were illuminating as an illustration of his value as a conciliator. The deputation was “ the first shot from the Alliance of Labour” and “they were going to oppose the Bill tooth and nail whether it became law or not.” In plain English this means that the Alliance would attempt to defy the law as it has done in the past. “ The question now was,” he declared, “ whether the workers’ organisations were to bo killed outright or the Government was to be called off.” Obviously if the Government could be “ called off ” the Alliance would attempt to dominate the position, but the arbitration unions have more to hope for from the Government than from the Alliance. The criticism of other point's in the Bill' by the spokesmen of the Alliance was equally extravagant. “ The penalty clause,” ho averred, “ sentenced to death the right of free speech and free criticism of any industrial award.” The Minister of Labour has scouted the idea that there is any intention of stifling fair criticism, but those who remember the fiasco which followed the attempts and threats of the shearers’ leaders after the promulgation of their award realise that a limit should be placed on urfbridled license directed to bring awards into contempt and to secure the evasion of them. *

It is to be hoped that the extreme views of certain members of the deputation will not prevent the Minister from agreeing to make certain necessary and reasonable modifications in the Bill. The proposal to exclude local bodies from the scope of arbitration goes too far, and the provisions with respect to assessors might with advantage be widened. A pleasant change from violent disputation on the subject of arbitration is contained! in an article, “ Industrial Peace in New Zealand,” by Sir John Findlay, published in the International Labour Review. A large part of the contribution is historical and descriptive of the system, but the writer contends that Labour has received through arbitration as much in wages and working conditions as the existing industrial system has permitted. Sir John Findlay specifies the advantages which he finds in arbitration. One of these is publicity, which has added the force and support of public opinion to the side declared by the Court to be right. Then, the Court has been “ a powerful friend of the weaker and poorer workers, who would have been unable to improve their condition by any form of militant trad© unionism." Moreover, hours of labour have been shortened without reduction in wages, and all labour conditions have been improved. Further, the increases in wages of unskilled labour have been substantially greater than those of skilled labour. It is well that these facts should be restated at the moment, when attempts are being made to supplant arbitration by One Big Union schemes. Sir John Findlay’s exhaustive contribution to the subject is worthy of perusal by those who would advise the workers on their future lines of policy. Ho does not disregard the fact that discontent exists in the dominion, but he points out “ that industrial unrest is due to the pursuit of ideals, attainable or unattainable and vaguely or definitely conceived, rather than to the pressure of want or other intolerable conditions.”

To grumble at the weather is a privilege which we all exercise, and Dunedin weather is occasionally provocative. A corrective to jeremiads over trivial climatic imperfections is to read of real meteorological excesses in other parts of the world. The blizzard at Washington last week furnishes an instance in point, with its three feet of snow, its upsetting effect on Congress and the Disarmament Conference, and the sad tragedy attending the collapse of the over-weighted roof of a cinema theatre. On the other side of the States, Los Angeles has been enduring a frost beyond anything of the kind experienced for nine years, to the great destructipn of the crops of oranges, lemons, and melons. Again about this time of the year a “London particular ” is always likely to declare itself. A few days ago a visitation of the great metropolis by fog was the subject of a cable message. Home papers were recently devoting columns to a great fog in London, described as the worst tbo city has known for twenty years. It is estimated that a single day of such a visitation costs London about £1,000,000. Every phase of daily life is hampered by the conditions that declare themselves. • Calculations as to a day’s direct losses include:—Railways, £20,000; ’buses. £10,000; extra lighting and heating, £50,000; extra laundry bills, £30,000; shopkeepers, £250,000; time lost by wage-earners, £300,000. To this might be added a heavy bill of costs for shipping rendered idle. Figures covering, one day (a Sunday) showed that over 10,000 “bus miles” were lost and a million fewer passengers carried. An official at the Liverpool Street Station, the busiest in London, stated that the condition of things there was the most extraordinary in the history of the Great Eastern line. He added: “ Nobody knows exactly how the trains are running. We are like bees in a hive, and we do not know from one moment to another where we are going or what is going to happen.” Another costly aspect of a London fog is its effect upon the health of the people. This is the more deplorable because' it is now recognised that such visitations are too often the outcome of the smoke of London. Dr Owens, the fog expert, estimated that during four days’ fog in November there were something like 200, to 250 tons of soot in the air over London, and that in a year unnecessary smoke cost the city anything up to £10,000,000. In New Zealand, after all, wo have a good deal to be thankful for.

From fog to sunlight is an agreeable change. Medical men seem to be coming to realise that the scientific study, in its biological aspects, of light—not the X-rays, but mere ’ sunlight—has scarcely yet been commenced. Dr C. W. Saleeby, who uses his pen indefatigably in the endeavour to instruct the British public in the principles of health, has been much impressed by what he has seen of the curative effects of the sunlight treatment at Leysin, in Switzerland. In an article in the Daily Chronicle he puts tho question—“ Can these wonders of healing and restoration to a vigorous working life be performed anywhere else hat in the mountain air, thousands of feet fp in tho sky?” He proceeds instructively to discuss whether an urban people, who must live by industry in great cities, can apply,

beneficially the lesson to bo drawn from Switzerland. Ho contends that on the purely scientific and experimental side this “superb subject” is as yet practically unexplored. He declares that the critical question whether the light of day can save and prevent even at ordinary levels can be answered in the most satisfactory and significant way. Dr Saleeby describes what is being accomplished at an ex-Lord Mayor’s Cripples’ Hospital at Alton in Hampshire, and at its seaside branch, upon which he bases his assertion that “ even in onr latitudes, and at sealevel, the sun, our own English sun, against whom all our coal-smoke-cursed cities blaspheme, can' work the natural miracles which we associate primarily with the name of Leysin.” Dr Saleeby is nothing if not thorough-going in his statements. The Treloar hospital is demonstrating, he says, that tuberculosis should not exist in England. He is a most whole-hearted advocate of the exorcism of the smoke-fiend. He pictures the wholesale disappearance of “ thd diseases of darkness ” that will follow the restoration of the light of day to urban lives. “ Unfortunately,” he laments, “we shall not reach the ideal goal to-morrow: many vested interests, many imbecile habits, inherited stupidities, must be abolished first. Meanwhile we are breeding the diseases of darkness on all hands and must deal with the dread results.”

It is easy to sympathise, oven at this distance, with the protests, which, as a cabled message informs ns, are being raised against the holding of boxing contests at the Albert Hall. Well may the invasion of mixed crowds of vendors of roasted chestnuts, with dirty barrows, and pogus programme sellers—to say nothing of the performance and the type of audience—be described as an outrage against the amenities of select aristocratic Kensington. The Albert Hall, scene of so many artistic triumphs, has 'surely fallen upon parlous days. 'Die account of this, in conjunction with the report in another message of the “ frost ” that is closing so many of London’s theatres or delivering them over to motion pictures, makes curious, reading. The main cause of the trouble, which will be accentuated of course by the hard times, appears to be the crashing expenditure involved in the production of plays, brought about largely by the exploitation of theatrical rents. Mr St. John Ervine discusses the position instructively and prophetically in the Observer. He affirms that the theatre in England is threatened with extinction, not because people iu-e no longer willing to witness reputable drama, but because of financial conditions. Jn London these are becoming such, •we are told, that the performance of any kind of reputable drama is likely to be a diminishing prospect. It would appear that a favourite form of gambling at the present time is speculation in theatre rents. This means that a person wishing to hire a theatre for the production of a play must make application, not to the landlord, but probably to an individual or a syndicate holding the theatre possibly at sixth or seventh hand ; There is not one theatre in London/ says this authority, which is worth more than £l6O a week, with the exception perhaps of Drury Lane. There are some theatres which ought to bo pulled down and rebuilt. They are dirty, insanitary, illconstructed, and out of date,/ Yet the owners of such theatres can quite easily get ; a rent ranging from £250 a weds (and a share of the profits if there are any) to £SOO a week. Before the war. it was possible to obtain a London theatre at a weekly rent of £6O, and recent happenings seem already to be bearing out the prediction that until there is a return to something like that standard the drama in England will be negligible.

The accommodation in the city hotels for Carnival Week has been well booked up, apd intending visitors to Dunedin will now have to seek accommodation in the suburban hotels. Other accommodation can be obtained in private houses. Particulars of these can be obtained from Mr H. Divers, secretary of the Carnival Week Executive.

The wholesale price Of butter has been increased by Id a pound, the quotation now being Is Id for both ppixs and bulk.

The vital statistics for ■ tho month of January, with the statistics for the corresponding month of last year in parentheses, are as follow:—Births) January, 141 (135); deaths, 60 (79); marriages, 57 (64).

In connection "with the matter of unemployment the Mayor (Mr J. S. Douglas), in conformity with the resolution passed at the last meeting; of the executive, has sent a circular letter to the chairmen of the various country local bodies asking them to forward him advice of any work available in their respective districts. The executive will meet again to-morrow afternoon. A meeting of the Carnival Week Executive will be held this afternoon, when the Mayor will submit a final draft of the programme of events arranged. In connection with the Mardi Gras at Forbury Park, in aid of the various orphanages, entries for the tug-of-war contests have been received from the Police, the Hillside Workshops, the City Corporation’s staff, ant} the Waterside Workers. Tickets of admission will be sold in the streets on Friday by the ladies’ committees connected with the different orphanages. When the tramways department constructs its proposed balloon loop round Dr Stuart’s Monument in Lower High street it will be necessary to readjust the site of the monument. Th© pew site, Cr Wilson told a reporter yesterday, may be the centre of the finished loop where the monument may be surrounded by shrubs and flowers, which will make it look more at home and better oared for than at present; or it may find a resting-place, with the consent of the Early Settlers’ Association, in the reserve in front of the association’s hall. In order to give the manoeuvring oars sufficient room without bringing them into Rattray street, the Simmons watering-trough will also have to be Removed to a new site, and the footway will have to be made the same width as the footway on the other side of Rattray street—namely, 10ft. By this means it will be possible to construct the loop without reducing the reserve area or moving the Queen’s Statue. A special meeting of the Electric Power and Lighting Committee will be held to-day for- the purpose of considering som# of the final details of the draft agreement with the Government in respect to Waipori. Following upon this Cr Shaoklock may b* able to make a detailed' statement at the meeting of the council. The Gas Committee will also hold a special meeting to-day to consider an offer for the purchase of two condensers which has* been received from Australia.

One of the patients of the Seacliff Mental Hospital escaped on January 23, and nothing has been heard of him. He is not dangerous, but anxiety is felt at his prolonged absence. He is 30‘ years of age, sft Bin in height, of fresh complexion, fair hair, clean shaven, and of stout build, and when he escaped ho was, wearing a dark tweed coat and moleskin trousers and a cap.

The Hon. M. Cohen gave notice in the Legislative Council yesterday (wires our Wellington correspondent) that he intended to ask the Attorney-general the following question: “Will the Government consider the propriety of recouping the parents of New Zealand youths who qualified for admission to the Duntroon Military College for 5 the cost of preparing for such admission, and for the maintenance charges during tlio college course? Failing that, will the Government grant compensation for the lads’ loss of time by enabling such as are returned graduates or undergraduates of the Now Zealand University to go through the course of law, medicine, or* engineering at our university colleges?” Such compensation, Mr Cohen states, should include scholarship concessions, and counting for terms, if such lads spent part of their time at Duntroon on science subjects. His Honor Mr Justice Sim has granted probate in the estates of Matthew Griffith, Donald Munre, Thomas Mansell, and Edward Synge Paterson,

An Invercargill Press Association telegram says that a meeting of business people adopted a resolution strongly protesting against the proposed elimination of the Christchurch-Inveroargill express under the railway economy scheme, asserting that th© saving effected would be insignificant, and far outweighed by the loss and inconvenience to Southland, and claiming the right to at least three trains weekly each way. A Wellington Frees Association message says that the N.Z.RJ3.A. has received 396,000 artificial poppies' from France for distribution throughout the dominion prior tq Anzao Day, on which anniversary, they will be sold and worn in sacred memory of those who fell in the late war. Part of the proceeds is to bo remitted to the women and children of devastated Northern France and a portion retained by the R.S.A. for the benefit of returned soldiers in need of assistance.

In connection with the orphanages fit, Which will be held on Wednesday next at Forbury Park; the Mayor (Mr J. S. Douglas) has granted the Ladies’ Committee permission to take up various stands in the city on Friday for the purpose of selling tickets. A souvenir programme, bearing the seal of the City Corporation, setting forth all details of the fixtures for Carnival Week, has been authorised for publication, and will bo available at the end of the week.

A party of 'Wanganui residents who recently toured Taranaki are enthusiastic regarding the beauties of that* province and the excellent roads they found there (saya the Wanganui Herald). It was a great treat to motor over SO or 60 miles of tar-sealed roads with hardly anything in the nature of a bump. They found the country looking in excellent condition, and were impressed with the large quantities of hay which were being harvested. In ayery part of the province farmers were cutting hay. Feed, owing to the favourable season, was plentiful, and the farmers were providing themselves with fodder for the winter.

The Railway Department is trying' to economise in many ways (says the New Zealand Times). At night the lights on the stations are .turned on a few minutes before a train is due to leave, and extinguished immediately after ite departure. The restriction that is being made in respect to the use of water is stated to be likely to have an effect upon health. In the past it has been the custo;m to have, a small stream of water flowing continuously in the conveniences at railway stations, bat where the department is required to pay for the water used for this purpose it is only allowed to ran for a very limited period, with a result that can better bo imagined than described.,

The only case in the City Police Court yesterday, before Mr H. Y. Widdowson, S.M., -was an adjourned case against Thoe. Wilkinson, who was charged on three ocmnts with the theft at Queenstown, between October 9 and December 16, of clothing, valued at £3 10s, the property of H. B. Smith; £8 in money belonging to T. E. Haines; and alluvial gold samples,. valued at £9 10s, the property of Leon Curtis. Defendant was further remanded, as he is / awaiting sentence by the Supreme Court on a charge of breaking and entering. ■

The following eases have /been set dowir for hearing v at the civil sittings of tho Supreme Court: —Frederick Thoa. Buchanan v James Samson and Co.; a claim for a deposit received on a sale, against which there is a counter-claim' for commission} Williany Robert Fleck, John MTSissock, Robert Charles MTliarmid, and Paul Evan M'Quarrio v. the Campbell Island Syndicate, a claim in each case for damages for alleged breach of contract in failing; to send, a boat to remove plaintiffs from Campbell Island as agreed in March, 1921. The Arbitration Court will sit in Dunedin on February 15 to hear the‘thrashing mills employees’ dispute. The court will also have before it applications from employers who are parties to the cheese factory managers cheese and butter factory assistants, and meat preservings and canning workers’ awards to have the bonuses reduced. ■ -

Tho annual inspection of the Port Chalmers Fire Brigade, by Inspector Hugo, was carried out yesterday evening. Superintendent C. M‘Donald paraded the brigade at 7.30, and after the station and plant had ■been inspected the first-aid motor engnie was taken for a trial run and the equipment of the machine tried out. Water pressures were also tested. After returning to the station the brigade was addressed by Inspector Hugo, who complimented the members on-its efficiency. The true value of th© beautiful timber of silver pine has never been properly appreciated, and in many respects it is quite equal to kauri (writes a correspondent to the New Zealand Times). It has been recklessly out into railway and tramway sleepers where tho loss in each tree would amount to approximately 75 per cent. There are only a few of virgin silver pine left here and there in the dominion, and there is no doubt in my mind that that which is still in existence will. be rapidly cut out unless.some special steps are taken for.the conservation of ita uses. When the wonderful lasting qualities and the many uses that this timber can be put to are considered, it seems to me that all possible nrooaution must be -taken to prevent any further sacrifice of it

The co-operative coal mining parties at Beddonville are finding a good demand for the coal (says the Westport News). Hi© sample orders sent to Auckland turned out very satisfactorily, with the result that orders exceeding the present ability of th© miners to supply are flowing in. Development work at several of the mines is in hand, ensuring a much larger output in the near future. 1

The military hospital ab Trentham, which was to be handed over to the control of the Health Department at the end of February, will remain under the control of the defence authorities till the end of March. The only other institution founded for the care of sick and wounded soldiers during the war period that is being administered by the''medical branch of the Defence Department is the Cashmere Sanatorium at Christchurch, With. the commencement of the new century of the Methodist Church in. New Zealand, the Solomon Islands became the special care of the Methodists of the dominion. The Methodist Church of New Zealand recently took over from the Methodist Missionary Society of Australia the responsibility of mission work in the Western Solomons, where most successful work had been carried out under the direction of the Rev. J. F. Goldie.

Under date December 7, Mr George Highland writes from New York to a Wellington friend as follows:—“I suppose you are bathed in sunshine now; here it is winter, and freezing hard. We have had two bad snowstorms in New York this week, and last Sunday saw the Mercury drop to two degrees below zero. Goodness knows what it is going to be like in January. Anyhow, clothes are awfully cheap «hero—splendid overcoats from £3 to £s—and underclothing for next to nothing: .1" guess-'all the manufacturers are emptying their warehouses and getting whatever prices they can for their goods, they have stored up for ages in an effort to keep up the prices. Good boots are down to throe, four, and five dollars a pair. The cry is, “Down with prices and salaries, and if you won’t work, starve!’ The £1 to-day (December 7) is up to 4.9 dollars. If New Zealand and Australia will only trade with Mother England you will soon get the £1 back to dollars. v

Pull, pull, pull; that’s all the HarleyDavidson motor cycle knows. Otago agents; W. A. Justice and Co., Imperial Garage. 292 Princes street. Dunedin.—Advt. Housewives oan save pounds by using “No-Rubbing” Laundry Help instead, of employing wasli women. —A.dvt. A Snip.—Fiook beds, covered with extra heavy, ticking, buttoned, size 4ft 6in s: 6ft 6in. Special sale pride 355. MoLUsona Ltd. Advt. * Watson’s No. 10 is a little dearer than most whiskies/ but is worth the money.— Advt. ‘ , A E. J. Blakeley, dentist, Bank of Australasia, corner of Bond and Rattray streets (next Telegraph Office). Telephone 1859.Advt. Save your Eyes.—Consult Peter G. Diok, D.8.0.A., F. 1.0., London, consulting ar«J .oculists’ optician.—“ Peter Diok,” jeweller* and opticians, Moray place, Dunedin.—Advt