THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19198, 14 June 1924, Page 18

THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD

Bt J. T. Pact-

NEWS AND NOTES.

A PERSONAL ANOMALY. The Prime Minister (Mr Ramsay MacDonald). a clever Parliamentarian and a man respected by all alike, is the pivot upon which rests the whole machine {writes Mr C. F. G. Mastorman in the Atlantic Monthly). It is quite obvious that, if ho had to retire for health or any other reason, the machine would fall hopelessly to pieces. He is a Highlander from Scotland who has never known the meaning of poverty since nearly 30 years ago, when he married (in a union which was a real romance) it lady of substantial fortune. He has lived the life of the cultured classes, with a town house and two country houses, with a substantial library, and capacity for unlimited entertainment and travel, and many other of the enjoyments of existence denied to the less fortunate. “ON THE DOLE.” “'[’hero is a danger (remarks the Manchester Guardian) of men coming to be oermanently ‘on the dole,' as the very inat curate, slang has it. But it is a danger which we cannot effectively deal with till the depression is over. For no one has answered the question what else we are to do with the million of workers, including hundreds of thousands of the most undoubted industry and rapacity, who are the victims of a defect in our industrial system which no one has been able to remedy. The only humane alternative is assisted emigration, but even if they could find work elsewhere we do not want to lose them, and if we do not want to lose them we must support them. As a fact we are only contributing a fraction of their support, the hulk of the cost falling on their employers and their mates in work.” THE BASIS OF REFORM. Try what formula of panacea yon will, there is no escaning from the conclusion that the one indispensable preliminary to all reform is a change in the mind and spirit, savs Dr Wingfield-Strnt ford, in his book on the reconstruction of life. Given men with all-organised minds and sympathies undeveloped, arm them with the resources of modern civilisation, and they will bring any system of government to ruin. That is what we mean by saying that all genuine and vital reform must be religions. We desire to hold no brief for any particular creed or revelation, but that need be no bar to our saving that society will never tie better until it has adopted for its own the snirit so unforgettably expressed in the Sermon on the Mount. So long as hatred and revenge are the motives of onr conduct, so long as bur justice is that of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, so long an we lack that divine magnanimity that loves our neighbour even when he is onr enemy, so 'long v-c hr-n and neighbours are condemned to tread the monotonous round of waste and collective suicide. No laws or institutions, he they ever so cunningly contrived, can provide the wav of escape, nor can aiiv avail unless it he one of the spirit. THE SC'ANO ' f. OF LABOUR SELECTION B'LT OTS. ■ln an editorial in the Australian Worker under this heading the editor concludes:—■ ‘‘The episode is referred to here as exemplifying the utterly careless and irregular methods surrounding selection ballots- a carelessness and an irregularity that play straight into the hands of ununscrnpulous individuals. It forms, however, no exceptional incident. ‘‘These ballots are mismanaged or faked all over the State. Some leagues are packed, others by trickery are disfranchised. Union tickets are forged fer (he purposes of impersonation. Bribery is rampant. Fraud and corruption are as common as shaking hands and ‘How d’ye do?’ ‘‘The commitl-eo on selection ballots appointed by the conference of last year reported to l that effect, but its report was deliberately withhold from discussion at the conference on a string and made a Jumping Jack of it. “It is plain .that the A.L.P. in New South Wales is being systematically corrupted by devices so sinister that sliding panels and dummy nails arc primitive and childish in comparison. ‘‘lt is plain that -’■''sent executive has not a scrap of enthusiasm for a genuine and thorough cleansing of the A.L.P. If any scrubbing and scouring is to be done, it is the affiliated unions that must, do it." ARE PRICES PERMANENTLY HIGHER. The American publication. Facts about Sugar, in its issue for February 23, discusses the question, ‘‘Are Prices Permanently Higher?” Its conclusion on the subject is that, while, it would he foolish to assert that sugar may not sell in the future at as low a price as it touched in the closing days of 19.? A or at various dates in the years before the world war there is some reason for believing that average prices will continue for some years at a highet level than in the period immediately preceding the war. “There are two good reasons to support that view: One is (hat the general level of commodity prices has risen greatly during this period, the average increase being about SO per cent., and • the other is that costs of production to-dav are higher than the price at which fhe commodity sold 10 years ago. . . . The war set a new value on the - • or labour and this was felt specially in the sugar industry, where labour costs are more than half the expense of production. It is conceivable that a period of declining values may set in that will carry all prices, including’ wages, fo lower levels than now prevail. It i s difficult to believe, however, that the combination of cheap land and cheap labour which led to tne rapid expansion of production in Cuba, for example, and kept the sugar prices declining in opposition to the general rive movement, can recur. Progress in (he future in sugar production is fikelv to bo made chiefly along the lines of obtaining increased yields per acre, and increased sucrose per ton of cane or beets, and such progress is inevitably slow and gradual in its effect on costs.” SOCIALISM AND PEACE. After emphasising the point that scientific discoveries will profoundly alter the character of warfare, Dr Shadwoll said recently that there are two international organisations— Socialism and the League of Nations —whose purpose is to restrain the tendency to resort to war. He proceeds: International Socialism is ,a broken reed and something worse. It aims at suppressing international animosity by substituting class animosity, at uniting aliens by setting them against their respective neighbours; instead of exorcising, it cultivates pugnacity; instead of partial external war it would create universal civil war. Many Socialists repudiate that intention, but it is a question of cause and effect, not of intention. The class war must lead to civil war, because men will not he deprived of their possessions without a struggle: and all the varieties of international Socialism preach (he class war. They stir up hatred thereby, without overcoming the national feeling, which is for' many solid reasons far too strong to yield to the fallacious theories qf the obsolete Communist manifesto of 1848. As for the League of Nations, if the great nations were fairly united they could effectively police the little pugnacious ones, but so long as they are coldly or bitterly at variance they cannot even do that. The League, unlike international Socialism, will do no' harm, but its capacity for good is restricted so long as the insatiable pugnacity of man holds sway. 'Hie secret of peace is tolerance. Without it there can.be none, and our civilisation has seen few epochs in which there was loss. Socialists, who claim superior merit as exponents of brotherly love, arc themselves the most intolerant of men. THE PRINCE AMONG CO-OPERATORS The Prince of Wales paid u visit recently to I lie Co-operative Wholesale Society’s warehouse in Leman street, Stepney. Ho was welcomed not only by the heads of departments and employees of the Co-opera-tive Society, hut also by thousands of men and women workers. The Prince, accepting a box of tea. laughingly observed that ho would thoroughly enjoy drinking what ho was told was (he national beverage. The Prince was entertained at luncheon, during which he remarked that the size of this co-operative movement throughout England and Scotland was a revelation to him. The Prime Minister (Mr Ramsay MacDonald). who also spoke, said: ‘T have very often lingered in my leisure moments over a scene which, I think, in its humour, pathos, and significance is unequalled by any other in the history of our people. You will remember that, in 1844. in a little back lane in Rochdale, two or three men gathered together of an evening and began to discuss which of them had the courage to go out to the street and pull down two or three shutters. ‘They mustered up courage, the shutters were taken down, and that was the beginning of the co-operative movement. ••'Your Royal Highness may have wandered far in vnur lifetime. You have gone almost from 'the North Polo to the South

Pole and from the rising- sun to the setting sun. But, wherever you have been, you have not been far removed from some possession or other of the co-operative movement. The movement has its assets in every climate and its ships in every sea. Mr Baldwin said that most of the things that made for the good of the country and the success of the individual could be summed up in this way —for the country you wanted commerce and credit and capital and co-operation, and for the individual, such as Mr MacDonald, Mr Asquith, and himself, ton wanted 'capacity, common sense, and character—(“Hear, hear”)—and, might he add, a little cheek —(laughter)— but above all, co-operation.—(Cheers.) EARLY UNIONISM. The Auckland branch of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers celebrated its diamond jubilee recently. In following the progress of that branch to the present time one is struck (says “Industrial Tramp”) by the alteration in the method of admission of members and the conduct of business. And this is also true of the sister organisation, the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, for they were both governed by much the same kind of rules. In earlier years each member of 12 months’ standing, or “free member” as he was tcrned, was entitled to certain benefits, such as payment of a weekly sum while out of work, compensation for loss of tools by fire or thoft, funeral benefits, and superannuation benefits '1 he admission of new members was restricted to competent tradesmen (says the writer), and each candidate for membership had to be proposed in open meeting. The proposer and seconder had to vouch for the ability of the candidate as a competent tradesman, and after these testimonials had been given a ballot of the meeting was taken on the proposal, which ended in the acceptance or rejection of the candidate. Efficiency was the test cf membership, and not a few were rejected on this ground. None but bona fide members were eligible to attend the meetings, and as a safeguard the rules provided that each quarter doorkeepers were elected to outer and inner doors, whoso duty it was to make certain that none but members known to them, or bearing credentials, were admitted to the meetings. For this duty they were paid sixpence for each mooting they attended, and were also liable to be fined for absence from their duties. The members were addressed as “Brother,” and any speaker using the courtesy title of “Mister” was sharply called to order by the chairman. Unions were net recognised by Act of Parliament, and membership was purely voluntary. It therefore required more courage to be a member of a union than it does now, with the result that members had the courage of their opinions, and the work done By these old unionists was of a substantial character, PRESENT-DAY UNIONISM. But (says “Tramp") the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act passed in 1894, brought about a change in the constitution of unions. Registering under that Act as an industrial union brought about certain specified requirements in the rules, which had to be accepted by the Registrar ot Industrial Unions before they came into force. Before preference to union members could be granted by the Arbitration Court the "close corporation” system had to be abolished, and any tradesman could b e admitted “on an application accompanied by the entrance fee, without ballot or other election." The entrance fee was not to exceed ss, and subsequent contributions were riot to exceed fid per week. Ihe old unions accepted the serving of the specified term of apprenticeship and the production of the indentures as the tangible evidence that such apprenticeship had been served, as a proof of efficiency, and I have (adds ibe same writer) known candidates to be rejected because such proofs were not forthcoming. To-day any worker must be admitted to membership so long as an employer is willing to pay him the minimum rate set forth in the award. Efficiency to-day is not (writes •‘lndustrial Tramp”) the test of membership as it was of old—the test is, “Is he getting the wages?” When the charge is levelled at unions by some employers that some union members are not as efficient to-day as the old tradesmen were, the unions are not to blame; it is the effect of the Arbitration Court throw mg open the unions to all and sitnury, “without ballot or other election.” Many are union members by compulsion ; they do not attend the meetings ot the union, out consider they have done their duty when they have paid their fid a week, hence the term has been coined “pence-card unionists ” The strike was the most effective, and. indeed, the only weapon that the old unions could use to gain better conditions, but the Arbitration Act theoretically abolished strikes—they wore declared illegal and substituted boards and councils of conciliation, at which settlement of any dispute was to bo arrived at. Public opinion in the main is in favour of the constitutional settlement, so that “the old order has given place to new.” Strikes still take place, but invariably fail. It is hard to succeed in opposition to public opinion, and one cannot be sorry that it is so, for even in successful strikes the greatest sufferers are the strikers themselves and their families. JOTTINGS. The unemployment list supplied by the Department of Labour in Auckland for the week ended last Saturday showed a slight increase on the previous week’s applications for employment. Applicants tit for heavy work numbered 147, while those classed as fit. for light work only .were 44. There were 22 men placed in employment during the week. Tastiaya Poliana, Leo Tolstoy’s estate, is carefully preserved by the Russian Government. A now school is being built as a monument to Tolstoy and his works. Catiana, his oldest daughter, is in charge of her father’s museum in Moscow, and his niece is a teacher at the school. Everything is splendidly cared for by. paid workers of the Commissariat of Education. His workroom where ho wrote most of nis works is left untouched. The simple grave is a little mound-shaped hillock. 'The Californian Labour Commissioner’s department is investigating the child labour problem in the asparagus beds of the Sacramento Valley. By the State law. minors 16 vears old or older may be employed in farm and fruit work during school vacations or out of school hours, but not more than eight hours a day or 48 hours per week. The question of hours, wages, general treatment and number of children employed will be dealt with. It is claimed that about 15,000 children work annually on Californian ranches, following crops from south to north, and living under unwholesome conditions which retard their: school work and unfit them for any but casual unskilled labour.