THE RAILWAY INSURANCE BILL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2059, 10 August 1893, Page 5

THE RAILWAY INSURANCE BILL.

Wellington, August 2. This morning a deputation waited, on the Premier with reference to the railway employes' insurance scheme and constitution of the recent conference on the subject. The deputation comprised Mr Jenkinson, M.L.C., and Messrs Sandford, Tanner, Earnshaw, and J. Kelly, M.H.R's., and Mr Hoban, the president of theAmalgamated Society of New Zealand Railway Servants. > Mr Tanner, in introducing Mr Hoban to tfae Premier, stated^that that gentleman had compiled a mass of information relative to the constitution of the recent conference, and wished to bring it forward' in no spirit of hostility to the commissioners, but solely in the interests of fair play to all. „ Mr Hoban said the railway servants of the colony had many grievances, and he, wished to urge upon the Government the of the Industrial Conciliation - Bill, and the inclusion of railway employes under its benefit provisions. As regarded the conference presuming to represent ' the railway employes .that lately sat in Wellington, he said the facts as to its representative character were as follows .—There were 4462 railway employes in the colony, most of whom were wages ■ men, yet at a conference there were five stationmasters and. one traffic inspector, ' one night foreman, one yard foreman, and two of the clerical staff, against five wages' men. - Further, the wages men had only a Bingle vote, whereas the other delegates, by virtue of extra' representation, wielded 11 votes against' five. Then the manner in which these delegates were appointed did not give representation to the body of employes at Christchuroh. -Only 13 were present at the meeting callgd a few days before the date of the conference. The men in Addington workshops, numbering 400 or 500, knew nothing at all about it. At Auckland the men had only a short notice, and at a small meeting three prominent officials were suggested as delegates. In Otago, where there are nearly 600 em.ployes, three delegates were appointed, who did not represent 5 per , cent, vof the men. At Invercargill only nine' men were present at the meeting, and by five votes to three the chief clerk was appointed a delegate. r Ten attended the meeting at^ Falmerston,- North, and a committee elected by that meeting appointed the stationmaster as delegate, and he was chairman of the conference. Mr Hoban went on to say that the whole of the rail* way service meetings held to elect delegates were attended by less than 100 persons. ' He controverted the impression created by the recent conference that the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants was averse to the insurance scheme, and he asserted that' so far from the society decreasing in membership it was increasing both in membership and contributions. As for the petition in favour of tho commissioners' insurance scheme, he assured tho' Premier that in ChristchurcbAat least many signatures were obtained through pressure by superior officers canvassing. Mr Earnshaw, as president of the Ofcago branch of the society, endorsed all Mr Hoban had stated. i . Mr Tanner said he wished to emphasise the desire of the railway employes to have some independent tribunal before which their grievances could be heard, and he reminded the Premier that in 1891 the Public Petitions Committee made a recommendation that such a tribunal be set up for railway servants. Mr Jenkinson confirmed Mr Hoban's statement. Speaking from his experience, he [ showed that signatures were obtained by false pretences. ! The Premier remarked that, when the delegates to the conference . met him there was some talk of circulating the bill > among all railway employes. He wished to know if the deputation approved of the proposal, and if so, what would be the beßt means to ascertain the views of railway employes regarding it. ' Mr Kelly suggested that as men could not conveniently meet to discuss the measure,, a copy of the bill should be Bent to each man in the service, along with a voting paper returnable to the Premier "direct, without passing through the hands of an official. .In that way au independent opinion of employes on the subject would be obtained without being filtered through the hands of their .superior officers. He suggested voting papers. , . . Mr Sandford agreed it was desirable to have the employes' individual opinion of the measure, and other members of the deputation ajso expressed approval of the proposal. The Premier said he supposed thess voting papers should ask : (1) Are you in favour of tbe bill as it stands ? (8) If not, state where amendment is required. (3) Ate you already insured or in a friendly society ? 'He had listened with interest to the views of the deputation on the important question of the insurance, scheme, and it was the desire of the Government to .do everything that was fair and just to all concerned. He took it that there was a? general concensus of opinion that there should, be some scheme. It might b& found ' tb.af-the.late conference represented the views of the men, 1 but in the meantime, as the delegates were net chosen by the employes as a whole, and as the latter did not know what had been done,- it was impossible to say whether or not they approved of the commissioners' scheme. He would take an early opportunity of asking the Railway Commissioners to meet him, when he would lay the proposals before them. The deputation thanked the Premier and withdrew, ."