SOCIAL QUESTIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2252, 29 April 1897, Page 23

SOCIAL QUESTIONS.

j The following qvestio&s were dealt with at I the conference o« Trades C'ouucils meeting iv : Djnerlin ou the 20fch iusfc. • EIGHT lIOVKS BirX. i The Right Hours Bill was then considered, [ when it was reiolve.ii — "That ' hec Majesty's ' Goverumeot' ba introduced pfter the words ! ' local authority ' iv the clause setting forth : tbe infterprefcation of the word ' employer ' ; i that 'five' be altered to 'four' in clause 3, ■ pstablishiag eight hours as a working day on i *isch of five dr.y< in the wesk and of five con- | Bfcutive working hours ou one day in the week." : Tha amendment affs cbs the latter part of the ; clause, reducing the five cor.eecutive working I hours to four on one of the days. i In clause 4 the words "44 working hours in ! ?^ny one week"' wore substituted foe the words "45 hours," to harmonise with the alteration ! in the previous clause. j A MIKi'MDM WAGE. 1 MrBiLLCUFF, in moving "That the Govern- • went be requested to introduce a Minimuu Wage Bill," said ib had been fert necessary in : Uio interests of the workers that a bill should I bf. brought forward fixing a minimum wage, : ; seeing that many men at the present time— such J I as carters, ntoremen, end other? — were worfeiDg j ! for as iittie as 15s or 20* *, week. The motion ; , would bring the msfcttr before the trades ', • councils and tbe public generally ; but he : thought that before they could get the principle of a living wage adopted, thoy would have to bring the matter repeatedly before the public and P.»,;l ; B.ment. j Mr Collins seconded tho motion pro forma ! He said this wan a big question, aud ho would j lika to know how the Government were going to , strike a minimum rate of wages. It seemed to i 1 him that they locked to the Government to rec- j tify all the evils that they suffered from. If ; they wanted the eviljof low wagas rectified they I must do it themselves by organising unskilled ! ■ lab >ur. It would be an impossibility for the j ' Government to strike a minimum rate of wages j I for all employees. What the trade representa- ; live* should do was to bring pressure to bear ! ! upon the municipal bodies S3 as to get them Dot ' i to 'eb contracts at a starvation rate cf wages. : i Mr Wobth supported the motion. He said i I they had nob ai workers the same iuflaence with 1 municipal councils as they had with the Govern- ■ 1 ment, and i j was only by asking for reforms such I as they were discussing that; there was any hope !of getting them. He hoped the conferanec-. • would recognise tho principle of the minimum j wage, and get the Government to apply it in their own departments. Mr Laffkuty thought tbab this was one of tbe matters the conference musb deal with. He quiba agreed that ib was necessary to have a minimum wage, and the sooner they set about laying tb.9 foundation of ib the better. Mr Bali- recognised this to be one of the j most difficult questions of the day to deal with. It did not altogether rest wibh the Government and the municipal councils. They employed comparatively few, and co long as there was co much surplus labour on the market they could not very well fix a minimum wage. Mr Slater said if they wanted to fix a minimum wage they would have to start with the Government and tha local bodies. At present they coald do nothing with the local bodies, but in the Local Government Bill he hoped the Government would insist upon the municipal franchise being extended so as to give every householder a vote. The first step was to get the Government to establish the principle of a minimum wage in all branches of the public ! eervice, and then they should get men into the ' local bodie3 who were in sympathy with the workers The Trades Council in Dunedin had tried to influence City Council to fix a minimum wage for their employee], bub they had not yet been able to get them to do so. After some further discussion, the motion was put and carried without dissent. THE EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY ACT. Some slight discussion took place with regard to the Employers' Liability Act, during which it was pointed oat by several delecates that

I

many employers deducted a portion of ihefo employees' wages so as to provide for in* sorance. With the view of preventing this being done, Mr Slathr moved—-" That the Government be requested to incorporate clauses 3, 4, and S of the Wages Protection Bill in the Employers' Liability Act." Mr Collins seconded the motion, which wa» carried. The clauses referred to provide that it shall be unlawful for any employer to take or receive any money from wagei for acoident insurance policies ; that moneys so received or deducted may be recovered ; and that gum' digging be subject to the provisions of the Truck Act. CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION ACT. On the motion of Mr Lafferty, seconded by Mr Billcliff, it was resolved—" That where the recommendation of the Conciliation Board is agreeable to the parties in dispute the board shall draw up an industrial agreement to be signed by tho parties aforesaid, suoh signing to be the only acceptance recognised by the court ; also that where an award has been given by the Arbitration Court such award is to be binding on all employers and employees affected." THE WAGES PSOTECTION BILL. It was decided to ask the Government to reintroduce the Wages Protection Bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives lasb session, with the exception of the first six words in clause 7. The words in question are : " Nothing in tho principal act; or." Tho j clause will then read : " This acb shall apply to j workers employed on the cooperative system in , connection with any department of the Govern- | ment." i MR TILLETT AS AN ORGANISER FOR THB j COLONY. | Mr J. Wilson, in referring to the dosiro- • bility of Mr Tillett being retained in the colony i as an organiser for labour, said a good many in Christohuroh thought that that gentleman was the right man to do this work. He (Mr Wilson) and the secretary of tho Trades Council interviewed Mr Tillett on the matter, and he Haid he was quite willing to become an organiser if there was a sincere desire on the part of the workers in tho colony that he should ; otherwise he would not entertain the idea. He j moved — "This conference learns with th.9 greatest pleasure that there is a prospect of Mr Tillett remaining in the colony, and the oonference trusts that the various trades councils will immediately take into consideration the j question of retaining his services as an organiser ( throughout the colony." Me Fawcus seconded the motion, which was ,- carried unanimously, after there had been » general expression of opinion that the r&tantiou of Mr Tillett; as an organiser in the colony would be of great benefit to the Labour party, THE WORKMEN'S WAGES ACT. I It was unanimously resolved, on the motion | of Mr Worth, seconded by Mr Billcliff, to recornmcod tLo Government to amend clau»o 3 of the Workmen's Wages Acb so as to make ib compulsory under all circumstances to pay workmen engaged or employed in manual labour tbeir entire wages at intervals of not 1 more than one weak. The clause of the act in { question provides that this should be done in j the absence of an agreement in writing to the j contrary, aud Hie conference desires to do t,way i with this particular provision. | CO OPEHA'UVB INDUSTRIAL SETTLEMENTS. j The following letter (a copy of which has been 1 sent to the various Trades and Labour Oouuoils throughout the colony) was received from the Hon. W. M. Bolt :~ Sir,— Soms 18 or 20 months ago I hail the honour ! of introducing into the Legislative Council a serie3 | of rc3olutionb affirming tba desirableness of estab- [ lisliiaKco-op^rrttivo industrial settlements. Those j resolutions were 'indorsed by all tho more important labour bodies from Auckland to Dunedin — yourselves, I believo, amongst the number,— and I am encouraged by the approval then bestowed on the rough sketch of the sob em c then before you to ask your body to give a littl') further consideration to this very" jmportint subject. I am urged to uinke this reque3t of you because as a result of considerable thought on the question, I have come to the conviction that no scheme of social reform gives promise of greater or more enduring advantages vo the wage-earner and to bis family than a. proposal to establish self-contained and Eolf-supporting industrial colonies— colonies wherein tha land, tha nuchinery, and the buildings shall be the common property" of the people who use tho in. Only on those lines can that economic freedom be found which we are all daily BtruußliuK sfter. With us <>verything favoura o proiect of this | sort. Oor climate is good, our land cheap and fertile, ouv Government democratic, and presumably sympathetic, our laws all wa require, aua, wiih discreet and careful selection, 1 feel assured people of character and temperament ; suitable for the onterprisa will be found in i abundance. I What is required in the first plnco is the »»p- , poiatment of a few representative men to act as a committee for the purpose of drawing up a plan ' (>t procedure for considering ways aad means, and i for drafting regulations which should govern the j industrial and social life of tho proposed settlei With the view of setting up such a committee, : and in order to give it a representative character, . i I -am approaching th« labour bodies of Wellington, ' Ohristcliurch, and Dunedin with a request that ! each oije of them so addressed will appoint someI one to serve on ir, and I shall be glad if your bodywill so far favour the proposal as to make such an ' appointment at your earliest convenience. I These representative?, with Mr 11. If. Bastings. i of the htaff of the Otago Daily Times (who ha 3 i given great thought and consideration to the sub- ! ject), together with myself and perhaps one or ■ ; two others, would, I have no doubt, briug up s, ! Fcheme to the varior.s bodies represented which ' would meet with general approval. Of coime, if the committee sat iv Dunedin, I Wellington and Cbristchurch would require to ' appoint residents of Dunedta to act on their ! behalf. I This is what I propose. If, however, you think I the problem could be better approached on somo other linc3, I shall be very pleased to fall in witk your viows. In conclusion I would point out that your body will in no v/tiy be liable for any expenditure, nor will it in any sense b3 identified with the views i or opinions given expression to by tho committee. I -I am, Ac, w M - BoLV- ! On the motion of Mr Worth, seconded by I Mr Fawcus, he was accorded a hearty vote of thanks by acclamation. The business of the conference was then con« eluded. MR BEN TILLETT. It was unanimously resolved on the motion of Mr Slater, seconded by Mr Collins—" Thafc the conference regret the publication of an anonymous letter to the Otago Daily Timss stating that Mr Ben Tillett's reason for coming to the colony was other than that of illhealth, and suggesting that Mr Tillett had done some- . thing discreditable at Home; the conference are also of opinion that the attack was not only cowardly iv the extreme, but unwarrantable, inasmuch as Mr Tilletb is not here to defend himself, and that the letter plainly indicated that tha writer thought that Mr Tillelt, if retained as an organiser for labour iv the colony, was a power to be feared." The following is the paragraph alluded to :—.: — . A correspondent, who signs himself " Labour," writes — "I notice that tho conference o£ trades councils has been discussing the question whether Mr Ben Tillett should be retained in this colony as a labour organiser. Personally I think it is a small matter whether he is keofc off

not ; because, although he was concerned in the great dock strike of a fow years ago, I am not aware that he showed any special organising talent. But before any engagement is made with him, I think it would be prudent to make some further inquiries into the reason of his visit to this colony — I mean whether there is anything «lse except illhealth to account for it. I understand that Mr Tillett is not in good odour with U»e Labour party in London, for reasons which would seem to imply that bis love of humanity — especially the poor and etruggliog, and I may Bay unprotected, portion of it — is by no means as strong as he would have vi believe. Information coming to me direct from London is to that effect, at all eveDts. I suggest that inquiries should be made as to Mr Tiilett's more recent history, and if he can himself honestly say tbat there is no reason whatever but that of illhealth for his visit here, then I think it will be time enough for the Labour party to give him their confidence."