INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14195, 12 January 1917, Page 5

INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS.

• NATIONAL TRADE POLICY AFTER THE WAR. , CAPITAL AND * LABOR. d-lec;". Tel. Cppyright^United Press V»nn.i (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) . • V'.. LONDON, January 11. - Th© Employers' Parliamentary 'Asso-' cia'tibh investigated indus'.rial reconstruction. and" the establishment of na-i* tional trade policy ■ after the war, and'' in the course of a i"*por> says : "Harmony beween capital and . labor is the . first" 'essential. Wu suggest the appointment of an Industrial Advisory Council representing , the employers -and workers, to which disputes could be'referred." The report condemns compulsory arbitration as impracticable. Tho association accepted the Trade [Union Parliamentary Committee's invitation to discuss a proposal for a three years' industrial peace, but regard the [Trade Union Association's terms as [merely the basis of discussion, and will | not consent to act unless it possesses I the support of a majority of the employers in the United Kingdom. The association regards the unassociated employer and the noi>unionist as the principal menace' to industrial peace. It considers that a general increase in wages of 5s weekly would haw most serious- consequences, and says an creased reward for labor can only possibly be provided by increased selling prices and ircreased efficiency, and therefore closer understanding and cooperation between employers and workers is imperative. J - The association approves of the encouragement'of scientific research and the establishment of a British : trade bank. It declares that th© existing national insurance scheme is unsound, and ought to be t drastically remodelled. The association •^convinced that peace will bring great" opportunities for industrial and commercial advancement in the Empire, whose unrivalled resources mnst be' thoroughly developed. '•''' '■' "" It adds : ; ' *We must think ' in terms of Empire, not of U^iptei^ Kingdom, and realise that the 'Dominions I,'1 ,' which aro supporting ns nobly in war time, art ready to cd-operate in peace' time."