The Rangitikei Advocate. TWO EDITIONS DAILY. TUESDAY, DEC. 14, 1920 THE WATERFRONT AGREEMENT

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLV, Issue 12228, 14 December 1920, Page 4

The Rangitikei Advocate. TWO EDITIONS DAILY. TUESDAY, DEC. 14, 1920 THE WATERFRONT AGREEMENT

SOME very unnecessary fnss has been made because the Shipping Companies and the Watersiders have come to an agreement that promises to remove friction and enable this important part of our great carrying services to be performed properly. The Welfare League appears to have discovered the existence of this agreement and, as. usaaL it rushed in to criticise it, without apparently giving the slightest thought to the benefits that might accrue to the public. Then the shallow scribes set to work and applauded the League for its vigilance, one declaring that "the thing had a very ugly appearance," that it was "secretly arranged." It was denounced as "a Combine on the part of the employers and the workers to rob the general public. "There are a big Combine and a great Trust united with that object that have betm at work for a long time, but we have not seen any other journal than our own denouncing them. It is held probably to be much Bafer to "vent the wrath on the Shipping Companies and a section of labour. These adverse critics should remember' that the first requirement, in. the interests of the public, is to have useful work done, and if the employers and the workers have been able to come to an agreement to ensure this, without the intervention of the useless aad damaging Arbitration Court, so mach ttie better for the general public. Even if it were costlier it would be better, but there is no evidence that there will be anything to "pass on" to the public. It will mean that there will be no more holding up of our ships, no mors stagnation at the ports, and no more petty disturbing strikes. It will produce a poace that is worth paying for. As it has been effested quietly and witliout the intervention or support of other unions, it is also possible that it may prove the thin end of lbs wed«e in bursting up the snjarious and daugersus federation of labour unionism. We see no reason to denounce, but much reason to applaud, this arrangement, which contains snch great promise of improvement. We believe mora good has been done by this breakaway from the Arbitration Court and the labour legislation than the Court has accomplished daring the whole term of its existence. Indesd the Court has dane nothing, except to

reduce production and make all industrial operatiens more oostly. We hope there will be many more agreements like that entered into between the Shipping Companies and the Watersiders. A fow more such "secret agreements" wonld have very beneficial effect on the general prosperity and the cost of lving.

THE new award of an increase of three shillings a week "to meet the increased cost of high living, " and the extended patronage of the gambling machines arid drink shops, will not be by any means satisfactory to the unionists who have been loudly demanding payment of the full nine shillings anticipated because of the erroneous calculation of the Statistician. Nor will it prove satisfaotory to the employers, because they have previously been working with a very small margin of profit, which compelled some to discontinue working. To the public it will mean the addition of an increased cost burden amounting to at least a million and a half, which the employees—maay of them "go slows"—will receive in addition to the million taken from the taxpayers to provide them with cheaper bread and butter. It is time the Arbitration Court was made to realise that not only was the Statistician's calculation erroneous, but the basis of the calculation was utterly unsound, because it estimates the wage in relation to the cost of living, and not according to the value of the work done by those to whom the wage is paid. The award is economically unsound, and in one aspect is outrageous, for it gives the single man the same pay as the man With the wife and family on whose requirements the Statistician based his calculations. This means that the employers of this country are paying for the maintenance of many hundreds of wives who do not exist, and thousands of children who have never been born. It is impossible that suoh economic folly can result in anything but disaster to industry and production. If the Arbitration Court canuot deal . with industrial matters in a sana manner it should be abolished, and in any case Government should step in and protect the people from a policy that must inevitably still farther increase the cost of living,

WE greatly fear that the increased bonus just added to wages by the Arbitration Court will speedily result in a great deal of unemployment. If an increase had been fixed in a manner that would ensure greater output, its evil effects might have been less damagiag, but joined with the policy, the previous very large increase, and the excessively high taxation, it will certainly very adversely affect many employers. They will not be able to "pass it on'' now that the increase has mounted so high, and consequently trade will stagnate and industry be practically paralysed. The full effect of the injury done to the common weal may not be manifested until next winter sets in, but those who are wise will assuredly make as much provision as possible for a time of stress. The award will accentuate the effects of the serions drop in the values of some of our chief exports, from which this country derives its wealth.