LABOR MATTERS. MINISTERAL STATEMENTS.

Colonist, Volume XLIX, Issue 11999, 27 July 1907, Page 3

LABOR MATTERS. MINISTERAL STATEMENTS.

Interesting remarks coacerning labor matters, and the legislation to be brought down in connection therewith were made by the Minister for Labor (Hon. J. a. Millar) in replying to a deputation from the Waterside Workers' Conference, which has been sitting in Wellington for the past few days. He quite agreed, he said, that the weight of woal sacks and grain sacks was too great, and he would see what could be done to aave.the weight reduced to two hundred pounds, r and he would give instructions to have the gear inspected every three months, thinking that, the Government should do all in its power to safeguard human' life. He had no power, however, to interfere with the Home going ships . He would give careful consideration to the proposal that casualty wards should be established in close proximity to the wharves, but he pointed out that was a matter which concerned the Hospital and Charitable Aid Boards. He thought it was the duty of every Harbor Board to provide every facility for. rendering first aid when an accident occurred. He would make that compulsory in any amendment to the Harbor Beards Act, which would bclbrought down. He would also endeavor to have some provision made for bettering faoilties for 3 those wharf laborers who were engaged in woik of a dirty character. Then, as to the abolition of the duty on flour and potatoes, that was a matter of policy. It was just as well to speak out plainly, that the policy of *the Government bad been to protect as far as possible anything that could b 8 produced in the Colony. They had taken off a considerable amount of duty, but whether the consumer was going to get the benefit of it time alone would show. There was the instance of kerosene, a little while the sixpence a gallon duty was ' taken off, bnt to-day kerosene was dearer than when that duty was on. Then they had the case of tea. They had taken off the duty of sixpence per lb. He could remember that when the duty on tea was sixpence the price was one fhilling and sixpence a pound, and the least he had seen it since the remission of duty was one shilling and fourpence. The only satisfaction was that the tea was now of better quality. Personally, he did Dot see much difference, and he questioned very much whether if they took the duty eff flour our mills would not be closed down, ana they would have a "corner" formed by the dealeis in Australia. (A voice : Nationalise. ) It is very nice to affirm the principle (said the Minister), but it is very dffererit when you start to put it into working Jrder. It was, of course, quite practicable, but when? they were urged on the one hand to find the money, and on the other condemned for borrowing it. how were they going to do it? It was absolutely impossible to go in for those things without borrowing. (Mr Way suggested that they should put a tax ~i wealth). The Ministor said he uiu not think that any Government woul •:' go further than the Land and Income Amendment Bill brought down this session. It was the most forward movement in the taxation of wealth that, they had yet. He went on to say, if they took the duty off flour and potatoes, they would be told by the producers that they were putting them into competition with anything that came along. As to indrect representation to the workers on Harbor Boards, he thought they would agree that he had already done a good deal in tbr*t direction. There was a great difficulty in regard to making Haibqr Boards elective for the simple reason that the Boards had been large borrowers in the markets of the world. That borrowing had been carried

out under the condition that there was direct representation, and there might be opposition on that ground to the removal of that representation. Further -more the Government had a very big interest in the matter, and should be represented, so that they could be advised of what was going on. The Uovernmentiintended to continue the present system, so that the public in terest might; be safeguarded as against the purely local : interest. He was not going to bring down. a complete Harbor Board Bill this session, as tre hoped to get through the Harbor Boards Consolidation Bill. He would not deal gwith the question of the franchise. He hoped to be able to circulate the Arbitration JAct Amendment Bill to the Unions either at the end of this week, or early next week. As to Wages Boards, he said, he would not have dreamed of introducing a bill on the same lines as the Victorian Act, his schema was entirely different, and he trusted that it would give satisafction As to the bill generally, he thought they would agree with him, that it was an honest attempt to get over the trouble of the past. (Mr McLaren: Does it deal with the question of preference to the Unionists?) The Minister: Yes, but I cannot tell you the policy, as it has not been absolutely decided^ byithe Cabinet. The Minister repeated his previous statement regarding the anti -Asiatic legislation to be brought down, and he added that in the Factories Bill, which he proposed to introduce, he was taking a leaf out of one 01 two of the Australian Statutes which dealt with Chinese and factories. We were hot troubled in that direction yet, and he thought it was better to prevent; such trouble, instead of remedying it after it had occurred. He could not agree with the proposal that Unions should have the right to attach the'Orown to an award. The Parliament aloue had the power to fdeal with the wages paid to employees of the Crown, and if they did what was asked they would immediately put the question of salaries in the hands of the Board and the Court, and Parliament had nothing to do with them. The Government maintained that it paid public servants equal to, or more than, the ruling rate of wages, but the principle was that no one but Parilament had the right to appropriate public money. Ifc was pretty well agreed he continued, that the Arbitration Act, though not a cure all, had improved the conditions of the workers, and to make that perfectly clear, fie had had a return prepared showing the different awards in the various trades since the Act was first instituted. It showed exactly the rate of wages and hours of labor aud number, of apprentices and they would see that in almost fevery industry there had been a decided improvement both in reduction of hours and increased wages. He had had that done for the purpose of letting everyone see exactly what the conditions of labor in the Colony are. *. Then there was the question of Unions insuring their members "against sickness and deaths, In the old days seventy live per cent of a Unions' funds were set apart as a strike fund, but now that was not required, and it would be a fine thing if the Unions could alter their rule to allow of this insurance. They could very soon get a big fund for tha purpose. He would consult the insuranoe companies and see if a practicable scheme could be evolved^ A Fair Rent Bill could, of course, be brought down, but he did not know that it could improve matters much. The rent would always be fixed on the amount the House would produce, and tn Wellington for instance, a Fair Eent Bill would simply fix the rent on the value of the land, and they could^not make the conditions otherwise. The best way to regulate rent was by the erection of workers' homes. He had twelve going up in Wellington, and he would be able to show them such an object lesson as to rentals in the city, as would prove what some people were getting out of it, because he would be able to give a six- roomed house, fitted up with all conveniences, gwith land valued at ten pound a foot at fourteen shillings and one penny per week, ai.d b five roomed house at less. That was what he hoped to be able to do in other towns also. He pointed out that he would not give a cheap house unelss the maximum value for the section was £80, for if he expended £350 on the house that with fencing, etc., ran the capital value up to £450. Since he came into office he had only bought three and a half acres of land, and he had sufficient to |go on building| As a matter of fact he handed ovei 230 acres of land at the Upper Hutt to the Land for Settlements Board as he saw ;.no chance of utilising it for workmens' dwellings for twecty years. He was going in less for ornamentation in the dwellings, and j he believed that the prosecution of the scheme would do more to make rents fair than anything else. If the workers demanded them he would build thirty or forty or fifty houses every year, but he could not build in more than one place at once, because he now had an architect for the scheme who drew plans, laid out the ground, and supervised $he erection of the buildings.