CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 176, 4 November 1910, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

PREFERENCE TO UNIONISTS. The well-worn subject of preference to unionists was again brought into prominence bv the employers at their recent conference. The arguments against preference cannot vary. The evils of it are explained in the one truth that such preference brings the output of the best man down to the output of the worst, and emphasises the astounding supposition that all men are equal from the point of view of worth if they are duly labelled. If an employer is bound by law to accept a unionist who is little use to him while there is a non-unionist employed who is all. he wants, the employer should insist upon a better official method of finding out the working itialifieations of unionists. If a union ticket is the only passport to a job, every unionist ought to carry a ticket signed by the President o-f the Arbitration Courtj as well as the representatives of the employers and of the workers, swearing that he is a skilled man. If unionists are the only men who are entitled to work, they should be examined as to their ability to do the work. If ability to do a specific kind of work were the only passport to a job, it would settle much of the industrial unrest. Unionism does not give men skill but only status. No good worker would object to be examined as to his qualifications—and he certainly should be. There never was any reason why any working man should be forced to join any body which debarred him from the freedom that all agitators fight for but never concede. These agitators who are not workers in any sense of the word have been allowed to dominate Parliament, worker and Court, and in the whole course of the extraordinary period of worry that has transpired since the Arbitration Act was passed, no labor leader has ever made the skill of the unionist a basis for increased demands. The right to work while work is'available should not be controlled by any machinery, and the right should only be conceded in specific trades to those who are certified as being competent. Wearing! a nail pocket and carrying a hammer does not make a carpenter any more than waving the bludgeon of a unionist ticket carries with it skill in' trade.

SELF-DENIAL. The annual effort of every soldier of whatever rank in the Salvation Army to win means for the organisation is one of the latter-day wonders. It is almost inconceivable that an organisation which in its infancy suffered infinite contumely has survived to be a world-wide necessity. The public recognition of the great work done by the Salvation Army is the best evidence of the public's belief in its utility. The latest self-denial totals (£13,400) for the two Islands is a record for the Dominion. It demonstrates several facts. First, that there is prosperity in both Islands; second, that the people are generous when they know that their subscriptions will be applies to the best of all objects; third, that the results mean real self-denial on the part of every collector. It is a fact that every Salvationist in the country subscribes out of his or her pocket to the funds, denying himself or herself something; that no soldier of the organisation benefits; that, every fraction of the sum is .accounted for by a system that would put many other business systems to shame; and that the money is all applied solely to Salvation Army work. The actual battle of obtaining donations for the public is a highly organised campaign, complete in every detail and arranged solely for the object of helping humanity. It is highly interesting to know that New Zealand freely gives to the Salvation Army more per head than any country on earth, and that the courts of this country are among the most ardent admirers of the •social work done by the organisation, and that the people generally show that they believe the Salvation Army indispensable.