THE ARBITRATION COURT.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 April 1927, Page 6

THE ARBITRATION COURT.

Within fhe past few months there have been many attacks on the Arbitration Court, and the farmers, in particular, have been somewhat persistent that it should be done away with altogether because the awards of the Court are passed on, reaching the primary producer, who is unable to pass on the increased costs. 'There are many other arguments that could be brought forward in condemnation of the Arbitration Court. Tie Act creating the Court was passed in 1894, and it is somewhat singular that, with the exception of Australia, no other country in the world has seen fit to adopt our compulsory arbitration system. The Court was established primarily to settle hours and wages, but it has become a regulative body for the adjustment of all industrial conditions in New Zealand. It is too clumsy for the regulation of industry, "for it has introduced a deal level of uniformity, and has encouraged the idea, that -wages depend on the Judge’s fiat and not on the economic situation. It breeds a litigious spirit, and turns union secretaries into industrial barristers. It assumes as a basic principle that master and man are fundamentally at variance until a dispute arises. It prevents the parties from exploring other channels of industrial harmony and keeps their noses to the grindstone of controversy. It must in the long run lead to State fixation of rent, interest and profits, since all the distributive shares are connected, and this means Socialism. It ean never be final, because the utmost the employer can concede falls short of what the worker will demand. The existence of a weapon of industrial coercion in the background will always be a temptation to men, on whatever side, who think the circumstances of the moment are in their favour. Productivity is the fundamental determinant of real wages. Higher rates of wages, unaccompanied by increased production, are cancelled out by increased unemployment, or higher cost of living. Labour is paid not for its exertion, but for the value it produces. Our Arbitration Court, by fostering the idea that real wages depend on the judgment of a court and not on the productivity of industry, has fostered inefficiency and raised the cost of living. As far as possible industrial conditions should be won by struggle. That makes the men tougher in fibre, more responsible, and more practical. •