UP AGAINST IT.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13661, 27 March 1908, Page 3

UP AGAINST IT.

(To the Editor.) Sir,— Slajig arid'jba-fl form I know, sir j yet what ordinary English can de* scrroe the state chaps now obtaining in the Dominion; 1 tfjftereyet labour is necessary ? Happy i^ toe man who can dispense with the assistance of such of the insatiable fraternity who so gaily enlist. th'einselvos under the banners of the first leather-hinged loafer who insists often enough and - loud enough that the sons or toil (?) are being Jumped on, and the only chance of redress lies in retaining and (inter alia) maintaining the noisy, one as champion. What a nice spectacle must our boasted labour laws present to the foreign student anxious to 'emulate a happy country whjere theJion and the lamb are bo particularly chuWnyi There is no gainsaying the fact that for a number of years the governing powors of this country have been the very humble servants of the trade unions, and all laws relating to the employment of labour have been made at the dictation of and for the benefit of the union labourer (the point is worth noting that in their view it is only the union fttan who counts, though it is doubtful if he can possibly be as good a man as the one who has intellect and character enough to rely on his 1 own capacity). Many of these laws have been beneficial and necessary, but the "per contra" is very far too heavy to be accounted for in this letter. First, the noble army of inspectors, Government men, and outside informers' is getting intolerable ; a large proportion of people must be mere spies. How else do so many paltry dharges get -into. Court P An employer engages a .suitable and satisfactory workman,' and "gets fined because a misfit, branded ximon, wants the job. An unfortunate, ito the.sero and yellow leaf, ■ who is past .earning what the union decrees must ,h,e paid for daily labour, may go hang 7 or starve because he is not allowed", to be content with the wage he could fairly earn. Atradesman is'tobe fined if he obliges a neighboUr with 1 a loaf of bread or a stick of tobacco- after, the hour the union has decreed' such things shall not be done. • To -enumerate the petty and vexatious restrictions . which now fence in all sorts of business would give your pape^th'e dropsy; but the. serious part comes in when; as ?ou point out, in yourissu^ of the~2stn, that these very same unionists "who have been running

:- the Government in their own interests are either flatly defying and. disobeyj. ing the authorities, who< would teiiforc© - those laws, or showing how' idiotic 4 and; „ .contemptible such lawsycan be.- , Was! [ the 1 butchers' strike last year settled in , a< manner- to ' augment .the prestige ~of ' tour-rulers,t our- rulers, .to say nothing of -present ( trouble and others ? Sir, the ■Gov.ern- . ment has created a Frankenstein; in the vernacular^ they are dearie "tip I against it;" -and all their best friends [ can. hope for, is .that? firmness arid djg- : «ity will be available to cope with the '_ situation. But v is Tit wise to. expert too , -much from . ; a. Government so indebted , to unionism^? t/ After all, it is, only a ; question with them :of counting noses ; the. trades^ unions are formidable, wot so. much through miinbers as .through, • their diseipli&es&nd unity ; but there is no' monopoly <, in those. A general who] ' cov\ld unites the • various farmers, em- ' ployers? :and< tradesmen's ..associations, 1 (at the saam;tiine offering terms suffir ciently liberal .^to enlist the genuine, independent -working man's support) would {'quickly be,iu a position to sec 1 law and order respected, as' well as probably to 'mete out to the irrespon- " Sjibjie' agitator , the li-ell-earned guerdon . of the plague rat.— Yours, 'et'e.J " S) '" ' '- -'<'- -' : -'< A .CASUAL,