INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION.

Timaru Herald, Volume XC, Issue 13241, 22 March 1907, Page 3

INDUSTRIAL ARBITRATION.

IN NEW ZEALAND

(By J. liamsay Macdonaid, M. I'. in the "i)aily Chronicle."),

How many winged hours have 1 spent willi llio.se "little puzzles called " l'igs in Glover;'' how the little balls rolled all round and all over the little cups where ;liey were supposed to find a restingr-place ; lu>w one knocked the other out; the lilt necessary to-get the last one in: set half a dozen others at , libsriy to rampage at will all over the field ; how tlie whole tiling used to be pitched, into a comer in despair. J have a i>ile of reports on New Zealand- Labour Laws in trout, of me; pages of notes of conversations on the same subjects witli employers' associations. Uoverall) cat, officials and trade unionist are at-inj elbow; I have been present, at the Court* established by the Arbitration Acts,, and I am thinking of that provoking game of " Pigs in Clover." ho. I imagine, is every thoughtful man in New Zealand. For half a generation the Government of New Zealand has been trying to get the little pigs of labour grievances safely boxed, but there -they are to this day running freely about, knocking each other in and knocking each other out in a most) irritating way. The artful tilt that was to settle so many of tliem was the Arbitration Act. , Hie original promoters of the' Act hoped that it would make trade unionism universal, strikes impossible, and friendly conciliation between masters , and men general. Truly, strikes have become almost ".impossible because the union which indulges in 'tliem is outside the pale of the law. (There have been lock-outs, however, like that of the Dnnedm tailoresses, but they were so carefully managed that an indictment', could not be laid successfully against tlie otiending employers.) lliis is an enormous gam. Industry has" been settled, the price of labour, luw, been steadied, and. the,country saved from.: loss. . That stands to tlie credit of the Arbitration Law. and vliat.'.is a great, deal. .. But the Act winch was to establish conciliation r lias m reality defeated .it. ;'ilie idea was tliat of the creation of - Conciliation Boards, which were to be. industrial and not legal in their .character, employers and... employed would como together and set lie grievances by- agreement',' and the Arbitration Court,: witii its legal, president and legal procedure, which'stood behind these Conciliation Boards, was ;to be only a kind of last resort to be rarely brought into play. As a.matter of fact, 'practically everything which 1 the Board does is. taken by one side or'other (mostly by the employers). up to the .Court,, and -what was to have ; been the joyful .peace of friendly agreement has become the grumbling submission. to legal authority. Again, the object of the 1 promoters of the Act was to encourage the formation of unions, so that both labour and capital might be .efficiently organised, and: conference decisions might tliu.-? be accepted byvbotli-sides; In figures, their purpose has been iullilled. But glowing print doei not tell th it the act m lnrli increased the membership of the unions completely changed ili:ir .character... :."It. has made us big, but it has taken, the steel out of us," was the remark made To me by one of; the Labour leaders ,m the Parliament,ah Wellington. A. combination :of working-men for industrial purposes, whether in NewZealand or at Home, is called a trade union, but the moon, is no more green cheese 'than is the English union a New Zealand one. , ' 1 -■: . -i...

Here. a union exists to lake adv.mlage of • the. Arbitration Law; It, is., merely -.an organisation winch keeps officials: who may from time to tune get Mr.-.Justice Chapman to say whether hours should he shortened •or-wages increased. J his is not, necessarily a calamity. . .■:-. When the ■ moro 'idyllic dreams: of conciliation faded, and New Zealand found ■lierself- ; oil theharder and more formal real-ities-of legal decisions :,the workmen got ■more' -and more m.ov the mental rut ol considering the Courts) as being in the mam instruments for ■-.•raising-, wages.Why.' they argued, '■• should we not be: able to • bring evidence . that, •■we.-, are not leoeiying a fair share of the produce of our labour, and' ■ why should not the Con its award a- that r.fair share:" Well* W»«ge»• li.>vo been lar-ed— a little-not moie than about 8£ per cent. in., ft- do/.en : years on" the average, 'though the increase m some •trades';: has been.' Juglier. Hut., behold,. there has been something magical about those added pounds and shillings, 'thenvalue has not been, twenty .s'liillings and, 'twelve :: peirOfc' apparently; but- •something less- For the meeting :of the euipl<,>yeis', executives 1 winch accepted the • aw aids pf, the Courts proceeded with, a gi ill to transact oilier business. Ihey resolved upon an; increase -of prices, and with their left hands took away the advantages winch the Arbitration Courts compelled their right-to ofaer to the workers. Thu-j an awalTf* giving inci eased "paj to the butchers of costing £2OOO, was followed - bv -a in t lie price of meat. all/.over the .colony, n\ luch ■represented an extra : proflt of £30,000. A miners' award; ln/JJio . neighbourhood ot Dunedin;' which ':q<ii;t about-6d.: per .ton. ;ot coals : was: followed" by an - increase of .Is: -.-per ton to the middleman and two shillings to the fii My ■ note-book convtams many : similar instances. .'.i.Nor Was this the only way in which the prosperous, wager.eiivneivw.ith Ins. increase of wages'was Heeded. Lbt .lamlVn'd. too, vas lying in M art for him, and rents have.gone up by leaps and bounds.., A small working •class house .-of four .or, live rooms in Wellington lets for anything between iifteen and.thirty shilling* a wc.?.V.. ' High Wages and ,tbeir Kxploitalion." ,is thev.-ignificant title of a memorandum j.'jfthieh: the iSecie : tary to the Department of-'babuur recently i addicted to his ilnef. , >

'Hie nit: uecessai'y :to j -1 lie little pigs of . high : .-AVHges i ••.ciin%4:ably. secured lias knocked out the liUlei;pigs of high . prices''-which • are: now bumping all i over: the place - milking; the.•-fewn-•of Jngh. wages; . of little avail.: . Wlulst • wage i liiive been; raided 8i >p.eri 'tent..- the co.«t . of living !lias. increased;. fr«m; 25 , to ;50 per -ceill. ' --- ■ .f.' ■:) i VV ; Finally. to crown thc-nivstcrrcs of these things; the..Arbitration ]udges •• -novcv, laid down any basis upou whicU-.thev -give 1 lie.ii* awards. . 4l.i'iy\ roiN-ider •the piolits of a trade, .sometimes tliev say profits have nothing .(<>, do willt, wage-s. Ixim?/mi'js tliev demand: proof that. the rost (if living linw been raised, sometimes they ■ : do hot-. one knows: what\is going..to happen.. • . ■... • r-^s/ No * J.lio workman \ stands- baffieih and puzzled- He likes the idea of the. Amtration Acts; lie lias no burning desnte to 'return 1 o t lie days of the strike.' 13u\ he, is determined to make some change. \He thinks it- would be better if there another President..of the Court, or if; Hie; had preference as a trade unionist in getting employment. i ; , On: the other hand, the great majority jjf. employers are . perfectly. ; sat.ished. with ■: I lid law- -as it. stands except in- a: few .minor details. The ofhcia3s of euiplovers federations growl, make speeches- -and get resolutions. p&ss°d: Hut that is a mere division. It as rt kind of Sundow exercise for their federated health s sake. But even ■ these? ;• federation* • have made it . perfectly- clearI hat they do not. desire to abolish the Acts, nor the machinery of the Court s, -nor the enforcement of awards. ■'. Mv own conclusion is Hint -New Zealand,' having cut out- for. li2:Valf a \ path

by Arbitration Acts, would be foolish to turn back. ~ She should adapt her future legislation to her past experiments. But, on the other hand, these experiments have failed so signally to bring her to the'heart of her labour problems, t hat we need have 'no great desire to copy tliem. Mr Trcgear, the most valiant of nil the defenders of these Acts. (heir .real father, and the most: devoted friend that Labour has in NewZealand, lias written: " We have barely touched the fringe of the soiled economic garment.' Moreover, the New Zealand trade unionists are just- beginning to consider the advisability of forming a Labour party like our own. because they. sutler from every economic evil which troubles us. Is not t hat enough ?