LABOUR TRIUMPHS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13594, 14 May 1908, Page 7

LABOUR TRIUMPHS.

Th«> fine organisation of the Victorian Labour interests was never more effectually demonstrated than when, a few day* ago, tho'.eight nouns procession paraded the streets of Melbourne in all its bravery. It was the fifty second anniversary of theday that saw the victory of the- workers in securing the recognition of eight hours aA a standard days work. At the inception of the Eight Hours. Pioneers Association there was but fifty members, and ot these onlv seven remain, the oldest using eighty-two years and the youngest, seventy-two. All*but one r.f these- veterans was ante to take part in the procession and recurve- the congratulations, of members. In this Dominion, where- Labour Day serves merely as the occasion for an annual picnic, the extent and importance of Hours Day in Melbourne can hardly be imagined. It occupies a position analogous to the Lord Mayors show in London or Lenten festivals, in Italy and other .Roman Catholic countries. It has a political as well a& a spectacular interest, for the- speeches as a rule make the luncheon connected with the celebration of more than passing interest. About a hundred thousand people watched this year's procession, which took an hour and threequarters to pass a given point, and the numerical strength of the sixty trades represented in the cavalcade is officially given as 6,400. The wharf labourers were 334 strong, sewage- labourers 250, railway employees23B, bootmakers 250. baker.* 220, liquor trade* employees 200, and other representative workers* in leaser numbers. Many of the costly banners belonging- to the larger trades were of such weight and breadth that they had to be mounted on four-wheel lorries, and these were- drawn by splendid teams, whose sleek coats- had of course been specially groomed and the mountings of their harms* made as resplendent as passible. Some of the representatives of trades were working their passage as the cavalcade progressed. The tarriets were shoeing a horse; brick, tile. and earthenware makers plied their tradebefore a potters- wheel; and the newlyformed Co-operative- Workers' Association had a dinner waggon in the procession of a kind used to supply wharf laborers with sixpenny hot meals. Some of the banners bore devices that showed a degree of dissatisfaction with present conditions. The builders' laborers, for instance, carried aloft a device that eaicl "We want an inspector fcr scaffolding." Carters, on their banners, solicited the weight of public opinion to secure them a Saturday halfholiday, and bakers pleaded "Abolish night work." The cigar makers staged Sir Walter JRalkgh presenting a bundle of tobacco leaves to Queen Elizabeth, the surrounding: courtier* at the earn* time smoking cheroots. These few of the many items that pass under public review in a Melbourne Eight Hours Day procession indicate the scope of the organisations represented, but the outstanding feature connected therewith is that_ the pioneers achieved their end by collective effort, and no by appeals to legislative restrictions. It is"on this ground that the annual demonstration is so popular with our Victorian neighbours, and for the same reason the movement must commend itself to the good wishes of all who desire the removal tif any and every disability that places the industrial community at a disadvantage. Socialists of every shade, liberals of all degrees, and Conservatives —if there ate any of that decadent creed left in the Dominion—will all heartily join in recognising the right of the worker to make the best terms he can get from employers. Those holding varying shades of political opinion only part company when force is invoked to establish trade conditions- that can and should be adjusted on a conciliatory basis by the parties immediately interested. Half a century ago in the Victorian capital wages were high, labor was in great demand, and immigrants were pouring in by 'thousands. Ihe leaders of the «:ight hours movement saw their opportunity and made use of it. They had but little influence in Parliament at that time, but they were led by men who had but the one objective. They strove for it unitedly, and achieved the success they so richly deserved. There was then no lengthy programme of grievences, including utterly impracticable Socialistic that only weaken partiy effort and alienate ••ynipatby from moderate people- in all class**.. It is this singleness of purpose that has contributed so largely to the popular movement and has consolidated the Labor party so effectually that an incresaing number of Labor members ha* been returned to the State Parliament at every election, and enabled the party to hold the balance of power under the "three-party system. Of course, the ambitious members of the party look_ to the time when they wilt become the first jw-rson in the political trinity, but the realisation of that hope dots not seen* imminent.

The speech*!* delivered at the luncheon table indicate very plainly that the leaders i>t the Labor party are hoping to have the New Protection policy fathered by ISir William Lyne made mure complete. The attempt to bring that system into force in the harvest industry is at present hang up in consequence of an »pp;al to the High •Court on the* question as to whether the Kxcitve Duty Act is or itv not uncontstkathaal. Mr. Ft-sher. the Leader of tfw> Labor party in the, Federal Parliament, in th<» course of hi* remarks betrayed the

same want of logical faculty so obvious in Labor utterances generally. The decision 4Ju the "fair and reasonable wage" qcKbtion in the harvester case was, he said, satisfactory to the workers at least, and should have been enforced. What,, he- asked, had the constitution-

alitv of the Act to do with the declaration" of the Judge that certain wages hhoutd he- fair awl reasonable? The c-m----ntovr* ought to haw adimtt.d that the dedsion o? a .Judge of a High Court was just. It ought to have teen accepted bv *verv law-abiding c,, *£' n - Whethl-r the fhctei.in of the High Court was againsa the workers or not tb- Labor party would do its utmost. to «ee- that what was desired was en-

acted in another way. TKs is the too common kind ot objection raised bv Labor leaders whenever tha findinn- of a" Court is against them. On& of the first principles of British justice is that no man shall be smitten contrary to the law. and it, is the obvious duty of litigants to Ik> sure that when a judgement is given it does no violence to the letter and spirit of the law. To deny the manufacturers in the harvester case the right f appeal if they feel aggrieved is surely not giving to the employers tho right" that employees tliemselves would not be slow to demand. The same gentelman in another part of his address referred verv properly to the piceineal nature of industrial legislation in the Commonwealth and urged that the. Federal Government should be endowetl with more extended powers, seeing that the interests of the workers were identcal, whether the scene of their operations be in Queensland on the one hand or Wes>b Australia on the other. As long as this disintegration is allowed to remain in this Dominion or in the neighbouring Commonwealth, then' mrst necessarily be a large amount of int effectual work" done, in the interests r.f ! Labor. The full meaning of union is not ! yet appreciated on either side of Tusman | Sea, nor. has the leaven of Federation yet ; permeated the mass of the people. (Dnne- | «lin " Evening Star.")