LEAGUE OF NATIONS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18541, 11 April 1930, Page 12

LEAGUE OF NATIONS.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE. ! 1 ADDRESS ON WORK AND INFLUENCE. Last' night, in Chalmers- Hall. Mr E. J. Riches, the only New Zealander on the staff of the international Labour Office, Geneva, gave an address, to a fairly large attendance on ‘‘The Work and influence of the International . Labour Office.” The Rev. Clyde Carr. M.P. presided. | and with him on the platform, besides | Mr Riches were Mesdames B. H. Low, C. E. Shallcrass, Miss C. Shirtcliffe, the Rev. P. G. Hughes, Messrs W. Thomas, G. T. Koller, A. Inglis M.A., and J. Stewart, members of the Timaru branch of the League. In introducing Mr Riches, Mr Carr said that it had been suggested that he ' might clear up one point, and that was the term “labour,” as applied to the organisation lepresented by Mr Riches. The term, Mr Carr said, had no political significance, and had no i connection with the Labour Party, and ' it was a mere coincidence that he was in the chair that evening. (Laughter.) Mr Riches represented an organisation to which the peoples of the 1 world looked for the setting of world peace. One way to do this, and the way adopted by the League, was to remove the causes of war. This method was a somewhat indirect and pains- ' taking one, and one that was typically British and typically statesmanlike. There was another way, to destroy war I in spite of its alleged causes. This was a more direct method, but the League : was pursuing a gradual method of . striking at the fundamental reasons of 1 war, giving special consideration to , the investigating of world economic ; factors. Mr Riches whose address was frequently punctuated by applause, said that the work of the International Labour Organisation was complementary to that of the other parts of the League of Nations. “Its Aim.” he add-' 1 ed is to secure and maintain fair and humane conditions of labour in all countries, and thus to remove those elements of unfair competition which generate international rivalry and ; friction. It is designed at the same time to secure industrial peace, based on the principles of social justice, which the framers of the Treaty of Versailles considered to be essential to the development of international no less than of national progress.” The machinery through which the International Labour Organisation functioned consisted of an annual conference, a governing body, and a permanent office established in Geneva. The conference sought to bring the Governments .employers and workers of all countries into agreement on minimum standards for the conditions of life and work. The governing body guided and supervised the work of the Office, and controlled its administration. The office prepared the ground for the Conference and watched over the execution of its decisions. It also acted as a research and information bureau .making the results of its investigations available through publications and correspondence. The International Labour Conferences which met at least once a year, were composed of four delegates from each member State, two representing the Government and one each from employers and workers. From the point of view of New Zealand the fourteenth session of the conference, which would open in Geneva on June 10. would be >f particular interest, since it would include for the first time a delegation from this country. The session would open with the discussion of a report on the work of the International La'ur Organisation during the preceding year, and would proceed to the examination of the three special subjects on its agenda—forced labour, hours of work in coal mines, hours of work of salaried employees. In each case endeavour would be made to arrive at an agreement as to a minimum standard of legislation, which would be embodied in an international labour convention. Previous sessions of the conference had been strikingly successful. In all twenty-nine conventions had been adopted, in most cases by considerably more than the required two-thirds majority. To date there had been near ly 400 ratifications of those conventions, and a further 160 were definitely in sight. Ratification carried with it the definite cbligation to maintain the standard established by the convention, and provision was made to secure the fulfilment of that obligation. Each State undertook to submit an annual report on the measures it had taken to enforce conventions ratified. Those reports were carefully checked by the International Labour Office and by a special committee of the annual conference. The procedure available for investigating any failure of a member State to live up to its obligations provided for the appointment of a commission of inquiry, the publication of its report, the summoning of a defaulting State before the Permanent Court of International Justice by another State, and the initiation of measures of economic coercion against the defaulting State. In practice no such extreme measures had been found necessary, or had been suggested. It had been found sufficient for the conference committee to draw the attention of the defaulting State to any defect m enforcement. Public opinion might be relied on to do the rest. The publication of facts and that force of persuasion which was inherent in all work of mediation had proved to oe the strongest weapons of the International Labour Organisation, as of e other organs of the League of Nations. The compromises which were made at every session of the International Labour Conference, and the manner in which agreement slowly emerged from what appeared at first to be a hopeless tangle of cross purposes and conflicting interests, formed a most instructive object lesson in the power of rT-2 1 " cussl0:i t 0 P ro( 3uce agreemenf. The conference represented a startling innovation in diplomatic procedure. It was the first example of vocational representation in the international sphere. The workers and the employers of each country, who were the groups most directlv affected by the decisions of the conference, had themselves a share in the formulation of these decisions. Their co-operation and interest was secured by giving them a real participation in the work of the organisation. A,“ the same time the presence and the vote of Government representatives ensured that the re--ronsibility of Governments was engaged, and that conventions and recommendations : dented bv the conference should not remain a dead letter. The regularity of the conference, as in the case of other League of Nations conferences, marked a distinct advance on pre-war procedure in the conduct of international relations. The fact that the same groups of delegates met periodicallv in Geneva ersured continuity of policy, and also that the questions discussed would be handled by men who had had a training in the mechanism of international conferences.

By another innovation of consider•’'le interest to students of international law, a two-thirds majority was sufficient for the adoption of international labour conventions by the conference. All conventions so adopted must be submitted to the competent legislative authority of every State member of the organisation within a period of twelve, or at most eighteen months, for ratification or rejection. (Applause). Mr Riches then answered several questions that were asked by members of tfje audience .after which the chairmar. explained, for those who did not alrdr<y ►bow, that Mr Riches was a

resident of Geraldine, and an ex- 1 pupil of the Timaru Boys’ High School. They were therefore, doubly' ! proud in having Mr Riches with them that evening. (Applause.) A hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr Riches, on the motion of Mr Thomas, who said that they had listened to a quiet, thoughtful and scholarly address. He was sure, as a result, (hat they had learned a great deal of the machinery being evolved by the League. Mr Thomas stated also that the Timaru Boys’ High School were proud of Mr Riches, as a promising student of world affairs. (Applause.) On behalf of the local branch of the League, the Rev. Hughes moved a vote of thanks to the Rev. Carr for having acted as chairman.