THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4712, 2 August 1893, Page 1

THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD.

Items of Interest to Workerß.

j£S?SCIAZ.I.Y COMPILBD FOB "THE StAB."J thb socibt; op carpenters and JOINSBB. The thirty-third annual report of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and -Joiners states that during 1891-2 fortytfoor branches were opened and 6334 member* admitted, making a total of 579 branoheß and 37.588 members. The receipts were £98,823 and the expenditure JtdO,B4A-, the cash balance, whioh now stands at £72,639, having been increased by £7978. The assets at the end of the year were equal to £2 4a Id per member. Unemployed benefit was given to the extent of £24,449, siok benefit cost £23,332*, accident benefit £1050; superannuation -benefit £6861, funeral benefit £3990, and benevolent grants £1239. The. only strike of any magnitude was at Belfast, which cost the Society £6000. Mr Chandler, the Secretary, furnishes a table which showa that since the Society was started in 1880 4rith 618 member*, £1,012,524 has been paid away in benefits, of whioh £405,660 ires given to the unemployed. The. New Zealand portion of the report ehowa that there are fifty-three members in Auckland, fifty-one in CbrUtohurob, seventy -one in Dunedin, sixty - five in Wellington, six. in Invercargill, and twelve in Timaru. . With regard to aKu-i---tionain the constitution of the Society tho Secretary writes :—" The principal feature 'I have in . my mind is that m which striking against non-Society men has been -recognised as a legal procedure. All of us 'have experienced the contempt felt for men who, whilst reaping the fall oenefife of our exeitions on behalf of the trade, refuse to contribute one penny towards the, maintenance of thoee privileges, and it consequently follows that frequently it will happen that nothing would be more grati-. 'tying to our members than to walk oat of the shop leaving them in sole possession. Now, the history of. strikes f urnivhes us with ample evidence that of all descriptions of strikes these are the leaat likely to succeed, and as this matter is now .removed from :the controlling power of the Exeoutiye Committee there; is a danger, that where no managing Committees exist charged with the respond flibility of looking after and .guiding branches on this question, injudicious and hasty action may frequently involve bur members. in a Beries of petty strikes, .cf which none but those on the spot will have any knowledge, and consequently tbe expenditure under the heading of ' trade privileges will enormously increase. * * •Of this lam assured : that., to-day there is no other Trade Union holding out such inducements to non-Unionists as our own, and no other so thoroughly capable of fulfilling its engagements and improving the material welfare, of its members, and oa this account I hail with delight the fact that local Societies continue to throw in their lot with us, the most recsnt being the ancient corporation of carpenters in Cork, city, who, upwards of two hundred strong, came over in a body on March 24 last, each Society being the stronger through the fusion which then took place." THE FAIR WAGES CLAUSE. A recent cable message from London states that " the London County Council haß withdrawn the fair wages clause in all ita contracts. Thiß presumably refers to the following report of a Committee of the Council, which was adopted on May 16 : — " (1) That the following be No. 4of the Council's standing orders with regard to rate 3of wages and hours of labour, viz : — In all contracts for the supply of raw material or manufactured articles, other than general contracts for the supply of stores to be used in maintenance, a condition shall whenever practicable be inBerted that, with respect to all materials or articles produced or manufactured or supplied by the contractor, the contractor will in the production or manufacture or supply thereof (as the case may be) pay and observe the following rates of wa^es and hours oMabour, viz. : (a) Where the production or manufacture or supply thereof is carried on within twenty miles of Charing Cros?, the rates of wages and hours of labour appearing in the Council's list; (&) where tbe production or manufacture or supply thereof is carried on at a greater distance than twenty miles from Charing Cross, the rates of wages and hours of labour recognised and in practice obtained ly the Trade Unions of the district where it is carried on. Bnt any Committee shall have power to insert the said clause in any contract for stores when the conditions of purchase will allow it. (2) That, for tbe purpose of carrying into effect the above standing order, the following words be added to Standing Order No. I:—'1 :— ' And by contractors in respect of the supply, manufacture and production nf any raw material or manufactured articles, except contractors for the supply of Btores to b* used in maintenance.'" THB "WORKER'S" OPINION. The Sydney Worker has the following :— The average Australian boy is a cheeky brat, with a leaning towards larrikinism, a craving for cigarettes, and no ambition beyond the cricket and football field $ he ' regards his parents with contempt, takes it for granted that his mother mostly talks nonsense or "rot " when she talkß to him— and he doesn't always hesitate to tell her 80. The average Australian youth is a weedy individual, with a weak, dirty, and contemptible vocabulary, and a cramped mind devoted to sport ; bis god is a two-legged brute, with unnaturally developed muscles and do brains. - The average Australian man has not been developed yet. And as for the city ; the Unions might be crushed, the Labour cause abolished, and every fat man gebinto Parliament, and these things would be" of less importance to the towney than the fact that Bill Somebody sprained his blanky groin at football last Saturday and mightn't be able to play in the forthcoming match. The average Australian intelligence gives a Searle the burial of a hero, and doesn't know the name of Gordon or Kendal from that of Adam j it thinks more abjuh Carbine then one-man- oae vote j it tolerates mots of animals called "pushes" in the cities, and a gang of spielers in every township ; and it expects a few foreigners to liberate the country .or keep it from absolute slavery— and it's time tbe average Australian heard about these things and mended his ways accordingly. "the journal of commerce and iABOTTB." The iesue of the Journal of Commerce and Labour, the official organ of the New Zealand Labour Department, for July, contains an interesting and useful budget of reading. Its commercial contents comprise articles on the bills of lading question, the butter trade, returns of customs, beer duty, imports and exports, vessels cleared at New Zealand portß, Harbour Board statistics, and other information of interest. The labour Bection contains brief reports on the state of the labour market in various towns of the Colony, returns of Government tenders and co-npcrative contracts, of the "unemployed" assisted by the department during June last, besides a large and fairly well selected collection of items of general news relating to labour matters. One of the moat interesting of these is a prfcis of the report on co-operation and

profit-shaiiDg in various countries, laid before the French Senate last year. Another selected item is worth reproduction in full. It ib aB follows :— "A reduction of wages naturally suggests itself to manufacturers as the readiest means of cheapening production ; but experience has shown that it is very | far from being the surest, and that high ' wages and cheap production are often found together. The struggle against low wages in Great Britain during the last fifty yeara has probably done as much, for the improvement of maohinery and all the means of production as any other known cause." STRIKES. Strikes are quite proper, only strike right ; Strike to some purpose, but not for a fight ; Strike for your manhood, for honour and fame ; Strike right and left till you win a good name ; Strike for your freedom from all that is vile ; Strike off companions who often beguile ; Strike with the hammer, the sledge, and the axe ; Strike off bad habits with troublesome tax ; . Strike out unaided, depend on no other ; Strike without gloves, and your foolishness smother; Strike off- the fetters 6f fashion and pride ; Strike where 'tis best, but let wisdom deride ; Strike "a good blow while the iron is hot; Strike and keep striking, till you hit the right spot. THE' LAW AND THE UNIONS. : . The Court of Appeal in London recently decided a case of great importance to Trade Unions. Mr Templeton, a contractor for building materials at Hull, had sued the officers of three Trade Unions connected with building in that town for injuries to his business, caused by their actions in conspiring to. coerce certain master builders t > break existing contracts, or to refuse to enter into fresh contracts with the plaintiff. Mr Templeton obtained a verdict, with £50 damages in. respect to the breaking of existing contracts and JB2OO in respect of prospective contracts. The defendants appealed and asked for judgment in their, favour or a new trial, but the Court dismissed their appeal, with costs, holding that the combination into which they had entered was an illegal one, that they had been guilty. of an actionable wrong against the plaintiff, and were properly mulcted in damages. Their Lordships refused to grant a stay of execution pending an appeal to the House of Lords. \ jottings. A large influx of foreigners, principally Austrians, continues to be reported from the Auckland gumfields. ' Some women recently struck in a cotton : glazingfaotory in Vienna owing to the excessive temperature in which the work has to be done, the long hours worked and the icy coldness of the wage: twelve to fourteen hours a day at Id per hour. One of the poor women in addressing the benevolent capitalists said: "Look at me. I am twenty-3i'x yeara old. Do I not look forty ?" The chorus of 500 cried " Yes, or older." Dr Adler, the women's advocate, finished the conference with the factory owners by saying that he wished to see the women photographed as they' sat there, so that in a hundred years philanthropists might ace.under what inhuman conditions the women workers of our day were made to live. '! ' ' . The London Daily Chronicle says "The shipowners of Hull underwent such practical experiences in the six weeks of the .strike as may well incline them to prefer the irksome independence of the r gular hands to the blundering work and irresponsible behaviour of those precioua importations of 'free' labour." The same paper says " The responsibility for the cruel prolongation of the conflict lies with the employers, and no explanations that can cow be offered can undo the mischievous result i of their obstinacy." It is estimated that Union efforts to better the condition of men working on threshing machines in the Wai mate district; resulted in a gain of £700 to the men last season. No man in the English Parliament is more respected than Mr Thoma3 Burt. He rose from the ranks, and represents to-day the miners, of whom he was once one. To those who frequent the House of Commons, if; is pleasant, says Talk, to see with what affectionate solicitude his wife attends on him. Between the duties of his office, which are discharged with a singular industry and faithfulness, and the necessity of being present at the House, Mr Burt can have but veiy little time to spend at home; but Mrs Butt maybe seen on most afternoons waiting in a quiet corner of the central lobby until her husband can give her a few minutes. Then husband and wife make for the terrace, where they take rapid walking exercise, appearing to enjoy tbemsjlves a3 much as if they were having a holiday by the seashore.