WELLINGTON ITEMS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7434, 21 June 1902, Page 5

WELLINGTON ITEMS.

[From Our Correspondent.] WELLINGTON, June 21. The cause of represemtation goes onj steadily, 'if not briskly. There is much! interest but little discovery, as you may readily imagine. A little fe known, 'however, viz., that with the six new members tho number of tlie representaiives for the two islands .will be equal. In the light of this faot the northern agitation for more Cabinet representation will not beoomia any smaller. The rumour was revived the other day that Mr T. Mann would contest Wellington, but Mr Mann having arrived here last January, he will not be eligible before next January, whereas the election will be over before the end of December. Some talk is heard albout the city electorates, chiefly to tho effect that Mr Fisher , bids fair to head the poll, by reason ofj the strong line he has taken about city matters in general and Harbour Board con--1 oems in particular, in the development of < all of which he has certaMy impressed peo- • pie by his very great ability. Mr Hurbcihi- , son, it is known, will not stand *again,. and Mr Atkinson is thought to be dbaiky, ' by reason that part of his 'hostility to the 1 Premier was considered by many -as having gone too ''faa* into pro-Boerism. It ia^ 1 said that there will he a tremendous "tale" of candidates for this eleotorate. Laboutc 1 will, if things go as they are, not give as good an account of itself as usual, fof tihe simple reason that it is divided against itself. An -aanount of reactionary spirit hag been simmering for months past, aadi 'broke out in the Trades and Labour Council tbe ] other night, in a wild attack on the Arbi- j tration Court. I must confess to not un- ) deretanding how the . Court should ihave seen its way to explain that its award fixing double rate for work after midnight) wa« only meant to include up to six mi the morning. The Painters' Union, which) is tihe aggrieved party, complains, moreover, that the award was given at the instance of only the employers. There is on ' both points room for explanation- or under-< standing certainly, but the malcontents are not thereby justified in their wholesale attack against arbitration, and in their revolt towards the old system of freedom, tempered by strikes and lockouts. But these workers have been discontented for a long time, and they took the first opportunity for an explosion. They refused to retract last night when they were wanted to, and i they flew out against the absent Premier and his statement about the absence of unemployed. Mr Collins, the one firm friend, performed the Brutus-like office of killing not Ctßsar, but his liberalism. "Take it • from me," he said, in mournful accents, '■ "he will return from the Imperial blandish- • ments a Tory." Whether- all this is the " result of Mr Tom Mann's Socialistic cam- • paign, I cannot say. The party will not stand shoulder to shoulder at the elections. In the election of 1896 they were firm on '* the ticket," but no ticket will rally them now. i The Parliamentary Committee of the | Wellington Trades Council is to wait upon ■ the Acting-Minister for Labour and ask him to have the Workers' Compensation for i Accidents Act amended in . certain directions. The proposed amendments are in-, dicated by the following resolutions carried at last night's meeting of the Council: i — "That full wages be paid to injured men 1 for ths 'first four weeks (instead of two), from the date of the accident. Clause 6 of the Act to be so altered as to give effect to this. That Clause 2of the schedule of the Act be made to read, 'compensation shall be a weekly payment during the mI capacity, at the following rate:— Full pay , for the first four weeks, and half pay afterwards, based upon the rate of wages ruling in the industry, and the total liability of the employer in respect) thereof shall not exceed £300.'" At present the payment is ! based upon the average earnings of the in--1 jured man, which system, said the speakers last night, presses very heavily upon the casual labourer.