THE BLACKBALL STRIKE

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9210, 13 April 1908, Page 1

THE BLACKBALL STRIKE

REFERENCES BY THE PREMIER. THE LAW MUST TAKE ITS COURSE. THE GOVERNMENT WILL NOT INTERFERE. [Fbom Our Cobrespondenx.J KAITANGATA, April 12.. In the course of a speech at Kaita'ngata on Saturday evening, the Prim© Minister made reference to the Blackball 6trike and the arbitration law generally. The man with the strongest leeiing on any side, he said, must 1 realise t.uat the Court created by Parliament must receive the protection of Parliament. On the West Coast wa6 a section of hard-working men standing practically at defiance in regard to the decision of the Arbitration Court. In discussing the^ matter there was this prime question to be answered.' Was it better for the workers in this country and for the employers to have a system of arbitration, or should the law be repealed? His own belief was that any man who could urge the repeal of a system which prevented strikes, which, were the ruination of the workers, had not the interests of the workers at heart. (Hear, hear.) Anyone dissatisfied with the decision of a Court could get that decision altered in a lawful way. If there were faults in the Act, then Parliament should amend the Act. A section of the community had imagined that the Government was going to put the strikers in gaol. He for one was against that course. He did not believe in imprisoning men whose only fault after all wae that they were trying to improve their position, and who were acting under the advice of well-intention-ed men. For that reason the Government had carried out the law in another direction by inflicting a fi.no which must be paid. A voice: They defy you. The Prime Minister : If they do it is the worst thing they can do. The right thing for the men to do, said Sir Joseph Ward, was to make representations through members of Parliament to alter the law and prevent future trouble. Some people thought that the Government ought to interfere in various ways, but the Government must obey the law it had made. The moment a Government commenced breaking laws to suit a particular set of circumstances, that moment was chaos created, and the, working man lost the strongest thing which he ha.o on his side. (Applause.) He believed that so far as fraction existed on the West Coast it was a mistaken policy, and the sooner it was ended the quicker could the proper representations, be made. The Government, at any rate, was considering amendments in the Arbitration system to be placed before Parliament next session. Some people urged that the system of conciliation and arbitration in New Zealand was responsible for the increased cost of living as well as for the increased wage. Personally he thought that without conciliation and arbitration wages would have risen and the cost of living would have increased. The moment a system became automatic, troubles began. Experiyence had shown that under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act every man in every award was brought to a dead level. ) The good ■ worker could not make a penny more than the hard worker. In New Zealand was found the married man working alongside the young single fellow, who was getting; the same money without anything like the same responsibilities. A voice : It is not fair. Sir Joseph: No; it is not fair. The law requires amending and improving, but if we are to have a system of arbitration and the workers will not agree to it -and the employers will not agree

to it, then better repeal it and have done with it. A Voice : That's right. Sir Joseph : No ; it is not right, but the sooner the people discuss the matter with their representatives, the sooner will the country arrive at an improved system or decide to do away with it altogether ; because you cannot have a' law on the Statute Book and side by side witli it have strikes going on. It goes back to man versus .money, money versus man and mighiJ versus right. A Voice: Aye, and might always wins. Sir Joseph : That is what I say. The men who work with their hands suffer by strikes. We have not interfered since the decision of the .Arbitration Court o<n the West Coast ami we do riot intend to interfere. The law is there for all, and even if the taw is wrong the Government is bound to protect a Court of Justice created under the laws so long as such Court exists. Parliament, added the Premier, mußt eet about improving the arbitration system, investigate it and find oat what was fair and right to be put upon the Statute Book. It must not let the law be abused by any one section. It must not let the law be used as a political football. Rather than that, let the law be dropped. The Government was prepared to improve the system, but so long as the law existed it must be accepted. It was no use for either side to ask the Government to break the law to suit any set of circumstances or to make a condition that should not exist. (Applause.)