The Wanganui Chronicle. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1919. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, S1919. UNIONISM AND ARBITRATION.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXIV, Issue 17664, 13 September 1919, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1919. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 51919. UNIONISM AND ARBITRATION.

The class-conscious Labour dictators of Queensland probably got something of a shock the other day when tlie Queensland Railway Traffic Employees' ' Uniou 'unanimously passed a resolution witk regard to the handling of goods which^had been declared "black" by other and more militant unions. In that State extremism has been developed to an unusual degree, and its dominance is reflected in the country by a notorious lack of political commonsense mndiol ordinaria^as of governmental fairness) Queensland's legislation is to a large extent expressed, in terms fashioned by the Trades Hall caucus. Queensland's administration is shaped in conformity with the'"democratic" ideas of the caucus bosses. And Queensland's industries, both primary and secondary, are more or less enthralled under the same" pernicious influence. Consequently the Traffic Employees' Union, in taking its stand on the side of law and principle, and by so doing striking the right note in no indefinite way, set a courageous example which many other

unions

would do well to follow. The inci-dent-is certainly worth recording in New" Zealand. It appears that during the later period of the shipping strike some small vessels manned by non-unionists were employed in carrying goods along the Queensland coast. The Queensland » Railway Union, which has much the largest membership of several or-J ganlsationEf of railway men in the State, and which is the principal] foifht. of 0.8. U. enthusiasm up there, declared these goods "black" to unionism generally, and succeeded in impressing its point of view on members of some other unions concerned. But the goods were by some means carted to the railway^ shed, and it then became a question whether the traffic employees would handle them. They unanimously decided to do so, and gave with clarity and cogency their unanswerable reasons1 for doing so. The shipping strike was, they said, a revolt against the arbitration laws in which they (the traffic employees) believed, and which they knew had achieved more good for them than any other method could have done. Arbitration 'and conciliation were in their opinion more beneficial than strikes and sabotage. They therefore determined to stand by the departmental regulations, and refused to assist any other union to flout either the Federal or the State arbitration law. That attitude is so obviously correct and consistent with an attachment to the principles of arbitration that, its adoption should not excite remark, and yet having regard to the state of affairs in Queensland it called for no little degree of courage on the part of the union. Manifestly if the arbitration system is to remain a factor in the governing system it must be supported by the members of the unions for whose benefit principally it was instituted and is maintained. The soundness of this contention cannot be challenged. Yet a Sydney contemporary, while applauding the action of the-Queensland Railway Traffic Employees' Union, deplores the fact that there is to be witnessed in Australia almost daily the spectacle of unions which declare their adhesion to the principles of arbitration according moral and financial support

to other unions which are ,doing their utmost to discredit it. "In i this State (N.S.W.) and in Victoria," it says, "there ;are scores of unions which have derived great benefit from the arbitral system, and would not think of abandoning it were they called on to make a choice. But not one of them, to our knowledge, thought it desirable to make a pubi lie stand in favour of it when •the seamen and firemen, with the assistance of other militant organisations, ; were desperately engaged in trying to destroy it as an effective force in rCommonwealth affairs. On the con- | trary they continued their affiliation with a central union organisation which more or less actively came to the assistance of the strikers. Mainly the division in the Labour party i ranks is a division between those who believe in arbitration and those who rely on direct action. It is, however, only the latter who are consistent and zealous to advance their cause. The arbitrationists try to run with the hare and at the same time 'hunt with the hounds, and, the natural result is confusion to them and the growth of the sentiment which nominally they are fighting. If unionism generally stands for arbitration, as its political leaders assert, then the real "scabs" on unionism are those who are continually trying to defeat it and bring it into popular disfavour.