THE POLITICALOUT LOOK.

West Coast Times, 20 April 1911, Page 1

THE POLITICALOUT LOOK.

IS IT SATISFACTORY? LABOUR. LEGISLATION: ITS RESTRICTIVE EFFECT IN NEW ZEALAND. Since 1891 when the first Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act was passed. New Zealand has had a surfeit of Labour Laws.At the present time there are no less than 35 Acts in force affecting labour and its employment, these, roughly speaking, embodying some sixty or more Acts that have been passed since the year in which Mr Pember Reeves succeeded in placing his Act upon the Statute Book. That Act, embodying as it did the principle of compulsory arbitration, was welcomed, because it was regared as ending the barbarous system of strikes, and, for some years, it seemed likely to achieve that object. Strikes were, indeed, made illegal under Mr Reeve’s Act. But the Act of 1908 renders strikes or lock-outs illegal only if the parties concerned are bound by an award or agreement, and, in that amendment of the law, wo have a tacit admission of the failure of the compulsory principle of arbitration, in dealing with disputes between labour and the employing section of the community. The attention

that has been paid to Labour Legislation during tho last sixteen years

is very remarkable. To begin with, the Act of 1894 was amended, on three separate occasions, prior to tho passing of the consolidated Act of 1900. It

was amended afresh in 1901, 1903, 1904, and 1905. In the latter year the procedure was varied by the passing of “The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Acts, Compilation Act.” It was further amended by. the two Acts of 1908 (one a consolidating measure, the other an amending Act), with still further amendments last year. Tims, since 1894, no less than twelve Acts have been placed on the Statute book, all dealing with the principle of arbitration in Labour disputes. “The Workers’ Compensation for Accident Act,” passed in 1900, was, again amended in 1902, 1903, 1904, and 1905. It was consolidated in 1908, the Consolidating Act being amended and? repealed by another Act passed the, same year. That Act.was again amended in 1909 and further amended last year. Here then surely wo have something unique in the way of legislative records—nine Acts passed in eleven years dealing with the one subject and eight of these being amending Acts. It is not reasonable to assume that, if greater care were taken in framing measures of this description, they would bo found more workable and less oppressive in their incidence? Incidentally they would be found to be freer from blemish than they are, and consequently the need for their amendment would not so frequently arise? It does not say much for the judgment and statesmanship of those entrusted with the business of introducing Labour Legislation, that twenty one Acts of Parliament should be required in sixteen years to cover principles which, with care and proper attention, might easily have been disposed of in one third of that number. Wo are sometimes told that ondLabour laws arc the admiration of the civilised world. They are admired only by those' who do not rea-

lise their effect. The average globetrotter who comes to investigate our laws is, generally speaking, content to accept the information placed at his disposal by Government officials, as in the case of Colonel Harris Weinstock, recorded by “The Dominion” about twelve months ago. In reporting to the Government of California upon Labour legislation and labour conditions in New Zealand, the gentlemen relied wholly upon the statements and reports made to him by Mr Trcgear and other officials, discounting private criticisms by their opinions and when the figures were against the official contentions (as in the case of tax burdens), accepting the official explanation that taxation had decreased since the introduction of the first Arbitration law, although the taxation in 1893 was only £3 11s 3d per head of population whereas in 1908 (the year preceding his visit) it was £5 0s 4d.

A LOP-SIDED LAW. Sixteen years of Labour legislation does not appear to have placed us on a much better footing than our neighbours in the Commonwealth, who, although imitating many of our laws, have not so far handed themselves wholly over to the Labour agitator. Business men in this country aro agreed that our labour laws aro in a very unsatisfactory condition and that their general tendency is rather in the direction of promoting strife and unrest. It is noticeable, moreover, that, -outside of Xew Zealand tho feeling against the principle of compulsory arbitration is very strong, even amongst the representatives of Labour. Colonel Weinstock, who had already been alluded to, only found the one authority in England standing by tho compulsory principle, and that was tho author of tho Xcw Zealand Act (Mr Pember Reeves). The feeling is general that no compulsory law can be fi’amed that will compel men to work when they make up their minds they will not do so. Tho law thus operates in a very lopsided fashion as, while the employer can always be made to conform to the law, tho workman can, and does, evade the penalties perscribed for violations of the Act. To make matters wo have had the prime Minister in this country declaring that he would not allow men to go to gaol for the non-payment of fines imposed by the Arbitration Court, and, as a significant commentary upon that declaration, we have the fact that the only case in which a sentence has been served for the non-payment of a fine, is that of the Drury farmer who employed a painter, whom he had en-

gaged as a general hand, to do certain work for him which was not paid for at the award rate. The farmer, feeling that the fine was unjust, elected to go to gaol, by way of protest against the injustice which, he felt had been put upon him. And, although representations were made to -Ministers upon the subject the law was allowed to take its course.

THE UNCERTAINTY OF LABOUR. The provision made by the Act of 190S for the appointment of Conciliation Councils was expected to somewhat relievo the tension, then existing between the employers and workers 7 Its one great effect has, however, been rather in.the direction of actually creating “ disputes ” as, under the amended Act, it is open to an insignificant minority of the workers inFany trade to drag both employers and workers before the Conciliation Court. In at leastone such dispute which came before Mr Hally, the Wellington Commissioner, the employers had no idea of its nature until they met the Commissioner.

They were not even aware than the men were discontented, and were entirely in the dark upon the subject. The effect of this sort of thing Is decidedly had as tho feeling grows among the employers that they are unjustly treated, the onus of rejecting the demands made by the men, however preposterous these demands may bo thrown upon them. They feel that the Conciliation Councils are used by the men to squeeze more and more out of them, and in certain industries it is notorious that the Labour conditions are.becoming more and more unrenumerative. Even Me. Millar felt himself called upon to sound, a warning note upon this point not so very long, ago. Speaking at the dinner given by i the Auckland Chamber of Commerce {to tho Auckland members prior to the

opening of the last Parliamentary session, the lion gentleman said there was a limit beyond which no industry could go, and the workers would have to bo careful that they did not pass that limit, because, otherwise, the locally manufactured article would be un- 1 able even with duties to compote with ' the imported lines. It can be hardly disputed that the trend of all our labour legislation is restrictive, not merely in the handicaps it places upon the employer, but also those it places upon the worker. Wages are relatively higher •. ia the Dominion than they are in any | other parts of the Empire, that is I so far as certain favoured trades are I concerned. But, with the higher wag- | es, there is an all-round appreciation J in the values of food-stuffs, clothing, | and the means of subsistence, that is i ! very disconcerting to those who affirm! that the average workman is better off i in this country than he is elsewhere, : Wo may gloss the fact over as much as we like, but it is there none the less for that. _All through the Do-

minion the same cry is heard. Labour is too uncertain, and too unreliable, I to warrant new undertakings of auv ■ magnitude being entered upon. lii many trades there are not enough wor- j kers; in others the Unions have made i them close preserves for the men al- i ready engaged in them. The Labour i conditions, again, are such that indiv- ■ idualistic enterprise is being gradually crushed out. There is a well-defined movement in the direction of the cen- ; tralisatiou of trade in the hands of the I big stores and establishments. We legislate against the Trust and Combine | yet we also make the conditions so ; favourable for them that they are at work all the time, and it may bo taken for granted they will increase in numbers and extent as the unreraunera- i tive labour conditions drive the small- j er men out of business. ■ And, what is j every bit as bad, we fail to supply many of our manufacturing establishments with the right class of labour. As a consequence, the manufacturing output of this country is restricted to the extent of thousands and tens of thousands possibly hundreds of thousands of pounds per year. Although their plant and equipment is good, the manufacturers are unable to obtain the necessary labour to fulfil and complete the orders which pour in upon them, and the nonexecution of which leads to large increases in the import trade. It is indisputable that a very considerable proportion of the money which now' goes out of tho country would remain in it, and be disbursed in wages, wheia conditions in the Labour world more equal, and workers more plentiful. Unfortunately, the policy of the Trad >.s and Labour Councils is antagonistic to the importation of labour and, while tbfc_ government continues to play into their hands, it is not possible to ie- J lievo tho situation. j AN ENQUIRY NEEDED. Evidence of the shortage of Labour is- forthcoming on all sides. From the causes noted, more than one company has largo numbers of machines star -

ing idle, and not so long ago, the writer v.as told of one company that lad been compelled to refuse orders to the value of several thousands of poimls,

which wholesale houses wore anx.oiu lo place with it, and this, simply because the company was unable to secure the workers it required to execute the or ders. In other cases, orders placed with this particular company were cancelled and sent to Home and foreign

firms for the same reason. At one time this company claims it had practically killed the import trade in certain lines of goods; but now, wo are told, its failure to execute its orders lias revived the export trade on a larger scale than ever. There are obvious reasons why tho name of this particular company should not be disclosed, but the facts aro easily ascertainable, and wore the Government to set up a llo,\ al Commission to deal with the subject, some astonishing "disclosures might bo looked for in regard to tho unnatural handicaps that have been placed upon our industries in the supposed interests of labour—handicaps that are tolling directly against tho workers themselves. Tho Government should not stand at the mere enquiry. When the results have been ascertained, it should arrange to do that which - the law debars

private employers from doing, i.e., ar. range for the supply of the needed number of workers and their reinforcement, from time to time, as the need arises. Were the facts concerning the working of onr arbitration laws full} investigated, the writer is satisfied the public generally would awaken to: the necessity for a radical revision of the labour laws, on common sense principles, and principles that would make for the good, not of the favoured few (for the fact must not be lost sight of that there are more workers outside the Trades Unions than there are within), but of the many. It is unfortunate that our legislature cannot resist the opportunity of “playing to the gallery.” Were they to act tlm part of men who arc genuinely anxious to promote the best interests of the country as a whole, we might hope to reach some finality in the relationship between employer and employee, But, while our public institutions are dominated by time servers, and popularitylimiting politicians, and by self-seek-ing men who make politics their trade and calling in life, we cannot hope for any material improvement in existing conditions. Unhappily the tendency, nowadays, is to place men and party before measures and principles, the creation of a healthier state of publicfeeling and opinion—the awakening of the public conscience in fact-;- 1 is the first essential to the bringing about of reforms which., while they may curtail the privilege of those classes that may be termed “the aristocracy of labour,” are sadly needed in the interests of the public at large.