L—9a.

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T. YOUNG.

ambulance chest and all appliances necessary to render first aid, and to further provide for medical attendance." There are many outlandish places where there is great difficulty in an injured worker receiving medical attendance; there are no medical appliances, and the result is that in some cases the injured worker meets his death through the want of proper medical appliances. You can take Stewart Island for example. There are no medical men on Stewart Island; if a man is injured there he has to wait a considerable time before he can get medical attention. The running of vessels from the Bluff is very infrequent, and there is often a long lapse of time before aid can be rendered. We think that some provision should be made in the Act for an ambulance chest and all appliances necessary to render-first aid in such cases. That is all I have to say in connection with the Bill. George Frederick Reyling examined. (No. 2.) 1. The Chairman.] What is your official position? —Secretary of the Wellington Trades and Labour Council and president of the Painters' Federation. 2. And you represent the same interest as Mr. Young?— Yes, and the Painters' Federation of New Zealand in addition. 3. Have the painters considered this Bill? —Yes. In fact, nearly all the unions in NewZealand have had copies of it, and sent their replies to us. 4. Have the painters instructed you to appear for them? —Yes, as president of the federation. 5. What have you to say in connection with it? —I just desire to corroborate what Mr. Young has said, and have nothing to add. 6. You have no statement to make on the main Bill? —I did have a little, but I do not wish to give it now, as the Committee wished evidence to be confined to amendments contained in this session's Bill. M. J. Reardon examined. (No. 3.) 1. The Chairman.] Whom do you appear for?— The New Zealand Slaughtermen's Federation. 2. You have been instructed to appear on their behalf? —Yes. At a conference held here in June of last year they instructed me to appear before the Labour Bills Committee to ask for amendments in the Workers' Compensation Act that we have found to be necessary. 3. Of course, they did not have this Bill before them?— That is so, but one of the principal proposals in the Bill is due to representations that we then made to the Minister of Labour. 4. Mr. Luke.] Which one is that, Mr. Reardon?—That is clause 3 of the Bill. We found by experience that this limitation of £5 has a very serious effect in this industry. As members of the Committee are aware, the slaughtermen earn very big wages for a very short period in each season. They earn up to £6, £10, or even £12 a week for a few weeks, while during that period they are deprived of any benefits under the Act. As is well known, it is an industry where the men are liable to accident through cuts, and the accidents are made more severe by reason of the liability to blood-poisoning. The suggestion that was put forward by the conference of slaughtermen, and which I would like the Committee to insert in the Bill in lieu of the clause that now appears, is to amend the subsection by inserting the words " providing that the limitation of five pounds be not applied to manual labourers." That appears to us to cover the position satisfactorily, because 1 do not think there are any manual labourers in New Zealand who earn £5 a week for any length of time. I want to suggest this in substitution of the provisions proposed by the Minister, because we have to consult the Court, and the Court takes into consideration the period during which the worker is employed. In every dispute we have to consult the Court, whereas if you insert the proviso suggested by me you do away with the complicated clause which has been suggested by the Minister. 5. Mr. Fraser.] May not a man be a manual labourer at one time and a slaughterman at another time? —What we are endeavouring to do is to provide that every manual labourer who is liable to accident shall be covered, but that at the same time men who earn big salaries — managers, for instance —shall not be covered except up to the limit of the Act. 6. The Chairman.] A man who is receiving a salary which averages more than £5 per week shall not be covered to a largef extent than the £5, but the man who is receiving more —perhaps a slaughterman who makes £1 10s. a day for six or eight weeks —should be provided for? —Yes. 7. Is that what you call a manual worker?— Yes. I hat is distinct from clerical work. The clause works out very unsatisfactorily in our case even as it is, because at this time of the year the men who are slaughtering in the employ of large companies are only earning about £1 per week. Well, when the computation is made over the whole twelve months it brings the average down to a very small amount, whereas during the busy season and the hot weather they would be entitled to very much more compensation. 8. Mr. Luke.] You mean that an accident would be more likely to occur during the time when the men are employed during the rush times? —Yes, and the limitation should not be made to operate at this period. At the present time of the year they are less liable to accidents than during the summer-time, and there are not more than about two hundred men altogether at work, whereas in the summer-time they number perhaps eight hundred. 9. Mr. Poole.] What do you average a slaughterman's wages at all the year round? —It would not work out under the most favourable circumstances at more than £3 per week. 10. Mr. Luke.] How long does the work last?—As a rule, about three months, but after two months its quietens down. 11. Is there much difference in the seasons between Auckland and the Bluff? —In the Auckland District it is early, and depends upon the spring. In the South Island it is dependent on the winter feed. When the season is finished at Auckland it is commencing in Canterbury, and when finishing in Canterbury it is commencing in Southland. 12. Mr. Fraser.] You hold that so far as manual workers are concerned the average could never come to over £5 a week?—No, his average would never come to that, but his position is that during a certain period of the year —take December at the local works —it is almost certain he would earn over £5 a week, and compensation is based on the average earnings of the men