Labour Notes.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XX, Issue 52, 14 October 1892, Page 2

Labour Notes.

If we may judge from an interview between a representative of the Barrier Miner and Mr John Howell, the manager of the Proprietary mine, tbe disposition of employers towards the unions is somewhat mixed. They are very much in favour of the unions and anxious to give them all the encouragement in their power — only not exactly in the way the unions wish. However let us do the employers of labour no injustice. The frame of mind alluded to is not peculiar to them. We see it displayed in many quarters under various forms. There, for example, we have an editor who is everything but what his paper represents him as being—whom, in fact, tbe exigencies of the case oblige to be the direct contrary of all his heart desires. He would, for example, support the Radical Government with all his might if only the Radical Government were high Tory. But humbug is common to tbe human race. We find it everywhere, though of oourse in some places more exuberant than in others. To sum up, however, Mr Howell'a notion of the unions would seem to be that they should be formed rather for the service of the employer than the protection of the men— and euch possibly is the notion generally prevalent throughout the class he represents. Unionism, meantime, at least on the footing occupied by it at present, seems but a frail protection It is evident it has as yet done little towards solving the question o tbe day. *

W. H.Ermin, counsel for the Homestead, Pa., strikers, has mad a sensational charge against Andrew Carnegie. He said, in an inter, view at St Paul, Mio., on September 7, that a foul conspiracy lay beneath the Homestead emeute. « The men who rolled the armour plate told me," he further remarked, " that the cost of that plate to Carnegie was only about 40dol per ton while the Government pay Carnegie 600dol per ton. Here is a profit of over 3,300 OOOdols to Carnegie on bis 6000 ton contract, and men tell me that the best plates were manufactured with a mixture of aluminium worth 60 cents per pound, and so stood the Government tests, but that he delivered armour-rolled steel, which, the workmen declare, would shiver like glass before the testing gun."

Senoua labour disturbances arising, from the employment of nonunion men to replace the strikers at Sant, the ironworks near Northwich, Cheshire, occurred on September 2. The company brought 160 non-union men from Liverpool, and attempted to get them into the worki. The new-comers were violently attacked by the striker*, aad the new-arrivals tried to fight their way through an angry crowd, but after a severe conflict they were baily worsted. The company were obliged to order the men to return to the cars, which were despatched back to Liverpool. The strikers stoned a launch containing several of toe officials. An appeal was made to the authorities, and 200 policemen tried to disperse the mob. They pUced under arrest several of the more violent of the rioters, but were unable to obtain aiastery of the situation, and the assistance of the militia bad to be invoked. A body of troops were subsequently placed in charge of the troops, and protected the non-union employees.

The labour question continues prominent in the Old Country Cablegrams under date London, October 5, lor example, run as ft* ", 8 : r"^ 8n ° n Holland - "Peking in the Anglican Church Congress, said the Church was discussing its relations with the labouring classes 40 years too late. He advised declaration in favour of unions. Lord Braesey, who was also one of the speakers, advocated boards of concination. —The pmident of the Railway Oongresi expressed himself in payment of members as the only hope of putting labour on an equal footing with capital. He denounced railway companies ai callously unjust in their treatment of employees. The platelayers demand payment for Sunday work."

But Mr Howell made a mistake in that interview to which we hare alluded. He said that freedom of contract was a new phrase in his experience, and that it was purely a colonialism. It may be new to him, perhaps, as a phrase, but it seems clear thr.» with the thin* the phrase represents he is familiar enough. What tuat means may be gathered from the condemnation of it uttered by the Pope •- Finally, the rich must religiously refrain from cutting dowiT the *°l "!? * eMniDg8 ' eith€r b y foro «. by fraud, or by usurious dealing ; and with the more reason because the poor man is weak and unproected and because his slender means should be sacred in proportion to their scantiness." Mr Howell's more palpable mistake is that th? phrase referred to is a colonialism. Cardinal Manning, as we have seen was familiar with it, and had explained it perfectly.

fK W^V' 6 !? 0 " ° f cont » ct ° n gl»t to mean we may gather from Ga e ,dS W ° 8 /; fiQl «° D ? th ° tightS Of Ubo "' * l ™ *• * the uS Ordinal. Adam Sm.th says : _. The property which every man has m his own labour, as it is the original foundation of all other property, 10 it ia the moit laered and inviolable.' The patrimony of

• poor man lies in the strength and dexterity of his hands ; and to binder him from employing thia strength and dexterity in what manner he thinks proper, without injury to his neighbour, is a plain violation of tbis most sacred property. Therefore, first of all, I claim for labour the rights of property. It is altogether ani entirely personal. The strength and skill that are in a man are as much his own as his life blood ; and that skill and strength which be has as bis personal properly no man may control. He has this properly in him. Lawyers say a man's will is ambulatory, that is, it travels with him all orer the world. So the workiogman carries his property with him as ready money. He can buy with it and he can sell it. He can exchange it. He may set a price on it. And this ready money which he carries with him he may carry to every market all over the world, and what is more he will not be impeded by aqy foreign currency. No coins, no difficult calculations, decimal or therwise, obstruct his exchange with other nations of the world. And further, in one seme it is inexhaustible, except that we h»ve all limits and dimensions, and our strength and skill are bounded by what we are. But there it is, perennial, going on always through his life till old »ge diminishes ; then what remains in him is to be honoured." Freedom of contract, therefore, in a true sense, implies the right of protection for his property, so that he may not be forced to part with it below its value, that the labonrer may claim.

Some slight discrepancy seems to be suggested by the following cablegrams :—" Sydney, October sth: A number of free labourers at Broken Hill have joined the ranks of the strikers " " October 7th : A large eight hour demonstration has been held at Broken Hill. Seven thousand men marched in procession through the streets. Strike matters have not changed, and so far neither side ha? displayed any weakness." "October Bth : It is officially announced that 850 men are at work in the Proprietary mine at Broken Hill. Nine thousand three hundred ounces of silver were produced this week."

The Auckland correspondent of the Otago Dally limes wires this piece of good news for typographers :— " It may be interesting to those connected with journalism to know that the Rogens typograph, which Mr A. Hulland has come by the Monowai to introduce Into this colony, is a type setting machine which it is claimed can do the work of five men. The machine costs about £400, but is a marvel of ingenuity. It is woiked by boys like a typewriter every stroke of the finger indenting the required letter on prepared material. When the operator has finished setting the line he touches another key, and the prepared metal in a molten state runs in and the line is at once stereotyped and deposited in its proper place in the galley. It is then merely necessary to raifje a lever and all the letters are instantaneously distributed in their proper boxes. The work which the typograph turns out is clean and as perfect as that done by the best band-setting. The Typograph (which is the official organ of the company) is all set up by the machine, and is beautifully done. The machine has evidently a future before it." Yes, it has evidently a future before it — but so have the typographers to be " released " by it. If, for our own part, we begin to perceive some method in the madness of the Ludites, we would fain hope it does not bespeak in us any relapse towards the obfuscation of more primitive times.

As a brilliant example of the kind of humbug to which we have alluded, we may take the speech made by Mr Fergus on the Industrial Conciliation Bill, as reported in Hansard of September 16:— Mr Fergus is deeply devoted to the working-men. He says they are all lions in these colonies. None but the very best men came here.— The very best, however, as it would seem, could not have been bo very food after all, for they brought with them prejudices and passions enough to afford a livelihood to a lot of a9ses— professional agitators, by whom they were led. And, let us ask, where did the professional agitators themselves come from, since only tha very best emigrated ? Mr Fergus tells us he would like to see the House halffilled with these lions— who are couchant, heaven knows where, irresponsive to the braying of the asse3. He tells us there are several of then? In his own constituency, better fitted to represent it than he is himself —a truth not difficult for us to accept. He is a workingman himself, he says, and shall be till he dies— that is, we supposei If the time-hononred freedom of contract continues to rule the day, and the system of co-operation can be nipped in the bud. Otherwise, Mr Fergus will probably rest upon the handle of his pick. But, in short, he lores the working-man, and is devoted to his service— only, you know, the payment of Members must not be increased, and the railway servants must not be championed, and the Railway Commissioners must not be attacked, and everything must be done in some other way. En attendant, there Bhall be no Conciliation Act, aod the lions must look out for themselves. The lion couchant, in fact, is the lion that Mr Fergus loves and supports. When the beast becomes rampant— although he remains the same beast — it is quite another thing. Aod this is the tone we find exceedingly frequent,