'A Profound Politician'

New Zealand Tablet, 22 November 1906, Page 9

'A Profound Politician'

.' Trust me '."-says Pluto in Disraeli's ' Infernal Marriage', 'lam a profound politician. I keep each faction* in awe by the bugbear of the other's supremacy '. • A Reverend Pluto from the Emp,ire City seems to be ' a profound politician 'of this school. Last week, a-t the Presbyterian Assembly, he awed (or rather sought to -awe)- simple-minded folk of Ms o,wn religious persuasion by the overshadowing fear of the undue political domination of one-seventh Of the population of New Zealand over the remaining six-sevenths. The presence of one Catholic in the Cabinet, and of two Catholics in the House of Representatives, is, so far as we are able to judge from his somewhat cryptic utterances, the ostensible reason that has scared our old friend into recourse to his - smelling-salts. The good man is welcome to all the -' friendly watchfulness ' in our regard that he can spare from his own flock. Theowatchfulness is nothing new ( ; the friendliness thereof . would constitute a novelty that would be highly appreciated. 'Kind words, especially from unexpected sources, are sweet draughts in the cup of life, ' a concert of music in a banquet of wine '. But one needs a compound micro T scope to discover either kindness or good sense or patriotism .in an attempt" to inject sectarian distrust - and passion into our public life. That soit of- devil is easy to raise, but difficult to lay. New Zealand will,, we hope, long be spared the grave scandal which has begu n to settle like a blighting curse upoir political life in two of the States beyond the Tasman Sea. "In New "'South Wales and Victoria, an ill-conditioned and tuil bulent faction, headed by the Orange leader's and 'the ' yellow ' clergy", have' conducted, and are now conduct* ing, election campaigns on a purely sectarian issue— the one plank in their platform being the exclusion of Cathf - olics an-d of fair-minded and tolerant Protestants from" publip .life. . May God guard New Zealand, and • every part of it, from -the spirit of sectarian disunion and hate that has .turned the north-east or ' yellow ' corner of Ulster into a political hell of the damned ! ! Growth of Unions \ . " ~ Germany is, perhaps, of all others, the land of the industrial ' -verein ' or union^ Herein it has more than

any other , European nation, retained the traditions of the middle ages and their employers' and workers' guilds. The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration of 1894 and its amendments, (i9OO and 1901) in proportion to population, ./made New Zealand, in the matter of: such- unions, w%air Germany is among the nations -~of Europe. In (1596( 1596 X"whea the - AcH came into active operation) thero^was only one union of employers, with 30 members and 65 unions of workers, having an aggregate of 9370 members. In the present year, of grace 1906 the employers 1 unions have risen to 133, with a membership of 3,2^6, and the workers' unions to 261, with a membership 'of .29,869. During the period 1895-1906 the ' factories ' (within the meaning of the Act) have increased from 4,109 "to 9,881, and the workers employed therein • from 29,879 to, 70,403. '"During the year 1905-6', says a pamphlet just issued by the Department of Labor,, ' Inspectors of Awards have collected,' on behalf of workmen, the 'sum of £1,154 for ■ wages due. under awards," etc., and have conducted 263 ; cases before the Arbitration Court, winning 213, losing 31-, and 19 being withdrawn '.