BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. INDUSTRIAL TROUBLES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 70, 19 July 1948, Page 4

BAY OF PLENTY BEACON Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. INDUSTRIAL TROUBLES

It was announced from Wellington on Thursday by the Minister of Labour, Mr McLagan, that an agreement had been reached by the parties concerned for a tribunal to adjudicate on the Mountpark dispute. Normal work on all ships with the exception of the Mountpark and Broompark was started on Friday. Unloading those ships will not resume pending the tribunal’s decision. It 'is to be hoped the tribunal will be able to get the matter finally and satisfactorily settled. All the parties have undertaken to accept and abide by the decision of the tribunal. ' , •v This cbmesyas > welcbinb;-.newsf indeed. _ 1 Farmers in particular were becoming restive, and most ;; sections of the community felt that the matter had gone far enough. Industrial unrest in general was discussed with some force at the July meeting of the Paeroa

branch of Federated Farmers, which passed a resolution: “That this branch will, if a state of emergency arises, take any direct action considered necessary to help to keep the wheels of industry and commerce moving.” The wording of the resolution was decided on after considerable discussion by the fifteen members present. Exception was taken to the wording of a remit passed at the recent conference in Auckland which stated that farmers were prepared to do anything necessary to keep the wheels of industry and commerce going “if called upon by the Government.” Some of those at the Paeroa meeting contended they were prepared to act constitutionally or unconstitutionally if the occasion arose. One declared he was even prepared to take up arms. He was the mover of the resolution that was finally adopted. His extreme" view of what might be needed in the way of direct action suggests an impatience that could become very dangerous if it became general. That there are grounds for impatience no-one will deny. That there are two sides to every industrial argument is also obvious. Root causes of the unrest that shows itself frequently in many ways but which Government spokesmen never tire of telling us does not exist are not so obvious. But industrial troubles throughout history always have been closely related to the economic set-up of the day, and it seems that our planners, if they would seek a permanent solution, must turn their eyes on the relationship between the money men earn and goods it will buy. “Direct action,” particularly if it involves violence, should not be necessary if those concerned applied themselves to finding a cure for the whole disease rather than a palliative for some of the symptoms.