COST OF LIVING BONUS.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17112, 6 April 1921, Page 6

COST OF LIVING BONUS.

POSITION TO BE REVIEWED. A pronouncement that the Arbitration Court would grant the last bonus of 3s per week to all applicants entitkxl to it, and that the whole bonus que*, tion would bo reviewed nest month, was made by his Honour Mr Justice Frazer in tho Arbitration. Court yesterday.

Mr C. Renn, who brought the matter up, said in recard to tho reduction of the bonus from 9s to 3s, that although tho Court had dealt fully with tho matter elsewhere, Christchurch and Can. torbury generally ihad not yet had an opportunity of expressing their view* From the decision of the late President. ,of the Court, one was forced to tho conclusion that tho reason for reducing the bonus was chiefly the representations concerning the industrial condition of tho Dominion at Hhe time, rather than on account of tho figures supplied by tho employers. There were a number of industries in Cantorbury »n which tho employers were not only paying tho bigger bonus, but wero paying mow. That was taken as an indication that tho employers wore able to pay tho 9s bonus. Mr Justice Stringer had mod© a promiso that when the next bonus was issued, 2s would bo added to it, to compensate for tho 2s which had bcoa taken off the last bonus. Tho financial position of the Dominion might be such AS to make the reduction necessary, but it was thought Uhat the Court should be asked to observe the promiw by adding 2s to tho coming bonus, whatever it might be. The standard of living had been reduced during tho last six months by tho fall in tiho purchasing power of money. It was hoped that tho Court would >e» adjust tho matter, for though tiro protest of tho people of Christchurch had come late, it was v not tiheir own fault. Tho Court had last sat hore five month* ago. Tho question was, what amount of relief the Court would civo to tte workers to restore them to their former standard of comfort and happiness. ; His Honour Mr Justice Fnueer said that t)ho Court would consider tho re' presentations made, but all would recognise the Court's difficulty in attempting to alter anything dono in tho past, when it was realised that tho November bonus, with tho deduction of 2s (/ wm applied in all tho centres except Canterbury, in which tllio applications worn now being heard. Obviously the Court could not consider tho applications ill a more favourable light than it did hi tho other centres. So far as tho general bonus question was concerned, tho whole tihing would bo revived again next month. "When it came up there would probably bo a Dominion application, in which Canterbury, he pre? . sumed, would bo represented, and thou tho Court would be pleased to consider everything brought forward by both sides, and-would bo prepared to ©onsider the case fully. His Honour was sorry that there had been so much misunderstanding over the last bonus, and he thought that much of it was misunderstanding. Speaking about tho bonus, the Court proposed,- in going through the long list of bonus Applications, to follow tho pracico it had adopted elsewhere. If there was nothing uncommon about the application, and it was in effect for whatever bonus the Court might grant, the Court would grant the 3s bonus. If a dispute wer* intended tho Court would dear it in somo suitable time.