The Press Monday, April 11, 1921. Labour and "Scraps of Paper."

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17116, 11 April 1921, Page 6

The Press Monday, April 11, 1921. Labour and "Scraps of Paper."

One must admire the candour, while deploring ,the setttiment, of the views, expressed by Mr Walsh, president of the .'. Australian Seamen's "Union, on the binding nature of industrial agreements, as reported in Saturday's cables. The seamen, ho declared, would not Hare arbitration. "They would only "accept' such compromises aa they were "driven to, holding to. their agreee"menta as long as they were suitable "and breaking them as soon as the cir"cumstanoes of the momentdeniattd- ■''.; " ch4.**; That is to say, Mr Walsh, as spokesman for several thousand Ans- , tralian .workers, publicly announces ; their adhesion , to. the Prussian policy "'" that 'caused lie: Great War. If one had tovfeplieye that-this was the rule" by which the .workers individually decided to regulate their relations with ' A other men, and notably with employ- ■■ ors, there would be good reason for the, darkest pessimism regarding, the future of industry and of the social "structtire/ Pew, however, believe that ; tlie worker as an inaividual holds such views. In that capacity he has as much respeot for his word, and for agreements ,to ; which he is a party, as the average 'min of.any class. A man-upon whose word no reliance can be placed, who .bi-eaks .agreements' and contracts as though they had no binding force upon his conscience, is looked upon by the average worker with' suspicion and distrust. In the'world of labour, the phrase "He is a man of his word" connotes, as it does everywhere else, honesty and straight dealing, and is em- .'' ployed as a term Of high praise. And yet organised labour constantly displays a complete disregard, eveii contempt, for the quality which. in, the individual is universally admired. In New Zealand, as : we. have seen from time to time with increasing frequency, labour organisations iftout agreements and Arbitration Court awards with entire disregard of the breach of faith and honour, to say nothing of the breach of law, that they thereby commit v . So far as we can remember, no labour body in the Dominion has expressed. its indifference to its given word with such cynical candour as marked Mr Walsh's ' remarks, but this faint degree of deference to public opinion has not gone far enough to prevent a number of them from putting into force the,policy of contract-breaking when it has seemed probable that some temporary gain could be secured. Why organised Labour should pursue so readily a course which individual workers would disdain to follow is a problem which has for long puzzled many, and which we have no means of.solving. But it is plain that it is a course which cannot be carried out indefinitely without causing jnfinite trouble of the gravest nature, which .must eventually react most seriously upon Labour itself. Most of the transactions of industry and commerce are based upon mutual faith and trust, and if, as regards transactions with Labour, this relationship is to be replaced by one of well-founded suspicion and distrust, the result can only be anticipated with alarm. The greatest need Of Labour to-day is to get back to the position in which a man's word is recognised as being as good as his bond, and his bond as sacred. The "scrap of paper" policy hi international dealings- brought immeasurable ' disaster upon "the world; the same policy applied to Labour's dealings with others offers a prospect hardly less deplorable.