RAILWAYMAN'S WAGES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 811, 7 May 1910, Page 6

RAILWAYMAN'S WAGES.

TJpon. his return from a visit to An*, traha, the Hon. J. A. Millar (Minister for Railways) stated that in: his opinion the railwaymen in Now Zealand had no ' cause to grumble, either in regard to their wages or working conditions, as in both respects they were better_ oft than the railwaymen in the various States on tho other side. Commenting on this matter, the New, Zealand Railway Review," in' this month's issue, says: "We have to thank the Locomotive Association for challenging comparison with Australia. Its leaders asserted that the' A.S.R.S. had been so remiss ■ in regard to that section of the service, that much higher wages were paid in Australia under the sectional method of trade unionism. The Hon. J. A. Millar's answer is that ho has been to Australia, and knows that this contention is wrong. The Minister, however, has been as hurried in his conclusions as he was on his travels—ho covered 200 miles a day, Sundays included—for ho neglected to take into consideration the cost of living iu Australia. Tho Customs tariff, of the Commonwealth imposes but a tithe of the taxation which imported necessaries of existence have to, bear in this country, consequently, living w cheaper in Australia, and will ba cheaper still when the new Labons Government gets to work on protectionist iniquities, and the railwayman's' wago goes much further than in New Zealand, where a benevolent Government's Customs taxation adds anything from 10 to 40 per cent, to the cost of nearly every article purchased with hia earnings."