LABOUR DEPARTMENT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1036, 27 January 1911, Page 9

LABOUR DEPARTMENT.

PROGRESS OF TWENTY YEARS. HISTORY AND PROSPECTS. INTERVIEW WITH.'MR. E. TREGEAR. Interviewed yesterday, Mr. E. Tregear, the retiring Secretory for Labour, consented, at the request of a Dominion reporter, to briefly trace tlio inception and'succeeding development and administration of the New Zealand Labour legislation, with which liis name has been intimately connected since 1891, in which year tlio Labour Department was founded with Mr. Tregcar as its principal, and only, officer. "In sneaking of Labour legislation and Labour Department," said Mr. Tregcar, "it is to be.said first of all that the two have a common origin and. causes which give rise to one have effects which are instantly felt iu the other. The Department began-with myself alone, and has gradually increased around me until it has grown into a strong arm ot the public service. Unemployment.

"At first it was brought into'existence with the idea of coping with ,the unemployed difficulty, which, at that time, iii 1891, was acute. Evidences ofj unemployment were nppnrent at every corner of the principal streets. The' Government had the idea that there were many forces prevalent in" civilisation which caused labour to .be continually drifting towards- the town centres, and that if some means could be taken, to promote a continued decentralisation, a step would be gained towards the eventual settlement of the difficulty. By means of the co-opera-tive works, labour was relieved from -the pressure of poverty which was'at that time exceedingly, severe. It has been, throughout, the policy of tho Department to use the Government works only as a stand-by, and to endeavour, year by year, to enable more and more of tho unemployed to enter the servico of private' individuals. Our returns for •-. the last, year or two show that this idea has been carried into practical effect, since the number of persons' sent to private employment has greatly increased as compared with the number of those drafted.on to the roads and railway construction works.

The Labour Laws. "The question ot unemployment, how. ever," .continued Mr. Tregenr, . "soon faded into Comparative insignificance compared with the' administration of Labour laws which begun to appear upon the Statute. Book. The Factories Act, Shop Act, Domestic Servants Registry Act, Shearers' Accommodation Act, the Conciliation and Arbitration Act, the Truck Act, and numerous other measures continually necessitated an increase in the officers of the Department. When to their existing duties was added-that of inspectors of awards under the Arbitration Act, the work at once almost doubled. The work brought out a different stamp of inspectors from those who had been provided at first, almost wholly from the polico force.

Spreading Abroad. • "Year by year d few more paid inspectors were added to take, charge not only of the first-class, but of the second and third-class; towns. Now I can say with prido that a more efficient service, for the-regulation of the shops,' factories, : etc, of a country, is hardly to be.found in'the world: This-is in striking contrast totho state ot' affairs in Great Britain; whore an inspector of factories is unable,' owing to the great pressure of work upoii him, to visit.a factory-more than once a year. When a visit is made, the presence of the inspector in tho locality is perfectly well-known, and tho factories are swept and garnished for his reception.

-— The Germ of Legislation.^ . "In tho course of my work as Chief Inspec"tor**qf Factories;''- pursued Mr. Tregear, "1 had'to go about amongst differ* ent unions and amongst the workers of the ccjony everywhere, from the - most o»")>*»d centres in the. towns to tho most, far back farms w-here shearers' accommodation had to be inspected. As was only natural, numberless grievances- affecting the working classes were laid before me. These grievances, reported through my Minister to Parliament, with suggestions as to how they could be remedied, often formed the .basis of Labour laws, and this Department thus had 'an important . influenae on legislation, while legislation rc:acting continually incrensed the the duties of the Department. I think myself that these general tendencies will, if possible, increase in the futu'rei as the State takes over more and more the conduct, of enterprises, or the regulation of enterprises, which twenty years ago were entirely under .private.'control.; It is certain that, not only-will a more numerous staff bo required in the future, but -a better educated and- more capable" class of men must be found to conduct the affairs of tho Department, and make its work as effective in tho complicated future as it has been in the comparatively simplo •past. ' . ■_ Political Relations. "The essentials for. carrying on the Department under the present conditions are, I think' I may boldly say, as perfect on this day. when I 'leave, as they could be made, due considerations of economy and of all opposing forces being taken into' consideration. There is, however, a certainty that the conditions will not remain as they arc. Tho Labour.Department is a force not only in its economic, but in its political, relations withsociety which is unusually susceptible, to influence from without as, well', as . tu growth from within. There is not a change in taxation "iii Germany, an alteration of tariff in America, a money difficulty in Wall Street, or a serious strike in Lancashire, but its effects roach and influence the status of workers in New Zealand. It is. necessary that those who wish to get tho very best results from the Labour Department, and from tho Government of New Zealand—which is really the peoplo of New Zealand—should give the wisest support and most thoughtful guidance possible to the Department which deals directly with labour. It is absolutely impossible for any class of persons in New Zealand to be thoroughly prosperous from any honest source if the people who aro the actual producers of the wealth are suffering from any injustice or aro not helped in a manner that will make them most cheerful and contented. The Labour Department properly administered can do a very great deal for tho welfare of the workers, and therefore it is to tho interest of everyone, rich or poor, that they should see that the workers aro helped as far as possible by giving the Department encouragement, and support so long as that Department' is doing its duty faithfully and well. I ask, in retiring from my office, that every assistance, political 'nild social, may be given towards making that .Department vital, useful, and thus ultimately remunerative to the wholo populatioii of the Dominion."