SPEECH BY MR. TREGEAR.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1108, 22 April 1911, Page 7

SPEECH BY MR. TREGEAR.

ARBITRATION SYSTEM, DISAPPOINTMENT AND HEARTBURNING. A PRESTATION, j 3 (By Telegraph—Press Association.) f , Chnsfchurch, April 21. At a social function last night, which did not conclude till midnight, ' held in connection with tho Trades and Labour Conference, Mr. E. Tregcar, ex-Secretary of Labour, was presented with an illuminated address, and for 5. Mrs. Tregear a purso of sovereigns. ! . Mr. Reardon, president of the con- > ference, in making tho presentation, said that the sentiment which had • actuated them all in regard to the pre- ; sent gathering was tho knowledge that ! behind tho cold hand of tho official > was the great heart of the humani--1 tarian. (Applause.) It was that know--1 ledge which had endeared Mr. Tregcar >' to them. They had also tho knowledgo ' that Mr. Tregear was now a free man, ■ and able to como out and take up work | which he could not previously tako up. He was sure that Mr. Tregear had ; done his best to steer labour legislation in the direction they so . much desired. He was one of those men who in other walks of life would have earned for himself a very distinguished career. Many of them complained thatlegislation was not all it might be, but if Mr! Tregear had got tho assistance he had a right to expect from workers, they would now have been further on the road they had to travel. Mr. Tregear had a heart of gold. He (the speaker) was pleased that the executive of tho Trades Council had not forgotten that Mr. Tregear had been assisted- by a noblo wife, and it gave him great pleasure to present to Mr. Tregear, on her behalf, a purso of sovereigns. There was a great demonstration, tho audience cheering Mr.' Tregear. Mr. Tregear expressed his heartfelt thanks for the kind words tho chairman had said about Mrs. Tregear. Ho would value tho address to the last moment of his life. The gift of money w-as also a very precious one. It came to him sanctified by having passed through the hands of working men and women. He would not accept it if lie did not hope to bo able to do something with it fortho tender-hearted and generous people who had given it to him. He wished] to use it to gain greater knowledge for tho good of the workers of New Zea-. land. Ho had a high opinion of the workers of New Zealand, and he knew that what New Zealand did to-day the world did to-morrow. (Applause.) Some bitter attacks had been made on tho Conciliation and Arbitration Acts. Ho had ■ been silent ' for twenty years— (laughter)—and now he wanted to tell them his real position. Until the workers were actually and practically determined to make an end to -the competitive wage system they would never find a prineiplo so just and sane % -as that of arbitration. That was ■ riis opinion twenty years ago, and that was his opinion still. The arbitration system did not belong to the past, but to the future. What had they to propose in place of military war? International arbitration must be higher law. (Applause.) Industrial war was ten thousand times moro deadly than military warfare. In mines of Great Britain'--a man was killed every two hours, and a man was fOjrty-SQcajids. i It had been stated ■■that out' of the total number of men employed on-the Greymouth wharf 67£ per cent, were injured; out of IGO no fewer than 112 had been incapacitated. Industrial war was less fair than military war, as tho killing and wounding was all on one side. In a trading concern of 160 shareholders, there were 112 killed or injured while drawing'their, dividends. (Laughter.) Was not tho killing of men for profits: as dreadful as . tho killing of men for the flag? Tho machinery of arbitration had been put into tho hands of human beings to carry out. Was it any wonder that there were disappointments and heartburn? The Aot was not sot down in an entirely foreign environment. He had said in a rather famous report that it was sent into an enemy's country like a singlo regiment : without reserves or supports. Sister acts were not brought on. afterwards— Acts dealing with injustices such as unearned increment and undue profits. In regard to the Arnitration Court and all the courts, the ballot would be in tho hands < of workers like a whip of knotted cords in tho temple of God's justice. Mr. ' Tregear referred to the work done by .: the Trades Guilds, and stated that while .: ho did not wish to go back'to tho days of guilds, they did preserve the workers ; in tho skilled trades from tho effects of ' mad-competition. He traced the be- < ginning and development of trade union- 1 ism, and contended that the present ■ position was one of <lustrial warfare, i

If an employer could say live or die, what was the good of trying to rebel against such a system unless to wipe it clean out of existence P (Applause.) Speaking on unionism, Mr. Tregear said that it. gave men a training which fitted them for public .Jife, and gave them a valuable educational training. Unionism wanted freedom to look after his own vital interests'without being put on the "black list."". The Labour movement was a movement to restrain outrageous greed. ' The working man was often accused of greed, but the accusation' came from those whose lives and souls wero rotten with greed. (Applause.) Tho Labour movement was a new civilisation. Ho wanted to find brotherhood, not only in church and polling booth, but to take it across tho wages-line. They must be brothers on ■the working day as well as on Sunday; brothers in the mine and factory, Ks well as in the church. The workers had to be formed into unions, unions into national brigades, and national brigades into international armies of peace (applause)—armies which loved mercy, but which were determined on equity. (Applause.) He believed that the wickedness and greed of the present system would bring down a war of a most devastating character. Tho promoters of tho Labour movement believed in tho ultimate victory of light over darkness. In his peroration, Mr'. Tregear said that he could see Labour sano and alert. At last Labour's hands wero going to bo strong to givo tho worker the full reward of his work. The horrors of industrial war would be trampled down to tho hell from which they came. Mr. jTregear concluded his speech amid rousing cheers, and a renewal of the demonstration which had preceded his address.