BUILDERS IN CONFERENCE.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1287, 16 November 1911, Page 5

BUILDERS IN CONFERENCE.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. The twelfth annual conference of tho New Zealand Federated Builders' Association opened in the Chamber of Commerce, Auckland, on Tuesday, tho president (Mr. n. 1. Clailce) occupying the chair, fho visiting delegates included Mr. W. Ward, of Napier (vice-president of the association), Messrs. W. H. Flvger and" N. Mcnli (Wanganui) W. G. Brooking (Taranaki), ;\;. Campbell, P. C. Watt, and Bennett (We,hngton), J. Lindsay, F. Wilkinson (Dunedin), U. Nightingale, J. H. Mavnard (Christchurch), P. Miller, P. Foster South Canterbury). W. S. Block (Gisborne) Hollow (Waikato), R, Smith (Sonth and), T. F. Taylor, 11. Stanlcv, and J. Phillips (Hawko's Bay). Tho Auckland delegates include Messrs. A. Grandison, H. Small, and G. Baildon. Mr. S. I. Clarice, in his presidential address, said:. "We represent tho oldest mechanical trade on earth, for the first building operations must surely have begun when man, in the process of evolution from the lower forms of animal life, first attained tho position of being able to construct a permanent habitation for himself and. his kind: and in later times the bm.cler has in all ages and.in many lands left almost the onh-'endurinc monuments and evidences of the civilisations and conditions under which he has lived and worked. With such a history behind it, tho trade should'bo over ready to maintain. its power and its dignity, and the New Zealand Federated BujldcrV Association snould be proud to assist in the task.

Coming to tho question of the past years work and the business to be considered now, you will probably find that the matters to be dealt with aro "not of such vita! importance as those which were before the . federation when tho whole queshon of the position of the contractoi and his legal rights was under considerafon Still, there are many points and directions towards which constant attention is necessary to further secure tho rights and liberties of contractors and to S™ n -ii a V r L and - iusrt settlement of dis™n,w to thc ; lle ? n jngs and terms of a contract, as against the exercise of arbitrary powers by individuals such as was the no in the past, and, in tho case of jublic: works, is tco ■common now. Lnder the fr-ms of what aro commonly inown as the Lien Acts, provision is very properly made to secure to the worker thc payment of his wages,, where attempts aro made to defraud him of such payment, by giving the worker the right to a claim on the property on winch he has worked, provided th» worker gives the necessary notice* and nithin a given tunc. This in itself is right and proper, but owing to the devious ways of leg-il interpretations bv the _ professional word-twister and the s avish adherence to precedent, as again«t the common meaning of words in our lawcourts, tho spirit of the Act has been made subservient to the letter of the law, and the bencicent intentions of legislation for tUo workers have been turned to the advantage of a certain class of property owner, by the undue detention of mun»v to which the contractor should be iusti'y entitled. '

Ihe secretary s report will show that the Jixecuhve Committee has been watchful of tho interests of the trade in re;'u-l to prop >sed amended industrial legislation, aiid in many other wavs, ami in this connection it is to be deplored that employers in the n.echauicil trades do not take a more active part m the Making and administration of the numerous laws and regulations, under which they must carry on business, l'-c building trade, for example, work? und»r mere awards and restrictions than any other branch of industry, yet so far as practical experience goes, it is alnmst ur.repicsented on tho floor of our Parliament, i 111 conclusion, 1 ask you to remember that tho usefulness of our association consists not only in its action but in its power for action in case of necessity; the latent power of the federation having behind it a fund of unseen resources to draw upon as the needs of the trade may demand. It is therefore the more important that the reserve strength of the association bo only used for tho celierai welfare of the building trade.