N.Z. FEDERATION OF LABOUR.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1448, 24 May 1912, Page 8

N.Z. FEDERATION OF LABOUR.

CONFERENCE OPENS, Oi'T'TOIA li KKl'OltT. A Onul fifty deh giib'S from nirinns parts of the Dominion .-ire attending tinc.milcrcnoo of the New Zealand IVieration of Labour, the opening se.-sions of which won.- hold at tlio "Mnorilahd Worker" oliiee- yesterday. Mr. I'. Webb, 'president i.f the federation, was in the chair.

If was decided |<i exclude the lepresontatives of She daily pri'sn liom Uf conference mid !<i mijijjfy an oil Hal report to the paper?. 11. li'.'i f a I-'I re. solved lliat a verlwilim report n'i the proceedings lie j-peelalir talien and published in paim.hle!. ftmi). The olhciul I'op.'il'l. is as I'oiii ivi• In ivclriiiiiiiijr Ihe delegates, the; ju-i----.■jiili'lit. rxpivv-ed ill!: hope that tln-.v j would not i.i'pariite until l hey had peifecteii tho machinery of tlni urijaiii-atio i i in siii'h a way a-, W make tim I'eder:- | tion of Labour ilie ia<i-,t. i:(iiii|il«-t« nrgaiiisalion i.l the working cla-it. lie regarded the conference, as the mm!, iittporlant ever held in I In: hi»l'iry of the working elir-s niiivemeiit. uf New Xealand, jiin! he believed iK »I<lilj«:if.ifjfia.ti'l visions would tend l/i the freeing nt Ihe workers from (lie inju-tiws of i.-ajiitalinn. A JifK. ill I fnen ( h afollow Here mad':--Press ('oi/miitko, Almr". 11. Iliekey, ,1. 1)111 icon, .'Hill li. I.'iov.'ley; W-llei', Messrs. li. N. Hidd, lv. J. Howard, 11.I 1 . J{ichard.-on, T. Kf'-(iliifii'/)H i minute »/:<> retary, Mr. (>. Hmitlii !ime-!;ee;ier, Mr. Jl. li. Voice; I'landlii# order uiiomiti.ee, Messrs. .1. Dov/gray, M. J. 1-aracy, ,i. liosser, li. (loiilii, il. '}'• Armstrong; li nance commili.ee, Mew-.. It- .V hi'l'l, 11, (loiihi, A. J'aieihoji, .1, OirinuiiiK, Hil. Dalhoiisie. It was decided (hat the lonhrciim nt daily ■ from 9 a.m. till I2.Z') ;<.i/j., .md from 2 p.m. till r, and ihere-ilter as arranged. The delegates jil«lg'-d themselves to divulge no Iniorination i/> the press. .Mr. C. Webb gave an eihoustive report of executive v.orl: ,'eferriug i'l the remarkable growth of the since tlio previous conference held in 1010. Agreements had been made Irom one end of New Zealand to the other,_ and in every case conditsou'i had been bettered. The federation had tried_ coi/ipul'/iry arbitration, but had found that organisation in the spirit of solidarity hao achieved beti/ir Tlie N'.eratlon of Labour Kjuglit to unite r,ll a tvage-<«ro-ers into one class organisation. It had gained tho allegiance of tho vfatersitio workers and had been the incaM | of improving their lot more thoroughly than had been tho case for fifteen years. In ! 1911 the federation had taken over the

"Maoriland AVorker," issued it as a weekly newspaper and subsequently inGtailcd «■ plant and purchased' premises. Tho paper had come to stay' and had done good work. Tho organisation had had to fight for its existence and principles every inch of tho way, bat the present large conference attested its spreading popularity ami need. Mr. E. Semple (tho organiser) also gave, an exhaustive report, in which ho emphasised that ho had carried out instructions' in signing' agreements, but in 110 agreement had the right to strike, or tho right to mako common cause in industrial upheaval, been sacrificed. Ho had been somewhat handicapped in his propaganda work by the' necessities of administration.. As a result! of his mis-s-ion to Australia, the coal-miners of A'ictoria, New South AYiales, and New Zealand had teen linked up, and the following agreement had been approved and signed:— 1 "For tho purpose of more efficiently and successfully conducting wage-wars, and securing working-class solidarity in such industrial struggles as may extend from Australia to New Zealand, or vico versa, it is iWeby agwed by tho New Zealand Federation of Labour on the one hand and the undermentioned industrial organisations on the other hand, as follows:—

"1.. That,the .various organisations shall, 'maW ecninioircause in all disputes' l Affecting the AA r aterside' and .Miners' Union directly the dispute is held by the organisation which has initiated action to require the corporation of other parties to this agreement. "2. That moral, and financial aid shall be mutually rendered in industrial struggles. "3. That in industrial struggles the unions hereunder specified shall in any and all circumstanccs refuse, upon official notification, to a.«ist in the production or transportation of like commodities to those affected, if such production or transportation . be the- means of injiiri-ii.tr the cause of tho organisation involved." Mr. Semple added that lie had not been able, in the. time at his disposal, to reach the rank and file of tho Australian waterside workers, but ho felt sure that in the future the waterside industry would also lie intor-colonially joined. On tho motion of Messrs. I'. Fraser and (J. Bruce the reports were adopted, as was also tho executive balance-sheet. Tho conference will be rcsunul at 10 o'clock this mGrnina".