THE PREMIER'S REPLY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1663, 1 February 1913, Page 6

THE PREMIER'S REPLY.

ARBITRATION ACT TOBEAMENDED; .THE IMMIGRATION/QUESTION.,, The ;Prime Minister rose to reply an hour and a" half aftor the deputation had entered the room. He sdid that not all of the resolutions passed, at the conference had been laid before him. Mr. Young: Too warm!,' Mr. Massey:'Not too warm for me, . Mr. Young. -You will always find me here when £ou want me. : ' . Mr. Hickoy: Not always. I hope. Mr. Massey said that he had never turned his back on'any man yet, and did not intend to. * • Mr. Hickey said that on future occasions they might find another occupant in the-chair. Mr. Massey said that ho would leave that to a majority of the people of the Dominion. Turning, to tho questions raised by the 'deputation ho said that an amending and consolidating Arbitration Act _ would bo' brought' down" during the coming session. He 'was busy putting the amendments _ into shape and would bo ready to bring them down as soon as the House met. He "invited his hearers to como along and give evidence, before the Labour Bills 'Committeo -. hen ■ the promised Bill was before the House. 1 He was not going to express an opinion on' the points they had raised, but he w<uld give Parliament an opportunity of dealing with these points and of placing nnAct on the 1 Statute Book that-would be satisfactory to the great bulk of the people of this country. Some of the points made in regard to the Workers'. Compensation Act he oonsidered worthy of attention. They also would be submitted •to the Labour Bills Committee which would take evidence. It seemed to him that there was a defect in the Act as it stood.

As to the Defence Act ho did not suggest that it was perfect any more than any other Act on the Statute Book, but tho Government intendV V, the main principles of the Defence Act. Anyone who, understood' what was going on in other parts of the world knew tho reason for that Act, and ho was perfectly sure that tho great bulk of the people of this country favoured making the necessary preparation for a possible national emergency. Misrepresentation.^ An attempt had been made to prejudice tho Government with 1 regard to immigration. A so-called newspaper in this city had been responsible for a good ■ deal of misrepresentation during the past few days. It was part of his business to read what. appeared in the papers-— Mr. Eraser: Much better not to, Mr. Massey. Mr. Mnssey: "No man in New Zealand is less affected by the opinions of newspapers than I am, but I have 1 to look into them." The Government at the present time, he added, had taken in hand tho introduction of farm workers, men who would have an opportunity of becoming farmers themselves. If depression was to bo avoided; the number of producers must be increased. Mr, Semplo: Flood the market! Mr. -Massey: Not with tho . object of flooding the market, but the. peoplo of this country are calling for more labour. I am as much a working man as any in this room, and have •worked as hard. My sympathies are as mxich with the workers as thoso of any one of you. . But you see what is goring On .in Canada and in Australia with its Labour Government. Every British country is competing for population. Wo cannot nllow tho country to stagnate. The Government's scheme up to the present, he added, had dealt only with agricultural, labourers and domestic servants. As a fact uicro was discrimination against other classes of immigrants.intho amount of passage money they had to pay. The Prime Minister said that ho woulfl submit to Cabinet tho proposal for an inquiry into what had happened at Waihi. A number of inquiries had been held, in court and elsewhero, and other cases still had to come on. It would bo impossible to have two inquiries going on simultaneously—one of them in the S.M. Court. Mr. Semplo said that twenty-nine men had been victimised at Hmitly because of their industrial and political opinions. Mr. Massiy: Not political. Mr. Semplo said that the Department had registered the organisation to which these men wcro refused admittance.

Mr. Massey said that if the law had not been complied with he would insist upon a full "compliance with its provisions.

Mr, Romplo said that unless tho Goveminent gave the Nile! asked {or tlia only

tiling left to the workers would bo to revolt.

To further questions, Mr. Massey said that ho had always been in favour of majority rule. Ho had no doubt that they would find moro majority rulo in tho now Bill than tlioy had ever had before. Mr.' Young: Your Bill will embody our proposals? The I'rimo Minister: I won't promise. Mr. Massey said in conclusion that ho recognised that workers in this or any other country wero justified in uniting with a view to soiling their labour to tho best advantago in tho highest market; and to demanding reasonable hours of work, etc. Tho Government in office, liko any other Government, was bound to hold tho scales of justice evenly between'tho different sections of tho community. It had dono that up to tho present, anil intended to do it in future. Tho Govcrnmont did not favour any particular 6cctiou of tho community. Mr. Tregear thanked tho Primo Minister for the courtesy he had shown in rccoivins tho deputation, and its members then withdrew.