A TIME OF TRANSITION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1987, 18 February 1914, Page 6

A TIME OF TRANSITION.

] The decision of Judge Heydon in ' the New South Wales Industrial Court, fixing a Hying wage based on the cost of living ajid a man's j requirements in a civilised community, shows how far we have travelled in .the direction of social and iudusj trial readjustment during the present generation. How these new methods of regulating wages will work out time alone can show. The whole process of State interference in regard to the relations between employer and workman is a great experiment, and no one can yet say whether it will lead to a permanent and satisfactory settlement of the labour problem. The- effects of this great change which began about the,' middle of the eighteenth century, generally known as the industrial revolution, still remain. The modern labour-saving . inventions, the process of specialisation in. all brandies-of manufacturing industry, and the springing up of great centres of population at the expense of thft rural districts brought about a far-reaching unseUleinenfc in the life of tiie people which lias continued into our own times. The modern world is trying to readjust itself to the new conditions. It has parted from the old anchorage and has not yet found its new moorings. In a state of transition like that we are now passing _ through, the industrial and social unrest referred to by the Premier of New South Wales (MR. Holjian), in his address to the 2» T ew Zealand Club yesterday, was inevitable, and wo can only do car best to modify it V seeking to solve

the difficult problems to which it has given rise. The attempt that is being made to satisfy, the demands of the workers by basing the rate of wages on tho cost of living is one incthod of dealing with the situation; but there is no finality about this process, for every increase of wages tends to increase the cost of living which in turn would bring about a further rise in wages, leaving the worker very little better off than he was before. Mn. Holman pins his faith on arbitration, and highly praises tins New Zealand system; and, indeed, this is tho most promising way at present available of preserving industrial peace, though recent happenings in- Now Zealand, and tho present labour crisis in Australia, show that it is far from perfect. However, it is our duty, as reasonable men to profitby experience with the object of making our labour laws as perfect as possible, and using them to the best advantage until in tho course of time something better is discovered to put in their place. It is in this way that the work of reform goes on. There is no easy way of ascent; the upward movement can only be maintained by the exercise of reasonableness and, moderation and 3 constant of thought and energy.