LABOUR PROBLEMS REVIEWED.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1987, 18 February 1914, Page 8

LABOUR PROBLEMS REVIEWED.

MR. HOLMAN AT THE NEW ZEALAND

CLUB LUNCHEON.

/ REASON V. FORCE. ARBITRATION GROWING IN FAVOUR The Hon. W. A. Holmau (Prime Minister of New South Wales) was tho guest of honour at the New Zealand Club luncheon in the Y.M.C.A. rooms yesterday. There was a packed attendance. . Mr. R. H. Webb presided, and" briefly introduced Mr. Holman. Others present were tho Hon. W. Fraser, the Hon. H. D. Bell, the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke), the Hon.-C. M. Luke, and Mr. D. M'Laren. Apologies for absence were received from tho Hon. F. M. B. Fisher and Sir Joseph Ward. , , Mr. Holman was loudly applauded as he rose to speak. He said that he appreciated his reception .very highly. The subject which ho had chosen to address them upon was: "Labour Disputes and Their Settlement," a question of. burning interest to Now Zealanders, because of recent unhappy memories, and of still more burning, interest to himself—or, rather, to his unhappy colleagues, who. were tackling industrial difficulties while he was luxuriating upon the verdant slopes of New Zealand. The possibilities of indiscretion in handling such a subject were great, and the consequences-of indiscretion at a moment like this would' be even greater, but the urgency' and importance of tho subject marked it out' as one that might be discussed in'a gathering of that kind. Rising Cost of Living. Throughout the globe, during the last ten years, there had been a.steady in-" crease'in the price of the elementary necessities of life. What this was due to ho did not propose to discuss in his brief addross that day. Some economists suggested that increased prices wore partly duo to the increased gold supply, others—<ind, ho thought, with more weight—attributed the increase in! prices to tho concentration ' of population in .the towns, which resulted in increasing the number of consumers in relation to tho number; of primary producers. These were probkini's which they,-as plain men, might leave to tho expert to determine. The- fact remained that in every quarter .of tho globe there had been this e'nornjous increase in the cost of living which appeared to have every prospect of going on. Hero in New Zealand during the last t\yo years a Royal Commission had been appointed to inquire into the whole matter, arid similar action had been taken in New: South Wales, in England, and in a number of European countries. In a]l.these countries the problom.was experienced and bitterly.felt, by ..the working classes. As a result ,_'■. there, hall been a. steadily-rising- wave/,of' discontent amongst the working "class. \ Wages that afforded a decent,- though bare, living- -ten years ago no.--longer.;,did -o. Tho Statistician of ' Australia (Mr.. Knibbs) had made various estimates of the purchasing power of the sovereign, and found that to-day it would only purchase what could havo ; been purcho.sed for 16s. or 17s. ten years ago, in the States of Australia. Men who were working practically on subsistence level ago, and whose money wagos had.remained unaltered, .found themselves now. often iii very groat distress —in a condition calling for tho gravest sympathy on the part of the Governments of the world, to-day.

\yavo of Discontent, They had seen a wavo of discontent spreading through the Labour communities of the, whole, world-hot only in. countries where Jabour upheavals were of periodic occurrence in any case, but in others, whero more peaceful sentiments prevailed. In his opinion, the only remedy for this discontent lay in a frank recognition of the- fact that owing to tho increase- in the cost of living, a vast proportion df tho workers had.for the last few years boon underpaid. Employers should frankly recognise tho fact and give their workers more. When that had been stated it remained to arrive at the best means of readjustment of tho wages scales in tjio different countries. WTiat was a living wage 15 years ago was no longer a living wage to-day, and what was a living wage today might, not be one a few years hence. It appeared to him that—accepting all the, shortcomings and defects that experienpo had revealed —ho system could bo devised which would bear comparison with the system of industrial arbitration in force in New Zealand and Australia. No doubt there were many in New Zealand who were just recovering from a violent'shock to.their faith in the efficiency of arbitration. No doubt many people had lately experienced a similar shock in Now South Wales. But it was not at moments when a faith was accomplishing miracles that it was. necessary to defend it. It was when some cloiid had como over a doctrine that'it became necessary to examine its foundation.

Faith In Arbitration. Mr. Holman went on to.declare his belief that, the arbitration 'system, in the American phrase, had come to stay, and with it more promise of permanent settlement and permanent well-being than • any other method. In spite of occasional upheavals all over Australia, and he believed, sneaking with the diffidence of a visitor, in spite of similar happenings in New Zealand, faith in arbitration was increasing. In support of this contention, Mr. Holman cited a simple parallel. Hβ asked his hearers to compare the international situation to-day with'that of a century ago. No thinker- would deny, he said, that on the whole the forces making for tho preservation of peace among the nations were enormously growing in volume arid strength. . Saying this, he was fully conscious of the fact that, while ho said the words, sorao great Power might deliver au ultimatum to another and a great war might bo tho next act in the drama. But they know that'during the last ten years instances of tension had occurred, which at an earlier period would have inovitably plunged tho countries concorned into war, and had passed off harmlessly: Strikes In New South Wale 3. One of the issues in the electoral strugglo through which they had recently passed in New South Wales was whether, during the timo his Govern-1 niont had been in offico, thero had been, more or less industrial disturbances than in the reign of the previous Government. In connection with this mat- , ter, ho found it necessary, to j»efc. out the .official figures relating to strike disturbances during the last six years. The magnitude of a strike wa9 to be shown,by taking the number of workers concerned and multiplying it by the number of days on which thoy wero out of work. On this .basis.tho figures which ho had obtained Showed that during the > three years preceding the coming into powor of the New South Wales Labour Ministry two and a half million labour days were lost as a result of strikes, whorpaa-during the last three years only about three-quarterß of a million labour days wcro lost in this way. The reduction was dub to the iiiHuenco of arbitration,methods sympathetically/ administered. Legislation was passed which commanded the confidence of the unions, and it wrb so .adminiatered aa to bring eonoiliition" to

bear, as far as possible, hi the early stage 3of disputes. Jie nad no hesitation in saying that the trend, of opinion iu Australia had been towards greater and greater confidence in arbitration methods. A striking instance was that •of thu Shearers' Union, a powerful organisation, which twenty years ago was tho spirit of misrule embodied whenever industrial disorder broke out. To-day i tills great union was wholly devoted to arbitration. There were others he could nam'o which for many years refused to listen to the word "'arbitration," and regarded compulsory arbitration as nu. infringement of the liberty of tho in- ? dividual worker, but had now, within the last two or three years,, brought | thomselves within the pale, llrerb were '; occasional exceptions to the. rule, just as ; a nation might occasionally appeal to i the God of itettles, but throughout Australia tho trenti made steadily for * the substitution of reason for force in J the settlement of these matteis between ; Irian and man. Mis own firm opinion • w r as that this was tho bsst they could ' hope for. They did not want the time lto come when the workers of Austral- c asia would either feet that they had no grievances or.feel that they had griev- J iinces but that there was no way of securing redress. Throughout the his- r tory of their race they had always been f a stiff-necked and rebellious people, and r it would be a bad day for the race if ? the working man ever became a servile' ~ kisser of the rod he hated. Quarrels J must arise from time to time between v master and man, but every citizen ? should endeavour to secure the settle- s rnent of disputes by reason rather than by force. Arbitration, was the method ; by which grievances should he consid- J ered and redressed. It was the special ' glory of New Zealand to have contri- ' buted that legislation which was torday J a permanent gift to the advancement of .J humanity. * Mr. Holman was enthusiastically ap- , plauded as he concluded his , address. * RECEPTION AT TOWN HAU.. \ ME, HOLMAN CORDIALLT WJSL- i COMED. ] Warm cordiality,was the ruling spirit 'J at the civic reception accorded to 'Mr., Holman at tho Town Hall yesterday ' forenoon. Those present included; The Mayor (Mr. J. I|. Luke), presiding; the Hoii. R. H. Rhodes, representing tho Government; most of the City Councillors; the chairman-(Mr,-B. Fletcher) and other members of the Harbour Board; Messrs.-C. Parata, M.P.; W. S. La Trob'o . (Director of tho Technical School); and W. 11. Field. Labour or- 1 ganisations were represented bj' Messrs. j D. M'Laren, E. J. Carey, Q. Blather- j wick, and others. t The Mayor, in extending ■A. hearty j welcome to' Mr. Holman on be.half of tho { City Council and the citizens, of Wei- ; lingtoh, dwelt upon the common task j imposed'upon publicmen in both Ajis- , tralia and New .Zealand of developing and guarding their territ-orics in trust for -the , Anglo-Saxon '-rate. ; , , The Hoii. R.- H. Khodes welcomed j Mr. Holman on helialf of the= Govern- | ment, and said that fie doubt bis -col» , leagues would'have been' very pleased' to ] attend if they had been invited. One j section of tho Press had referred to . the absence-of Ministers froni another recent function to wKich.iii point', of ' fact, thev. had not been- , invited.. Minis- ] t-ers -would have.been pleased tq.attejid '■ that-function if they, .had'received ,in- ' vitations, just as.they would 'iave been 1 pleased to attend that' ..day. _ Mr. y -Rhodes wonton,to refer in appreciative • terms to tho interest.manifested by their visitor in New Zealand and its public l affairs. Mr. Holman, ho said, took a ' very lively interest in oiie Department 1 which ho (Mr. Rhodes) had the honour 1 to ' control—tho Department of FuMio Health—and he had taken keen inter- ' est also in tho Medical Congress.-..ami 1 did 'hot' intend to allow New South 1 Wales to loso the benefits arising oqt j i of its deliberations. The Tourist I)e-!, partment was another in- which Mr. Hoi- j 1 man was greatly interested. It was a! i good thing for both' Australia and New | , Zealand that Ministers should exchange j visits,, rub shoulders., and learn to tin-1 i dorstand one another. In this -tfay they ] , would find out how to adjust their dif- i • ferencos, and, he might to adjust . their tariffs. It would cpnui «tbout same j, day, he hoped, that the tariff would j be. adjusted to the satisfaction of' the j , farming and commerci.ii. nommumties in 1 ! ioth countries. (Appkcise.). ! Mr. Holman, whs was received with !, applause, said that ho regarded it as a j ■ flattering tribute to a public man to bq formally welcomed )%[ the municipal representatives of the capital city of Now Zealand. Ho recognised that the compliment paid him was a compliment to the distinguished position no'lan attained, no matter how unworthily, in the politics of his own State, tat ho felt also that thcro was a definite note of personal kindness towards himself,. (Applause.) This he appreciated very much, and would endeavour in the future to' heartily reciprocate- After a passing reference to his recent political experiences—a battle, he remarked, fought with a vigour and intensity for which even tho ferocious , politics of New Zealand afforded no parallel—Mr. Holman.went, on to state that ho felt very much- the Mayor's kindly _re£or« ences to his own cai'eer. Australia and Now Zealand afforded possibilities for rapid advancement which were not equalled anywhere else in the world... Without touching, on politics, ho would like to say that it was a matter_ for very great rejoicing that opportunities should" bo open to men of comparatively lowly origin to come to the frout. in publio life (Applause.) Hβ was not foolish enouch to suggest that iu tho world of politics education was not of the same value as it always was. An educated man inevitably had a stait, but in Australia the education which fitted a man for public, life was more often to be pained in the camp'and. market place than in the halls of k-afn-iii", and many men who had made tlitir mark in Australia were men who, in other parts of the world, would have been shut out from n public career ly soroo unfortunate lack which t T e narrow lot c-f tbflir parents made inevitable. Mr. Holman went on to sta'p that in his former visit - to New Zealand ho. acquired a gopcldeal of ustful information, some of which had assisted him in framing legislation. He had not induked in any slavish 'mitatvnn of Now Zealand laws, but there_ was hardly a direction in which Ihe reiormer in New South Wales could stretch out his hand in which Kβ could not nain something from tho ©sample of Ne-w Zealand, even if it ivero enly some warning of what to avoid, CLaughter.) At the present time, through the courtesv of the Prime Minister, h-o was in touch with the heads of several Depart* monts, and hoped to accumulate a fiir* thor stock of useful information. He: gave high praise to the people-oF. New Zealand for the manner in which they had settled the Native ptoMem, an.tl said that as to tho White Australia policy, New South Wales honod, in reference to it, to give a lead to tho rest of Australia. (Applause.)