THE RIGHT TO WORK

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2202, 15 July 1914, Page 8

THE RIGHT TO WORK

MR. PAYNE'S'ILL A PRELIMINARY 'DISC.USSIQN. . Mr. J. PAYNE (Grey Lynn) introduced the Workers' Right to Work Bill. He, said that he wished to take the riglit to say a few words about, the Bill, just to see- that lie got the opportunity. lii a civilised community , ho held that the least they could do was to provide the right for every,man to work. They should also have the riglit . to a minimum wage. Mr. P. C. WEBB .(Grey) thought that the Bill should have included the right to rest.. x ■ ■Mr. Fisher: The right to all tho rest I Mr. Webb: Not all the rest, the right of those poor girls in service to rest. To-day,' he said, a-bad state of affairs existed, in that the Government refused men the right to work,-because thoy took part in the recent industrial trouble. Men' were forced to leave their homes and families to sek to work, owing to such victimisation. . Mr. G. W. RUSSELL (Avon) said that public opinion would resent any attempt made to victimise' any of thoso who had been connected with the recent industrial trouble. He "djd not want' to look at the matter from that poiut then, but to see how much they were required to provide work in a Christian country.' The right to work question was ,employing tho minds of the greatest men in the .older countries:- in those great countries there were probably ,;tens of thousands' of nieh'williiig, 'but."finable; to" get' .work!" 'That' was (iiio of the problems of,their age.- They might anticipate that, at- times' therewould be periods of linenjploymcnf) and distress. Some means should be : provided to find work for men who desired to keep a roof over tho heads of their families. That principle would be agreed 011 by every member on both Bides of the House. ■ ' I " " Extension of Labour Bureaux.. What means could tlfey adopt to assist;? Ho thought that an extension of the Labour Bureaux would do good, both for men and women workers. There was another wido field for employing tho development of their natural res6urces.- v -.Thero ( -were natural" resources,that could provide for a population, of ten or twenty times" what it was at present. New industries had ' to b& promoted for the employment':, of • the'population:' -His side 6f the House was prepared to look into any practical scheme devised whereby employment could be extended to those willing to work.' Mr. H. G. ELL (Christchurch South), bought that the Bill might be .termed also the More Equal • Distribution of AVork Bill. There were thousands of men with intermittent employment, whoso earnings wore not sufficient for them • to maintain wife and family with.; He. could not speak to the oxtent of victimisation of workers, but there was no doubt it existed. Some employers were very bitter.' They might. do a great deal in, absorbing the surplus-labour. _ It could be done; by the Stats introducing a'- : 45-hour.. or a -44-hour week, instead of a 43-hour week. Local bodies and private 'employers could do a great deal in tho same direction. The question, ho hold.'-was an important one, which they could well discuss. The member for Avon had mentioned the matter of the mineral resources of'tho country. They could absorb a great number by proceeding with tho development of the mineral resources. Mr. Fisher: .What about the cost of -production? Mr..Ell: That isr' another- matter.' There-would always be a.surplus-labour question to be dealt with. With regard to the , employment of labour 011 the land, ho held thiit tlio Lands Department was making a mistake 111 doing away with allotments that had been set aside. Ho maintained that they should keep a few allotments , for workers who wanted to go into the country. A-. number of the allotments should be kept in tho agricultural centres, and. the Lands Deportment should not be too ■ impatient. There was a great opportunity for an extension of the poultry industry, and he hoped that the Poultry Department would bo re-created by the State. He held that a mistake had been made in-abolishing it. • Mr. T. M. WILFORD , (Hutt) said that tho introduction of the Bill bv the member for Grey Lynn was probably on tho right lines, but it seemed idle to discuss the Bill till it .was circulated and they saw the proposals. The right to work should also include the obligation to work. In New Zealand it could be truthfully said that the workers did work. If they looked at the imports of this country they must conclude that the workers did a fair clay's work. There might be instances of slackers, but they wore not general. It behoved whatever' l Government was 111 power to tackle tho problem of providing work for those willing to work. There was 110 doubt that there was a great deal of unemployment. Tliero was also the question of finding work for the partly disabled. ■The Workers' Compensation Act made some provision, but not sufficient to adequately provide for those who had lost a limb. It should bo tho care of the Stato to look after' those partly disabled persons, who, with'''the addition of fast-running machinery, wore slowly increasing. So many problems were opened up by such a Bill that it was impossible to cover them in a short discussion. The principle of providing the right for work be applauded, but lie wanted to see tlie Bill. Intermittent Work. Mr. W. A. VEITOH (Wangahui) said that the discussion that had beijn raised would do good. It would bo wise to get over all tho bitterness raised by tho Accent industrial trouble, and try' and find out if thoy could relievo the conditions which made'possible that strike. Ho believed it was possible to partially relieve the difficulty, and get nearer, their ideal of work for .every able-bodied man. He took tlie view that' New Zealand could not afford to keep one of it's able-bodied man unemployed. With, all the favourable circumstances:in New Zealand, they found'periods wlion employment' could not be provided. The trouble was thatwork was intermittent. They' had to find some way of tiding over "the diflicnlties of slack times. A super-tax on .incomes of over £1000 a year was a fair .-■thing, to provide fuiuk Xw Govern.-. .

ment to provide work. He did not say that that was a complete principle, but somo such principle could he-applied. Tho Minister for Marino had interjected that thoy could not decrease hours withour increasing the cost of production. That did not always apply. One thing was certain—hand in hand with the increase ill the wealth of the wealthy tliero was a proportionate increase in the destitution of the poor. He was not advocating a distribution of wealth; but it was tho duty of the State to devise some system _ of levelling up. Thoy should set their minds to work, as public men, to overcome tho difficulty. Tho wealth of this country was increasing enormously, and it was only a matter of sane rearrangement of "taxation to produce funds to enable tho Government to find work for every man willing to do so. It was not a matter of charity—it was a matter of duty. New Zealand would earn a' return from the continual employment of those-men. ' Mr. J. A. Hanan (luvercargill),.Mr. L. M. Isitt (Christchurch North), and Mr, A. ■H. Hihdmarsh (Wellington South) also spoke. When the talk had gone 011 for two hours'on a stage of a Bill never;debated if the Bill is really put forward for the serious consideration of tho House, Mr. Payne rose- to reply. The Bill was read a first time. Other First Readings. ' t Mr. J. PAYNE also spoke oil the intrpductiou of the Mortgage and Chattel Security Foreclosure Prevention Bill. The Bill was read a first time. ■ The Whaiigarei Harbour Board Empowering Bill (Mr. F. Mander) was read a first time. ANNUAL TAXING BILL. ■The Land Tax and Income Tax Bill was introduced by Governor's Message and read a first time. In reply to a question, the Hon. J. Allen said tliat the Bill was identical with that of last year. , , LOCAL ELECTIONS. MACHINERY AMENDING BILL. The Hon. F. M. B. FISHER moved tho second readmg of tho Local Elections and Polls Amendment BilL He explained that it was purely a machinery measure to remedy, defects which had been found to exist in the present law and the main object, of the amendments was to impose the same restrictions and- ' use the same methods to provide against abuses such as double voting, as are.provided in-.tho Electoral Act. Slit J. G. WARD (Awarua) said he saw nothing to comment upon in the 8i11,., except that- under one clause it seemed to him the procedure to bo fol- v lowed did not make it easily possible for anyone to discover how anyone elso voted. Bo would ask the Minister, also, whether the present method of enrolling electors for the ordinary electoral rolls ' was giving satisfaction. Ho had had *'. numerous complaints from districts that people had found it impossible te get enrolment form!. The. matter, he would suggest, was of great impcrtance, and r ho hoped that the Minister would see ■■ tliijt enrolment forms were made available. . He. had heard no complaints from . Jthe cities;' and' large towns; but: only froni, the smaller towns and country dis-, triets. He would'like to'hear generally whether the new system was working satisfactorily.' - '; Mr. A. E. GLOVER (Auckland Central) suggested that the Bill be held oyer lintil certain matters in it had been considered by the local bodies interested. Mr. -T. M. WILFORD, (Hiitt) said that he was satisfied that the Bill was necessary,- as most of ,it had been recommended by Mr. T. F. Martin, solicitor to the-Municipal Association, but 110 would suggest that the Bill, as well as the other Bill giving local bodies power. • to conduct .elections by proportional re-!li" presentation, should be referred to the, Muuicipal Conference for, consideration and report. ; ' ■ ■ '.-. Mr.-.U. (Avon) enlarged ..... upon the.'-possibility of .tlie violation of. the secrecy of the ballot, especially in view of the fact that.at many booths in local elections the number of votes polled was small. • . ~ . Tho Hon.' J. A. MILLAR (Dunedin ' West) said that tho effect of the now checking system to prevent plural voting would be virtually a return to open voting. The Minister, in order to avoid .one difficulty, was likely to crcate a •Greater one. Mr. T. W. RHODES/(Thames) said that the danger referred to was not a real one because the Deputy-Returning Officers were men of integrity, under •oath not to give away any ijiformation that came -within their'knowledge. Mr. T. K. SEDEY (Dunedin South) also urged that the stage's of the Bill after the second reading 'be held ovel until the Municipal: Conference had con* sidered it. Secrecy-Maintained. The Hon. F. M. B. EISHEII, in re- . ply, denied that it was possible for the ,-■ secrecy "of. tho ballot to be. impaired, .- aiid pointed out that the.' clause ' to which exception was being taken, was an exact copy .of the existing clauso in tho Electoral Act. It was not proposed to take the Bill through the House till tlio Municipal Conference had considered it. It was desired that any reasonable suggestions from tho conference should be included iu the Local Elections Bills. As to the alleged . complaints in connection with the method of enrolment 'for Parliamentary . elections, ■ ho could say 110 had had 110 complaint. ■If ho was given tlie names of districts* wlrero it was impossible to -get enrol-. nient forms, he would make inquiry. , Tho police and postal employees were doing tlio work very nicely. Mr. Witty: nas it commenced yet? Mr. Fisher: Oh, yes, tho work is £0ing'ou. ' . ■ Mr. Witty: I \have not heard of it. Mr. Fisher: That is because it is going on so nicely, and so quietly; There had been room for improvement in-tlio ol'l method of enrolling. The names Vif people 'who had died ,wore found to; be upon the roll, and, more extraordinary still, dead people- actually voted. (Laughter.) y Sir Joseph Ward: That accounts rot Mr. Nosworthy being here. Mr. Fisher: I am glad to bear they voted for him (indicating Mi'- Nosworthy). It was generally recognised that when good people died they wentto a higher and bettor place. It was good to havo those people voting for one. (Laughter.) As to ballot papers ho thought it 'might be. a good thing • to bring the local election ballot papers into line with the 'Parliamentary ballot. papers. '. Tlio Bill was read a second timo.