The Dominion. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1919. AN IMPERATIVE NEED

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 31, 31 October 1919, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1919. AN IMPERATIVE NEED

It is to the credit of the New Zealand Employers' Federation that in face of somewhat discouraging circumstances it has decided to concentrate in a systematic way upon the improvement of industrial conditions and the establishment of better relations between employers and employed. Much might be hoped from such efforts if they were regarded by all concerned in the right spirit. It is at least not in doubt that in the line of action they now contemplate, the organised employers of the Dominion are going to 'the heart of the industrial problems in which all questions of social betterment are so largely involved. If at a stroke it Were possible jn this country to bring its employers and workers into harmonious understanding all sections of its people would benefit immensely.' Nothing would do more to reductf the cost of living, increase the reward of labour, and ameliorate social conditions. Settled industrial peace for any length of time would in itself facilitate an enormous increase in production. If in addition .the parties engaged 'in industry were able to substitute friendly co-operation for the prevailing unrest, suspicion, and hostility production would be further expanded, and all members of the community would benefit, 'rhere is no magic in the matter. The benefits in sight would be gained in part by saving the heavy cost of strikes, "go-slow" tactics, and industrial hold-ups like that from which the Wellington watersiders, on second thoughts, have desisted, partly also by removing the hobbles that aro now placed on industrial enterprise by the over-present expectation of strife and trouble. Confidence and security arc all-important factors in business and industrial enterprise. Where th'ey are lacking such enterprise is either abandoned or is carried on under difficulties and at increased cost. All this means loss and waste for which the people as a whole must pay, and in New Zealand these penalties are, of course, fe'lt most severely by wage-earners and their families. The imperative need of industrial harmony is thus self-evident, and since _ the wageearners of the Dominion have so much to gain and hope from it the advances that are now being made by the Employers' Federation ought to meet, with a ready and hearty response. Unfortunately such a' response is not to be anticipated in actual fact. Industrial organisation in this country has been so far hampered largely because the most active sections of organised Labour are seeking to spread the idea that Capital and Labour are necessarily antagonistic forces having nothing in common. It is a vain waste of breath to talk about, industrial cooperation to men whose thoughts are centred in "direct action" and the overthrow of the existing social system. • The useful and profitablr possibilities of harmonious co-opera-tion in ,- nduslry are limited only by the extent to which it is practised, but it is idle to imagine that it will ever be practised by such men as an; setting the pace and tone of the Labour movement in.New Zealand to-day. No one can escape this conclusion who gives heed to the views expressed by the members of the dominant faction in the Labour Parliamentary group, and by the lenders of those unions which have been most active in the industrial field. It is only too Apparent that organised Labour is allowing itself to be gulled and led astray, to its own undoing and to the detriment of the whole community, and that th'-re are tcw_ signs of any healthy reaction within its ranks against .■ the poisonous doctrines which Cud expression in "direct action. 1 '

The. utmost thaj, can be hoped tor in tliu circumstances is that the organised workers may be educated and won over by a gradual process to a more intelligent appreciation of the conditions that make For their own and the country's prosperity. In deciding to work along those lines the members of the Employers' Federation are doing all that is humanly possible in existing circumstances to rectify iind alter conditions which as they stand are a reproach to common sense. Working in detail to establish settled harmony in industries which best lend themselves to such an ' effort, pro-

(jrsssive employers will directly and indirectly sap tlie power of the direct nctionists. They will at once provide an expanding object lesson of the benefits that attend inthiblrui: peace and co-operation, and fortify the rational public opinion which reprobates the practice of turning the power of industrial orgniuß;-.-tions to the evil use of attacking the romm.nn.it.y-. As the president of the Employers- Federation (Mr. T. S. Weston) pointed out in his addross on Wednesday, there is no hard and fust programme- to be followed in promoting industrial harmony. Tho general aim must be to give workers a sense of responsibility, based, where that is possible, on an actual share in the control ot a given industry, and to;ensure as far as possible that ability arid merit shall not go unrewarded. The idea of assisting wage-earners in one way or another to make settled provision for their declining years is particularly worthy of practical consideration and effort. Adapted, (is they must.he, to circumstances of given industries, such efforts may be. expected as time goes on to lead to excellent results. It would serve no purpose, however, to gloss over the fact that the most active forces of Labour in this country are at present ever ready to engage in anti-social_ activities, and that no largo or influential section of organised Labour is openly and explicitly opposed to this policy. It may be thought that in view of existing conditions such efforts as tho employers contemplate can end only in failure, but no genuinely progressive policy is ever really hopeless. The employers have it in. their favour that they are working* in the light of day for ends that would moan benefit to the wltole community, and that tlie bogus character of the progressive professions of the La-bour-Extremist oligarchy by which they are opposed' is bound to become more evident as these professions are more closely examined. The Employers' Federation freely accept the view that workers are entitled to the best wages and working conditions that the seals of production will allow, and they are seeking to establish conditions in which these benefits will be realised in the fullest possible Jiieasure. The workers of the Dominion will have thenyiclves to thank if. they ignore the clear path of progress that would be opened by meeting these advances half-way.