TOPICS OF THE DAY

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 31, 6 February 1913, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY

Any amendment of tho Conciltation and Arbitration Act next A Slaughterman session miißt take Puzzle. account of the present trouble in the meat industry. To avoid the risk of fines in the event of a strike, tho unions of slaughtermen cancelled their registration under the Act, and when they struck their procedure was within the law. They escaped penalties, and now tlw policy is to use the Act as a tool against the employers and against the registration of volunteer workers. It is reported, for example, that the Wellington Union is amongf those whose applications fot fresh registration have been grahted by tho Labour Department. But whore are the members? Whore are the slaughtermen? It is commonly reported that the ereat majority have gone to other work. They are strikers, as slaughterman, and j workers at other occupations. a)id yet they can be registered as an ' industrial union of slaughterman. What doee "industrial" mean in such a context, seeing that the members of the re-regis-tered union &re not actively engaged in tho meat industry? It is possible for free workers to' join tho union, but it is highly improbable that they would go into the fold of men who are now apply, ing contemptuous names to them. Thus the country witnesses a ■ grotesque anomaly. Workers in tbo meat industry cannot be registered as &n industrial union of slaughtermen uhdor the Arbitration Act because strikers, who cancelled registration for their own. purposes, have slipped in ahead for a strategic advantage. This is surely a farcical fato for an arbitration regime, Thft hw obviously needs an alteration. Some Senior Cadet* at Whangavei have . to be taught that they Fractious cannot make a mockery Cadets. of their oath of allegiance and ■ service with impunity. A telegr&m has stated that members of the corps went to the parade hall m harlequin motley, including "variegated socks and suspenders," andhilariously gang stupid jingle* on the march in the building. Such foolish exuberance has td be checked. Perhaps the boys imagined that they were having some harmless fun, but they have to be impressively convinced that a parade ground is not the place for clownish antics. Usually in these cases of childish conduct two or three mischievous lads are responsible for misleading a whole company, and sometimes the organisation of such a burlesque is due to one individual with n perverted sense of humour. However, the fact that the idiotic behaviour may be principally charged against ringleaders will be an excuse for averting punishment from those who succumbed to temptation. Any tinkering with such offenders could easily encourage othev Cadets to similarly disgrace themselves. The trouble with these incidents is that though the absurd demonstrators may not be wishing to enter a serious protest against their training, their disregard of discipline is joyfru news to anti-defence persona who will be glad to send a grossly-exaggerated report of it to the ends of the earth. This has been done again and again, and the High Commissioner has been obliged to exert himself in correcting the wild tales circulated in Britaih. Therefore the Defence Department has to firmly deal with ■ the ebullient youths of Whangarei* ♦ Mr. Niel Nielsen, ex-Minister for Lands in the New South Mr. Nielsen's Wales Government, Mailed Fist, thanks God for the libel law and his own right hand, and declares that some people are going to feel the force of both. The hitting-power of the law of libel varies according to circumstances, but that of Mr. Nielsen's right hand was known to be considerable in the days when he swung a hammer, and probably diminished little during the relaxing period in which he swayed the Uest.ihiee of State. To a stalwart frame Mr. Nielsen adds an uncompromising spirit and strong temper, and it was his inability to tern* pome that drove him out of the Labour Cabinet. His persistent determination to repeal certain rights to convert Crown leaseholds to freehold— conceded by ft Liberal Government— caused the resignation of two rural members of the Labour following, and, in order to win back the 1 seats, the caucus allowed the Govern* ment to throw its Minister for Lands to the wolves. In his favour as a whole* hogger it is argued that his only offence was ultra-loyalty to the Labour leasehold principle } and he can certainly claim, as he does claim, that, differing with his fellow-Ministers on a vital issue, he on that occasion sacrificed himself for the solidarity iof the party. At any rate, the substitution of a Minister less vio* lently leasehold in his views— plus the accession of Mr. Speaker Willis— -has en* abled the M'Gowen Government to maintain for eighteen months a doubtful hold upon the joys of office. What gave l-iso to the mud-throwing was that Mr. Nielsen, having in his pocket the offer of a Government Trade Commissionership on the Pacific Slope (which, it seems, he has now declined), absented himself in America during last session, depriving his constituents of his services in Parliament. It was alleged that the Govern* ment'sopen offer was a bribe to induce Mr. Nielsen to continue to hold his Beat (Yaes), a by-election at that stage being inconvenient to the party. Other things Were also said j hence, no doubt, tho mailed fist utterance. The M'Gowen Go* vernmenfc has just passed through one by-election at Blayney, which returned another ex-Minister for , Lands (Mr. lieeby) aa tlie Administration's candid friend. Now it is face to face with another fight for existence at Yass.