The Hastings Standard Published Daily THURSDAY, NOV. 18, 1897. UNIONISM' IN EVIDENCE.

Hastings Standard, Issue 479, 18 November 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily

THURSDAY, NOV. 18, 1897. UNIONISM' IN EVIDENCE.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance. And the good that we can do.

A striking illustration of the effects of Unionism is furnished by the bakers of Wellington. The irrepressible labor agitator soon found a pretext for a dispute between master and man and the dispute has been worked by both parties for all it was worth. It must be stated by way of preface that the union of journeymen bakers is a powerful one, to the extent that it includes among its members nearly every working baker, and the knowledge of this has quickened the actions of The Union, and scared the masters into making concession. The masters when faced with demands from their employes were forced to combine to protect themselves and the Master Bakers' Association was evolved with a membership of practically all—but not all—the bakers of Wellington. The power of the Union was apparently too great for the masters aixl the concessions demanded by the men were acceded to almost without protest and certainly without any attempt being made to inquire into the equity and justice of the demands of the men. An agreement was arrived at which it was alleged was satisfactory to masters and men, but this agreement could not be enforced in respect of the master bakers who did not enroll themselves as members of the Master Bakers' Association, and it therefore became necessary to take the matter before the Concilation Board to obtain for the agreement the force of law. This was done in the early part of the week, and it goes without saying that the Board will endorse the compact which is favored by the majority of those interested.

The alacrity with which the concessions were made by the master bakers was open to suspicion, and suspicions were entertained which have since been amply confirmed. The concessions would never have been granted, at any rate there would have been a pitched battle before the Conciliation and Arbitration Courts, if the employers did not see a margin of profit to themselves in conceding the demands of the employed. The concession of the WQfk*

men will involve the master bakers in a certain additional expense, but by rising the price of bread this expense can be met and a margin of additional profit obtained also. The Master Bakers' Association is in a comparative sense as powerful as the Employees' Union, and by conceding the demands of the men the masters have practically entered into a compact with their workmen to raise the price of bread to the consumers. In plain words the law has been utilised to set up a monopoly or ring or trust or whatever it may be, and here we get the first taste of the vicious American system which will sooner or later cause a revolution in the United States. There is to our mind no difference between the combination set up by the Association and Union and th§ oil trust of America or the sugar trust. The objects in each instance are the same, however differently they may attain their ends, and although the master bakers will speak of their combination as an Association and the journeymen refer to theirs as the Union, the practical result of the concessions made to the men is to bring about a Trust in the bakers' trade and raise the price to the consumer. This view of the case is of course repudiated by both sides, and the price of flour is held partly responsible for the advance in the price of bread. No doubt flour has increased in price, but the increase has been infinitesimal. The average price of flour per ton in New Zealand is about £l4 (not quite so much really), and after passing through the bakehouse the value of the ton of flour with bread at 8-Jd per 21b loaf is about £22 lGs, leaving a very wide margin of profit for the baker and his men. Of course there is in our opinion no warrant for the increase in price proposed by the Wellington Master Bakers' Association, and the only other conclusion possible is that the iaw has been used to set up a Trust detrimental to the public.