THE ARBITRATION COURT.

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 91, 4 May 1937, Page 6

THE ARBITRATION COURT.

The announcement made last week that the President of our Axbitration Court had heen granted six months' holiday on account of illness gave occasion for many surmises- There were not a few who were inclined to think that the sickuess might not be as serious as was rejiresented and was merely being made a pretext for shunting Mr. Page with a view to his ultimate retirement from the Arbitration Court bench. There was, of course, some little warrant for this issumption on the part of those not acquainted with the facts. It was notorious that some fairly powerful trade unions had made eomplaint against judgments and awards of the Court under his chairmanship and, indeed, that there had been speeific "demands" made for his removai from the position. It was -equally well understood that the Government , was, almost necessarily, very much under the influence of the unions and that this influence had been greatly increased by the new strength given to them by the Government 's own legislation and encouragement. On top of all this we had a Minister of Labour who had allowed himself to give utterance to personal opinions that were certainly not calculated to help in maintaining the authority of the Court. There were therefore some fair grounds for the uninformed jumping to the conclusion that this granting of extended sick leave was merely a preliminary to His Honour's eventualremoval from the bench, and possibly to the ultimate abolition of the Court itself- However, and whatever may be the Government's real intentions in these respects, it is unhappily thecase that Mr. Page's condition of health is such as to necessitate a lengthy respite from the fulfilment Of his so exacting judiclal duties. Thus the Government may be exonerated from having any particular ulterior motives in granting him his hardly earned holiday. Those duties have, of course. been made all the more onerous since the advent of a Labour Government has been followed by so many alterations in the law which the Court was called upon to administer. There have necessarily been a very largely increased number of cases to be dealt with, all claiming more or less of urgency. There has also been an immense volume of hastily framed and, in not a few instances, vaguely expressed legislation that required fresh interpretation and application. At no time has the position of President of the Court been an easy one', for, unlike our other judicial and magisterial tribunals, at no time has the Arbitration Court had a settled " body of legal principles upon which to proceed to judgment1' On the contrary, the'main grounds upon which it has had to base its awards have been continually shifting. The difficulties of steering a really equitable course as between those who have to maintain the industries that pay the wages and those whose work earns the wages have all along been many and varied. When we come to think of the many details peculiar to each case that. have to be taken into consideration before anything like justice can be done as between the parties, to say nothing of the regard that must, or at least should, be paid to weltare of our industrial life generally, we may form some little concption'of the strain imposed upon the head of the Court. In the present President's case his anxieties can scarcely but have been greatly intensified by the feeling that he had behind him a Minister whom he could scarely regard as being in sympathy with him or on whom he could depend for support. There were, indeed, both in speecb and action, indioations that pointed altogether in the opposite direction and tended to undermine the jurisdiction of the Court. There need be little wonder, therefore, whatever his future fate may be, that under the many stresses thus placed upon him the Jndge's health has given way. As one who has capably and fearlessly carried out his duties in the face of many difficulties, the public, including, we believe, the great majority of reasonable trade unionists, will wish him a speedy and full restoration of health* At the- same time it is for the Cabinet to let us all know what its future attitude is to be with regard to the preservation of the Court.