Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star SATURDAY, MARCH 13th., 1920. THE WEEK.

Hokitika Guardian, 13 March 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star SATURDAY, MARCH 13th., 1920. THE WEEK.

The formation.*of a company in Melbourne with a capital of £700,000, to carry out an aerial passenger and goods Service between Australia and New Zealand, ajiimtmeed, this week, -is a reminder that the Tasman Sea- has yet to be crossed by, an airman. The “1200 arguments” against the federation of thfi Commonwealth and the Dominion, j represented by the* 1200 miles between LSyduey .and Wjellingtqp, would not, however, prove insuperable to mofjerj) aviators, liar the Atlantic has, been crossed by lipth airship and aeroplane. There Is every iijdi.cajiioj) that we arc , on the eve of great development in aviation, 'file Advisory Committee on Civil Aviation, Under the presidency of Lord Weir, lately f/jrwardpd a report to the British Air Minister I’eeoninipnding the development of the Egypt-Jiidia I air route, as the best beginning on a chain of Imperial routes, and ultimately thence to Australia. The next route to lie developed should lie Egypt-South Africa. The committee, after considering three possible courses of development: (1) State control, (2) 'constitution of a chartered company combining State and private capital, and (3) private enterprise aided by a State subski}-, expressed itself in favour of the third, and suggested that State assistance should take tile form of providing meteorological and wireless services, and of air points, including the provision of the s lied« required for running purposes. It also advised that the General Post Office, in consultation with the Air Ministry, should draw up a form of tender for an air mail con- ! tract between Egypt and Karachi or j Bombay, to he put up for competition. <

Sir Ross Smith, who lately flew from London to Australia, sees no reason why a regular aerial service should not be commenced forthwith between Sydney and the Old Country. He expressed himself, in a recent interview, as satisfied that within a year—or a few •years at the latest aeroplanes will be regularly flown at the rate of 200 miles ■per Ikmie. Allowing for short stoppages for fuel, or quick changes of machines, this would bring Sydney .with--1 in 64 hours’ actual flying time of London. 'Hie route he suggested would ho Charlcville, in Queensland, Darwin, Soemba.wn, Kalidjati (West Java), SingaI nnrr» ’Rnncrnnn nnrl f^TTliie

I (lie said) would link up with the Cnl- , I outita-London service, which, for Bm- . pi re reasons, would probably follow the i route Delhi, Karachi, Bunda-Abbas | (Persia), /Basra-, Bagdad, Damascus, j and Cairo, where there would he a fur- | tiler joining up with the Oa.pe Town- : I Cairo-London route. From Cairo the ■ | more -practicable route would be via , Crete (or Malta), to Borne, and from i I there along the shores of the Mediter--1 rnnean to Lyons, and from there direct

to London. Barring accidents, which may he expected to become less fre-

quent ns time goes on, there seems nothing impossible in the carrying out of tin's programme, wildly improbable though it would have -been thought twenty years ago.

But apropos of the Australian-New Zealand flight, the West Coast of the South Island and particularly this locality of the Coast, has occasion to sit up and be interested in the proposition. The immediate vicinity of Ho_ kitika posesses landing places which ap-

pear to be superior in every way to those of other localities. And not- only that, the South Alps as the back ground with the cloud pierving peaks, present a series of natural land marks which no other part of the Dominion has available. A further advantage of this location is the prevailing absence of fogs to obscure landing situations which might be selected. In the latter respect Sea View hill overlooking the town has an extensive plateau which would be an ideal site for an aerodrome and a most excellent landing or taking off site. Should water plane machines be in use, there is no better sheet of water adjacent to the ocean which the machines have to cross, then Lake Mali inapua, a broad expanse of water easily approached from all sides, where . the machines could come to rest with | perfect safety and security. These na--1 tural facilities place the district in a very enviable position as regards the j development of aircraft, and it is the duty of all concerned to keep the niatl ter in mind as well as under the rotice of tho authorities. It would be ( well therefore, for representative an. I thorities in the district to get into touch with the promoters of the new company at Melbourne, and draw attention to natural facilities . at the

. point in New Zealand nearest to Vic- ‘ toria, and in touch (or will be) with j the railway systems of the Dominion. | How to secure industrial peace of a ; permanent character, is one of the needs of the times of paramount import- ' ance. The loss of business, Ihe loss of 1 wages, the distress among the people, the retardment of the progress of tho country caused by the strikes of -the last few years, and especially the strike of marine engineers remarks a Sydney paper, must bring home to us that unless some means is found of determining, without a stoppage of work, the fair remuneration which should be paid ;to wage-earners, in short that they should receive the value of their actual | share in the producton of the community, we shall stagnate. Further works j will not be established, and employment ' instead of increasing, will diminish. Why is it that strikes have been favoured? Because they offer a speedy decision one way or the other. If a man feels that lie is not receiving his share, ’ arbitration means that lie must wait many weeks, perhaps months, before his claim is heard. With a strike there is

. to him a hope that the threat will be ' sufficient, or if not that after he has a few weeks out of work the other side will capitulate. Strikes among tradesunionists who cannot grasp the com- ! inunity by the throat, as the coal-miners [ believe they can, and perhaps the sea- . men, are now in disfavour. The losses i are found to be greater than the gains. . Arbitration is being favoured, but at ' best it is a palliatve. In the best of circumstances with arbitration the.wage earner is always a little behind with ! whaf is due to him, owing to the delays , ifi comipg to a determination. To save fhp Commonwealth from being crushed j under its joafl of debt ail iperpased outppt by. each individual, p r the rpnjder- „ ing of increased services by each ipdi- , vidual in the {•ojnpinpity is psI sential. Yet unless «at>]| individual knows that lie will directly, and j ill a form which lie can appreciate, sharp irt the increased production among * the ordinary workers thorp will be no | enthusiasm in the reception of an np- : peal for augumenting production. What is wanted is a device which will make

the share of increased production, if there is any, available to each worker j whfJJJ liy receive, s his periodical pay, j something he will rps.eive as of right, . not something which he rerpi yp,s after j fighting and arguing about it in nji Arbitration Courts. Sueli a system ,suitable for many in- ' dustries, perhaps not for all, is the P'riestman system, inaugurated in Great Britain during the war period, and no"' being worked by a p timber of firms with satisfactory results to employer and employed. Other articles in this column have dealt in some detail with that system, Her,e it is proposed to present givep in its favour. It may be premised, however, that it is not of individual piecework. A workshop is asked to increase its output. If the output is increased a. high proportion of the increased production goes . back to the men working in the workshop as a whole, and is divided among them on a recognised plan. Every man in the workshop sharps in the division.

Standard wages are recognised.. _\ n agreement is come to ns to what amount of work a sum representing a large proportion, not the whole of the additional output is added to the sum required for paying the shop’s standard pay, and is divided among the men working. Some of the English testimonials aro subjoined. Alderiman Arthur Taylor, organising district delegate for the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, says -'“l have taken great pride in showing your sclieme wherever possible. If f might venture to express an opinio" why your scheme is so successful, I should say it is due to starting with honest and fair intentions which gained the confidence of the men. Other sche-

mes, I regret to say, are in ninny stances started with altogether different objects in view, and therefore meet with the failure which they rightly deserve. Better production, better results and conduct can and will only be obtained by mutual feeling, which can only spring from fair dealing.’.’ Mr B. H. Farrar, an Australian trade leader, thinks the scheme is an excellent one because it brings about a peal co-operative spirit between the mey as also the employer. He considers that it breaks down all suspicious yotioys on both sides and creates the desired incentive in the men to keep one another !up to an efficient standard of output i and workmanship. The district secretary of the Steam Engine Makers’ So-

cicty wrote to the firm in tlie highest praise of the workings of this scheme. He felt that bv adopting this method of production both employer and employed would be gratified by the results achieved. The employees express their

-miqiinlified approval in no mistakeable fashion. The foreman of fitters and erectors tells how previous to the adoption of the scheme lie had difficulty in getting one man to pick up another’s j„b. JFor pistapce if a man stopped off work -they expec.teol the job to stand

until lie came ha.ck. Sppjy -things .are quite different lie says: ‘Tf I giv,e a map half a dozen jobs during the day it is all in order ajid of course it makes it easier for myself." Tlip foreman of

blacksmiths is equally emphatic in his approbation: “The scheme puts a- ] feeling into the workmen that the employer and the employee are working for one end—to benefit themselves, , also each other. Therefore it creates a j good feeling between them. Having had experience with platers and riveters on piecework, and smiths, drillers etc., on the scheme, I can safely say the men are far happier. There is the spirit of helping each other, but in individual piecework there is jealousy, which causes bad feeling one towards the another.” The men are equally profuse in sincere praise of the scheme and gratification at its results which . have brought unimagined benefits to them. A representatice of the engineers affirms that his personal opinion is quite in accordance with the rest of his fellow, workers. He finds that the scheme seems to satisfy to such an extent that the men forget to ask the old question: “When is the next advance due?” He thinks that, providing employers have a really honest desire to allay labour, unrest, the scheme, or one on similar lines, ivotild go far towards reaching that goal. It is hardly necessary to point out that the employers themselves are highly delighted with the success of their venture. They assert that since

April, 1917 ,capital and labour ltnve been united; friendship and confidence have been established to a degree unlocked for at the time when the scheme ,vas adopted; a better moral has been created throughout the works. Men assist the foreman in keeping their companions up to the mark. Undesirable elements which are inseparable from piecework system are overcome. Skilled and unskilled workmen co-operate in doing what is possible to expedite deliveries. A considerable increase in wages to the employees results without it being necessary to increase the sell- ; ing price to the purchaser.