WELLINGTON TOPICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 2 May 1921, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS.

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

LABOUR STANDS STILL

(Our Special Correspondent;

WELLINGTON, April 29

The municipal elections resulted, as everyone with any knowledge of the! position expected they would, in a J sweeping victory for the different com- 1 1 bined forces allied against tbe Social j I Democrats. The verdict of tbe citizens | was emphatic. The supporters of the i | “safety first” ticket, to use tbe slogan j that served them so well during the campaign, returned their mayoral candidate by a majority of nearly two to one in the largest poll on record for the chief magistracy, and secured twelve seats iu the City Council. The voting, as Air Hickey, the Social Democrats’ nominee for the mayoralty, cheerfully admitted in congratulating his successful rival upon his return, left no doubt about the electors’ preference for the ticket of the coalition. But the Labour extremists are comforting themselves with the reflection that their vote, gauged through the figures of the last mayoral election, showed a substantial increase and so revealed a continued tendency towards the broader and, in their view, more enlightened appreciation of municipal politics. SANE LABOUR. At the moment, however, tho great body of sane Labour, which refuses to give its adherence to tho policy and methods of the Social Democrats, seems entitled to draw more encouragement from Wednesday’s polling than can the vanquished minority. The figures make it abundantly clear that a very large (section of tl»e electors are more eager for the introduction of enterprise and imagination into the administration of | ' the affairs of the city than are the ma- ( joritv of the old members of the Council, who retain their seats mainly through an exaggerated fear on the part of the citizens of the machinations of the Social Democrats. Sane Labour di- . vided its votes very evenly between the coalition and the extremists at the recent election, and so, while swelling the figures of tlie extremists, gave the coalition its apparent large majority. Had

all sections of Labour been united they still probably would have failed to win the mayoralty, but they certainly would have secured six or seven seats in the Council. FARM WORKERS’ WAGES.

The Wairarapa branch of the Farmers’ Union lias been discussing the question of farm workers’ wages and has decided that a reduction in the men’s pay is necessary to enable the men on

the land to weather the difficulties that beset them in consequence of the fall in prices and the financial stringency. Mr Hugh Morrison, the chairman ot the branch, in the course of a written statement oil the subject, declares that “while the executive ot the Union is of opinion this matter is best dealt with by employer and employee, there is no doubt an all round reduction will have to lie made between now and the winter months.” The only alternative to a reduction of wages, it appears, is a wholesale dismissal of farm hands and the suspension of many operations that would be carried out were cheaper labour available. Mr Morrison added that the relations between employers and employee in the Wairarapa district always had been peculiarly pleasant and that the men might rely upon having their former wages restored when times improved. INFORMATION IVANTED.

The executive officer of the Agricultural and Pastoral Workers’ Union when seen to-day on the subject had heard nothing officially of the employers’ proposal and therefore could not discuss it officially. It seemed to him, however, that the men would lie entitled to a good deal more information than they had at present concerning the position of the rural industries before they would be fairly asked to submit to a reduction in wages. There were some farmers, at ally rate, those engaged in dairying and wheat-growing, for instance, who ought not to be asking for sacrifices from their men. Mutual help and mutual sacrifices were all very well, hut there must he candour on both sides and some discrimination. Then surely farms were not going to drift out of cultivation because there was a glut in the wool market and a temporary drop in the price of meat. Production, more production and still more production was the cry resounding throughout the country, and yet the men who were doing the producing were to receive less money for their labour. The idea did not seem to fit in with the employers’ own economic theories.