INDUSTRY MUST BE MODERNISED.

Hokitika Guardian, 19 June 1926, Page 4

INDUSTRY MUST BE MODERNISED.

— (By the Rt. Hon. G. N. Baines, C.H.. First Minister of Pensions, Member of the War Cabinet, and Minister Plenipotentiary at the Paris Peace Conference). ] am glad of the aide publicity the reports of the trade unionists who have just returned from America, for they tell a tale, which, if widely known, cannot fail to lie ol great value to British industry. It is true that they tell also o* things which run counter to our broader and. as I think, better conception of social obligations, but these may be given the go-by. Alter reading them I am confirnved in my belief that most of our industrial troubles would disappear it only industry "ere mo* demised in accordance with the factrevealed in these documents, i'or. alter all our troubles are of our own making. These arise from past error? and present misunderstanding. I'.nijFiver and employed are too much wrapned up in themselves, and each looks at the other across the gulf which now exists only in their own imagination. If only they would come together more in the workshop, as tho

tv.o sides mix tnpether in America, they would find nut n gn'od deal to their mutual advantage ami direct timir respective organisations for eullal.mrotion instoau* of for ennllict. That- is the first and, as 1 tliink. the most important lesson to he learned from America. IlKill AVAfI'KS rO'R Tllfi'll' OVTl'f'T. Another is the ■ importance ol high production and high wages. Illitisll employers in the past nihhled at wanes so ns to cut down llte cost oi production and net it foreitiu marked. American experience shows the hotter way to it market at home through the high purchasing newer of high wanes. Then then:- is the all-important F:\ctur of ;i fair deitl. Kmployers in Anterifii. we ;tre fold, stick to piecework prices, tuicr they are agreed upon, tin matter how much may In earned, 'lie cutting of these when, its employers thought, hihour was earning too much was a short-sighted policy, for it has produced a mentality of hthour rooted in .'tispicioii iitul distrust:. 1 believe that most employers have now realised that the policy wits uni only morally lint e< omnnieally wmn". ami some til them, have proved their sincerity hy works. The Daily Mail Mission reports should stimulate others to do likewise. Hut tlv American lessons are not only for employers. The workman may well read and learn—and. in that connection, 1 hope the reports will find their wav into the monthly journals of the trade unions. There is ti I*.' noteil the absence in America of those demarcation disputes which have been and still are a disturbin'.: ,dement in liritisli industry. Only a few month.-, ago l saw lito work of a great factory in the Midlands being dislocated through this cause. And. from the same cause, old plant is so me times retained because of the fear, on the part ol the employers. of some pel t i fogging dispute ; >us-

inji as to win: should ciiiiui tlie ‘‘right” lc operate a new inaeiiine. i lie fuel, is [tint I’nti.sii Irade unionism is ton mm a run in sections, and tli no in eai-ll sai lmu eammi see tlial their l.rsi interests lie in Idle i■ .'-nrdimi: inn i I lnl/.uir —they eaiimit see over Iho sides of the deep nils of .sectional inferos Is into which i hey have due themselves. J preached liiese things lot years to hy lollotv-etigiiK.'urs when f was in their service, i’crimps they may heed tire same leaching -now iron their lellow-memhers front i lie vnrhshnps who have jus! seen the pood ,- t - Milts in-. America of (he polity ol allow ina; managers to manage.

ci.ass urn kiixkss. And, surely, if then' is any lingering idea aiutiig workers that "ta’ canuyism” or restricted output in any form is, or could be. of any good to them, it should be dispelled by knowledge of the fact that great mil pet Wits found everywhere to be acroitiputtied by It ip fi wages. Kadi worker in America, v.v arc told, lias on an • tv. rage :?t-horse power at his elbow and he is the highest paid weaker on the lace of the earth. Then there is I lie comparative : bscticc of that class bitterness which is fomented here hy some of our trade linii.il officials. Mr Masses has rightly painted out how it handicaps us in p'laiieu to American industry bv its ciiMiurugemeni of slackness and less eonllit t. Other laihmir leaders might well follows his inurageius lead. Inn' il is here, after all, '.hat wo get down In the, bed-rock cause of industrial discontent—or rather industrial conflict. Many of those who have the fear el labour have got themselves confused villi theories but remotely related to daily life, and they eon!use their l'nlloweds with phrases ol dubious meaning but unsettling e/l'eet. .Nobody claims finality for our existing v, .rid system of industry. The world 'id!

one day grow out of it. lint, mean- I time, o have to operate it edieioaily or go under to those who will. I

And that brings me to my final j word. Class war propaganda leads to 1 exaggerated hopes of betterment by revolution, or by Parliament, or s mo other outside agency. It is a vain hope. Russia is a warning of what may follow revolution. And, whatever j else Parliament may do. it cannot 11:11 ‘ the industries of the country. ibuployors and employed must do that for tlnnesel ves and for Ihe community of which they are members. And they can do it efficiently only in good will and co-operation. That, T repeal, B (he chief lesson from America.