WELLINGTON TOPICS

Hokitika Guardian, 27 October 1927, Page 4

WELLINGTON TOPICS

ALL-NIGHT SITTING

PROFITLESS DISPUTATION

(Special to “ Guardian.”)

WELLINGTON. Oct. 22. However admirable the intentions of the members of the Labour Party may have been holding tip the Shops and O lit res Amendment Hill in the House ol Representatives until after nine o’clock on Friday morning, it must he admitted their efforts were not expanded upon a particularly heroic cause. 'I ha Hon. G. J. Anderson, the .Minister ol Labour, quite early in the debate had deleted a clause in the Hill which provided that' “ no allowance for a meal need be paid when the assistant can v. ithout any expense lor locomotion „ ;tai. a meal at his place of residence within the time at his disposal,” and this concession should have averted a night-long wrangle over the amount ol overtime entitling an employee to a cup ~r tea and a bun. The obnoxious (lnu.se which .Mr Anderson withdrew v.as quite another matter. Apparently it was tacked on to the Hill by the Labour Committee without the knowledge of the Minister, and would have enabled a miserly employer to send an employee working overtime home lor a meal at his own expense. This was a preposterous proposal, but alter its abandonment Labour should have spared the House its lurcher infliction. ARBITRATION. It looks as if the Government’s attempts at amending the Conciliation

and Arbitration Act were by no means J going to meet with the general appro-j val of the industrial eommunitv. Mrj M. Mainland, the president of the ( Wellington Employers' Association and. Mr ('. M. Bowden, the president >f ( the Wellington C hamber of Commerce,' both are surprised and disappointed by the exemption of the larming industry from the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Court. ”I do not think,” said Mri Mainland, in the course of an inter-j view to-day, ” that any section of in- j dtistry should be taken out of the (-ontrol of the Arbitration Court, unless | something equally satisfactory can be put in its place. To keep other sec- ( lions of industry iinTier the jurisdiction of the Court, and exempt one partieu-: inr section cannot work out satisfactorily.” “ The exemption of the iarmors.” Mr Howden points out, “will not relieve them from the necessity of col- I leetive bargaining with the unions of j employees.” Other authorities arc asking bow the farmers are going to be i benefited by the change, and if they. are to be benefited at all why other j producers are not receiving the same advantages. Less generous observers see in the exemption another “sop”, to the man on the land. ASSESSORS. i The “ Dominion,” which rarely has occasion to dissent from the Government on questions of policy, approves of the exemption of farmers and the institution of piece-work; but it does not welcome temporary assessors. “We may say at once.” it declares. “ that the proposed appointment ol temporary assessors does not appeal to us. The weaknesses of the old system of permanent assessors have been recognised for some time past. They certainly lack expert technical knowledge of tbi> great majority of the industries on which ihev were called on to decide wages and working conditions; and in course of time they tended to become little more than additional advocates for the parties concerned, and no doubt at times a cause of embarrassment rather than of assistance to the presiding judge. There was need for change, but it is difficult to see how the proposed system of temporary assessors is going to work out satisfactorily as i practical proposition.” This is a trank confession of inability to solve an extremely difficult problem, ft is true that permanent assessors have a tendency to become party advocates, but even so it may be better to have experienced men to advise the judge on matters of detail.

i>rm,ic woii ks. W*itliout regard to party or to personal liability the Hon: K. S. AN illiams. the Minister of Public AA'orks. may be (ongratulated upon tlie tone and sub--taucc of the annual statement of bis department be presented to the House yesterday. "It is my endeavour,” be stated in outlinin'; the nature of his policy. " to prevent waste and so obtain good value to the State on all works undertaken by my department. In public works construction it is imperative that national interests be paramount where they conflict with local desires. In arrivin'; at decisions in this respect I must be guided by the Dominion scheme of construction to ensure proper connections with existing systems, and the expert reports of my engineers, as to economy and efficiency of construction, and subsequent service, and the business to be obtained by the new enterprise. Tin’s policy is applicable both to railway construction and hydro-electric installations.” Mr AA’illiams, as a comparatively young member of the House, has readily grasped the intricacies of administration and in his own department lias gone far towards justifying his party’s slogan of “doing things.” |

Giant briar pipes exhibited in a Bond Street ( London) tobacconist's window recently attracted a pood deal of attention. These pipes take an ounce of tobacco at a time for a smoke lasting from four to «dy hours. They are priced at from £t a piece. But it is not all tobaccos that can liesmoked for six or even for four boars i .uitimiously. If you tried to smoke some of the American imported brands for such a .length of time you’d pot nicotine poisoning. You’d have a hotter chance with our own Xow Zealand t ihacvos, which owing to their exceptional purity and comparative freedom from nicotine can really he smoked for hours rn one! without risk to heart or nerves. They are delightfully cool, mellow, sweet and fragrant. with a most delicious flavour of their own. With such qualities to recommend them (and the good word of the doctors), it. is not surprising to line! these brands in rapidly increasing demand. Try “Kiverheatl Gold" aromatic, “Nnvv Chit" (Bull-

clog) medium, or “Cut Plug No 10" (Bullshend) full strength. All tobacconists sell them.—Advt.