WELLINGTON NEWS

Hokitika Guardian, 19 August 1930, Page 2

WELLINGTON NEWS

THE WORKING OF ARBITRATION. (Special* Correspondent.) .j*. WELLINGTON, Aug. 16. The■ system of' arbitration as it obtains in New ,Zealand and Australia is not ulikiiown to' : British industrialists, but -it is''best known to tliose 'who have dose connection with the Commonwealth or the Dominion in connection' with joint .Stock companies. It is thus interesting to have the views on the British side. At the meeting of shareholders of the . Millars’'. Timber and Trading Company, Ltd., held in London recently, the Chairman dealt with arbitration, and his remarks are worth quoting in full for they aptly describe the working of., arbitration. He said: “In this country an employer, if he cannot afford to pay a rate of wages is, at any rate, at liberty to shut down or lock-o At.

“In Western Australia they have what they call an arbitration system, and I am going to tell you how that arbitriifioh system works., ,lt is. one of the oddest arbitration systems that the world has ever ktiown, and whatsit really 'comes to is . this. Theoretically it is a beautiful system, which says that when a trade dispute arises th 3 parties shall be bound to take it before the Abitration Court, That is all right provided that Court ilworltjE! Oii ■.'Some settled - scheme. : *•*

“But what happens in . Australia is that instead of being an instrument of peace arbitration has in. all the years I have known it, and 1 have watched its working with ... extreme and minute care, tended in the opposite direction. Usually arbitration on the part of Labour is in ;every case a matter of what has been called “heads I win. tails you 1 lose.” There is no limitation to restrain any Arbitration Court in Australia.

“It consists, in fact, of one representative * of. the . employers and one representative of I-pboqr, who cancel because they are bound ’wluiwigfee, then'it As'left...to the Judge j to ; decide. ”, The ) jiidgdrmay. \bpj !a judge; who v,knows x nothing of commercial bon- ■ tpibfe: i are no rules *of evb d^abj| bApy! f thse j that > -put'pip by "k ft it! W :yaluet ( anu if, employer jyanjts he ■ is told that he :.jttjust ’bring forward •- a&bunts; fextyridImg over!; the [whole- -industry—a task 'T&ieh* is indeed almost impossible.

» X ‘“liie l t: Loljiri Award* which Was' agieiMt .tLe-meii, Was promptly . fcp?miMe tf. , ‘t'The : melt" said :< iti Wai-‘ itiIqititous, and they were not going to ; «onnd #-it, and they were not at ■wfe^politelw-Jtidge l Lukin.” . - :, This is an excellent description, of i^^fy ri ddH''system' of justice, which ’ a sane community' tolerates. Both Australia and New Zealand are paving rather dearly for their Arbitration fetish. TO T T)INCi THE SOLUTION. The acute adversity now being experienced has led to some plain speaking by .economists, financiers and bankers. While the adversity of New Zealand is not so severe of that of Australia it is similar in character, and the remedies suggested for, Australia apply with 'equal force to the Dominion. One outspoken Australian writer says that to secure any early restoration to soundness substantial declines in the cost of living and concurrent falls in wages and all operating expenses are essential to restore a balance in keeping with diminished national income/ and to enable all expenditure on Government activities to contract. =, The greatest count at the moment is whether^:p<jilrt>ical£ parties can he Veto V adopt ..7 inftwhiFes "that jwill -'fe .adequately effectfjj||. Political .expediency can have no \|sskirin anyvschejhe of sound read TheJ : .ttrg/Bnt' need is for stringent national .economy, both public arid and ..for the. fullest develo^eiit. of; profitable- 'production. The rppt ; causes bf national difficulties must; he examined,and only scientific, proved . remedies applied. The present emergency position, as in a time of war, has to be met without any concessions to sectional interests. The road back, to prosperity will he long and tedious, unless the rest of the world experiences such a swift recover from its economic ills, that it should become capable of paving entirely unexpected high prices for exported produce. All indications are that*rto such recovery can 'be expected that the tendency will he more -and more towards pre-war standards, v A good , many New Zealand business- mbn console themselves with the illusion that in the season 193031 which is now beginning,' commodity prices will recover, but there is really; no Warrant for that belief. Gold continues to appreciate and commodity prices must therefore continue;'* to'.- depreciate.