UNITED LABOUR PARTY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 517, 13 November 1912, Page 6

UNITED LABOUR PARTY.

CONDUCTED BY THE DOMINION EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. (The Easter Conference of the United Labour Party voted to make no paper its special organ, but to provide official news and comments to any paper promising to regularly publish the same. The payer is not responsible for this column, and the party assumes no responsibility for any utterances of the paper except for its own official uterances in this department.)

EIGHT HOURS AND SOME OTHER THINGS. A week or two since I outlined the great international movement for eight hours in continuous industries. The work was set afoot by the International Association for Labour Legislation, which has done much to promote international agreements in labour legislation. The international conference was held at Zurich in September, and report from the special correspondent of the London "Labour Leader" has just reached me. It brings the welcome news that the delegates have accepted the decsions of the Special Commission on hours of labour which met in London last June, and maintained that the eight-hours day should generally be adopted for continuous work; and they took an important step further in instructing the Central Bureau of the asauciation to get a conference of the Governments convened as soon as possible with a view to the conclusion of an international convention to introduce the three-shift avstem in the iron and steel trade. As is well known, the eight hours day has made more progress in the iron and steel trade in the United Kingdom than in other countries, and whenever reforms in the direction of a reduction of hours are proposed one finds objections raised on the grounds of increased cost and foreign competition. Once a convention is successfully concluded and brought into force to introduce the eight-hours day, even if it iB at first only in iron and steel works, we may reasonably hope to see a rapid extension of the principle of regulating hours of labour by international agreement, and a great deal may be done in |his way to promote the movement towards a general eight-hours day not only in Britain but in all parts of the world. The iron workers of the United Kingdom represented at the conference by Mr J. Cox, of the Amalgamated Society of Iron and Steel Workers, and Mr J. Hodge, M.P., of the British Steel Smelters' Association. Developments towards the proposed treaty will now be awaited with interest.

Many other matters of world-wide interest were discussed aG this international gathering. The system of fines for breaches of what employers are pleased to call "rules" is not prevalent in New Zealand. In the Old Land the imposition of this form of robbery has in many clases set a girl owing the employer something over and above her week's earnings. On this subject the conference declared that all disciplinary fines should be prohibited, that deductions for damaged goods should only be allowed in cases of deliberate sabotage, and that until deductions for tools and materials are abolished the worker should never be required to pay more than cost price. It was through the efforts of this aassociation that the deadly phosphorous was abolished in the match industry. The association does not at the present time suggest the conclusion of a treaty for the prohibition of the use of lead in potteries. Nevertheless, the possibility of future developments is fore-shadowed. At the present stage the sections of the association are. merely to agitate in their respective countries for the establishment of preventive regulations and the elimination of lead as far as possible by national legislation. A great many dangerous trades were discussed in addition, and also the prublem of the enforcement of labour laws, on whicb subject it is interesting to note that the association urges the appointment of more women inspectors. The resolutions on sweating recommend the adoption in other countries of legislation of the same tjpe as the British Irade Boards Act. J. T. PAUL.

HOW TO BUY A FARM. "I am earning 30a week. Of this sum 1 have been able tu save 10s per week. That amounts to £26 a year. 1 have been trying to save money to start on a piece of land for myself. I in my mind, but it has each year advanced in price for a larger sum than the whole amount of my savings. Will someone tell me how to buy a farm under such circumstances?" That is the substance of a letter just at hand. The last year for which reports have been made available the unimproved land values increased over the previous year by £10,000,000. The increase in Savings Bank deposits for the same year were, in roun.l numbers, £1,000,000. As long as unimproved land values increase ten times as fast as do the savings accounts will someone explain how the average man by the average savings can ever buy the average farm? Still Mr Massey says that he stands for making every man his own landlord. That's a good deal, Mr Massey. How are you going to do it? So far the only answer has been to provide cheap money for those who have land to sell. That means a further attank on the landless by increasing unimproved values on the one hand and making savings more difficult oh the other. Who will make answer to this question? The national organiser of the

United Labour Party will give a copy of "The Struggle for Existence" for the beet answer, and he will publish the answer and recommend it to the consideration of Mr Massey. Get the question clearly. As long aB the unimproved land values increase ten times faster than do the savings of the workers, how can the average man with the average saving ever buy the average farm? This question is enpecially commended to the attention o£ farmers and of farmers' boys. The editor has an easy answer. Send him yours.