The Manawatu Herald. Saturday, January 13, 1912, NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 1093, 13 January 1912, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Saturday, January 13, 1912, NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The; Mercantile Gazette of New Zealand, in reviewing the prospects of the year 19x2, says “ The main disturbing feature is the readjustment that must take place between exports aud imports. The heavy imports of last year must be liquidated, and a check imposed on fresh imports.

Business may be slow, but with care and caution we may hope to get through without much trouble. There may be in some districts a slump in land values, but this will be helpful rather than otherwise, tor there is no doubt that the tendency recently has been towards inflation. The conditions are very uncertain, and a good year is as likely as a bad one.

Now that there appears to be a disposition on the part of a section of the workers to revert to the strike as the most effective method of obtaining their demands, it is interesting to note that Sir Arthur Guinness, Speaker of the House of Representatives, during his recent election campaign, suggested certain amendments to the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act dealing with the subject, suggestions that were well received by the audiences. One amendment relates to the taking of ballots, and in order that the ballot paper may be drawn up in a clear and definite form, Sir Arthur would have the Act provide that the ballot should be taken under the supervision of the officer in charge of the Government Labour Bureau in the district. The more important suggested amendment would provide that the wives of maided members of the Union should be empowered to vote on whether or not the union should go on strike. Seeing that women in New Zealand possess the franchise, and further, that in the case of workers’ wives they and their children are usually the greatest sufferers from the results of strikes, Sir Arthur believes that this amendment of the Act would prove of great value.