THE FLAXMIILLIANG INDUSTRY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume LI, Issue 4521, 23 October 1930, Page 2

THE FLAXMIILLIANG INDUSTRY.

(To the Editor)

Sir, —May I, with your permission, put. before those whom it most concerns, i.e. the millers and the employees, a suggestion that 1 think would have the effect of eliminating that bugbear that has for years past been a curse of the industry insofar as Foxton is concerned, and that is the dictatorship of any individual who abrogates to himself as to who shall, and when they shall, work or starve, and incidentally, punish 'innocent ones thereby. My suggestion is a simple mie, and is that instead of each employee being called upon to pay out the sum of twenty-live shillings, which tax is levied upon them each year, work or no work — shortly,, something for nothing. That at the first pay they invest the sum of one pound in their respective mills, that sum to be held by the miller for the duration of the season. The idea is that each employee becomes a shareholder on a co-operative basis, and that a certain amount of the profits be credited to each pound, that is, of eouirse, allowing for overhead expenses. Failing that, the sliding .'scale, under the aegis of a local committee, is the only surety that the men will be. sure of being' allowed to have a chance to exercise tile liberty that is theirs, the right to work and the right to live, as well as the right to think for themselves, •am! at the same time eliminiate a recurrence of the present chaos that has mainly come about through tin l stupidest example of leadership it has been possible to imagine. The above suggestion is only the ground work, the finer details could be quickly settled. Were the suggestion acted upon, I feel sure any miller, with common sense would be only too pleased to accept his employees as co-partners, as not only would they have the incentive to do their best, freed from the Immissing restrictions that the employees labour under, the same restrictions that have kept the industry idle all these months, Imt it would also be an insurance against a repetition of stupidity to which they have been mibjected in the past, likewise the miller would know that he- could make Ids arrangements to his own and his eo-partners’ satisfaction. The question of wages could be fixed by those concerned, securing a. report from the ICbmuiittee of Industries and 'Commerce should miller and men be unable to agree, as that Committee has the power to examine the books, should they so desire. .The above, if put into practiile, would -stabilise 'the industry, enabling the men to have

:• full share of work over a longer period; also stabilise the town, and be of general benefit to the community as a whole. Jf the men want any encouragement, let them look back over a period, say, during the last three years, and see if they can line! a single instance of leadership with commonsense worth the ink J use to ask them that: question. The whole sorry mess I place at the door of union officialdom, and the mess would have been worse had not some of our business men and local bodies brought the ease before the Prime Minister, who was already armed with the full facts as to the reasons the men would not move, likewise the millers. Master and men can. end such a regime should they so desire. —Yours, etc., E. G. MARTIN.