Co-operative Railway Construction.

Maoriland Worker, Volume I, Issue 1, 15 September 1910, Page 5

Co-operative Railway Construction.

(By H. A. CAMPBELL., Organiser of the New Zealand Labour Party.) When the Ballance Government abandoned the old pernicious system of railway construction by public tender, and instituted the present co-operative system in its stead, there was great rejoicing in the navvies' camps throughout the length and breadth of this country. The change was effected for the purpose of killing the human parasite who grew rich and fat on the profits sweated out of the men who build our railways, and to drive from, this fair land the ganger who stood over men on the top of a bank, with a scowl on hie face and a foul oath on his lips, ready to dismiss any man who dared straighten his back or failed to put his utmost energy into his work. For a few years after its initiation the policy of co-operative railway construction worked very well. Navvies were given a fair price for their work, and in consequence good men made high wages. Men were allowed to choose their own mates, and each gang chose their own ganger. Practical and sympathetic engineers were placed in charge of construction works, and, while they saw the work was carried out efficiently, they treated the navvies both fairly and humanely. Both engineers and overseers endeavoured to make the navvies and their wives as comfortable as possible under adverse circumstances, by supplying them with proper tent accommodation. This was at the commencement of the Liberal Government's regime, when they were true democrats, and had the interests of the workers at heart; and when their majority was small,, and they had to rely upon the workers to keep them in power. But as the Liberal Government grew older a it became stronger, more aristocratic and Conservative, and had less need to depend upon pick-and-shovel men for support. Then there came a time of commercial prosperity, and a simultaneous change of Government support. Commercial men and the employers ot labour found they could make greater profits out of a Liberal Government policy than out of a Conservative one. Consequently they transferred their support from the Conservative Opposition to the Liberal Government. Many of the new supporters of the Liberal Government had indigent aristocratic friends, and in return for support were able to get their friends into positions as engineers, overseers and. time-keep-ers on our railway construction works. One by one the good old sympathetic and practical officials were replaced by a set of domineering aristocratic, inexperienced men, whose principal task now is to carry a leather bag on their back and bully the navvies. This crop of superior officials has grown to such huge dimensions that a large portion of the railway construction vote is swallowed up in their salaries. As the crop of officials grew, the navvies' wages were reduced accordingly, in order that the total cost of construction would not become too unreasonably high. According to official returns supplied by the Minister for Public Works the average rate of pay for men who construct our railway lines is 7s 2d per day of eight hours. This, combined with the niggardly and contemptuous way in which men are treated by overbearing officials has made our railway constructive works very unattractive. The administration of the co-operative system has degenerated to such an extent that it is now looked upon by navvies as an extremely poor class of relief works. The Trades Council Conference which was h,eld in Auckland last month asked the Minister for Public Works to change the system to one of day labour, but so far no reply has been, given by the Minister.