A CORNER IN WORK.

Maoriland Worker, Volume I, Issue 1, 15 September 1910, Page 3

A CORNER IN WORK.

At the Annual Conference of the Waterside Workers' Federation, held in Lyttelton recently, the following resolution was passed by 20 votes to 3 : " That the Arbitration and Conciliation Act be amended, giving power to the Unions to limit their membership to the number only that can earn a living wage, a,s shown by the employers' wages books for the preceding twelvemonths." This was a remit from Auckland, and a long discussion on it took place. The delegates argued that it was practically impossible for the members of a Union unlimited as to numbers to make a living wage. The men who would be held outside the Unions by such a restricted provision should be frankly classed as unemployed, and the organised and well-paid Unions would then assist in compelling the Government to provide them with work In commenting on this matter in its leading columns, a leading New Zealand daily stated that the proposal was " simply preposterous," drew a fanciful picture of various trades controlled by " leisurely and affluent" workers, and accused the waterside workers of seeking " to make the arbitration law the weapon of selfishness and monopoly." Of course all this is the greatest possible rubbish. There was no demand for a " salary of leisured affluence," but merely for a " living wage." If we take this in New Zealand to be, at the lowest reasonable standard of comfort, £100 per year, then the country is wrong in tolerating conditions of work which do not return to the worker at least this amount. If there is only £1000 a year available as a " wages fund " in a certain industry, and £100 a year be a fair living wage, ten in en, and ten men __ only, should be employed in that industry. If twenty men are employed, then they receive only £50 per year each; their labour power is under-employed, and therefore partially wasted; and the children brought up in homes supported on this niggardly sum will not merely tend to be 3 but will actually be, depleted and impoverished mentally, morally and physically. In the same way, if a fair salary for a newspaper editor be £600 per year, the proposal to divide this amount among, say, six men would be rightly regarded as " simply preposterous." It is only a matter of time before all labourwwil t be organised on the rational basis of a fair living wage, and superfluous workers in one industry will be transferred to another industry, and the present wastage of life and labour involved in not " cornering," i.e., organising, work will become yet another of the relics of barbarism which the new age will have banished to the old and ugly past. And when that time comes, the " standard of living " for the workers of the world will be something far beyond the mean and narrow life with which so many of them are, unfortunately, still contents Finally it may be asked : If it is possible for a country to organise, on the basis of a living weekly, wage, the labour required for the transport of goods by land, as the New Zealand Railway Department does, why is it impossible to organise the labour required in the transport of goods on the waterways?

"INEFFICIENT SLAUGHTERING." Mr Gilbert Anderson, who has for very many years been intimately connected with the frozen meat trade in New Zealand, has just returned from a, trip to the Old Country, and has opened his heart to the newspaper Press as follows :—- The country is developing from its magnificent natural resources of the land, but there is an entire lack of evidence that there is a similar development of industries to utilise the capital available in the employment of profitable labour. This is not likely to take place until the trade unionist and labour leaders adopt a broader platform and -wider outlook. Capital will only be available for industries where there is security and profitable investment. The annual report and balance-sheet of the Christchurch Frozen Meat Company, of which Mr Gilbert Anderson is the late managing director, were pub•ifched in the " Lyttelton Times" of February 8 and 16 last. The report stales that the quantity of stock slaughtered at the various works of the i-,mpany during the past season reached the satisfactory total of 1,313,505 carcases bein" , an increase on the previous year of 139,116. The sum of £12,265 was spent oti renewals and replacements of buildings and machinery. The balance at credit to profit and loss, AFTER providing for interim dividend of £6693, was £40,965. This sum the directors recommended should be disposed of as follows :—- Depreciation on plant and works . . . . _. £5,000 Add to reserve (making this fund £60,000) . . . £5,000 Add to general assurance reserve (making this fund £15,000) .... £11,810 Special provision for renewals and improvements . . £5,000 Dividend for half-year at 8 per cent p.a £6,739 Amount to be carried forward £7,415 The total paid-up capital of the company is stated to be £173,186, and the profit for the year ending October 31, 1909, £47,658. The chairman stated that the company' was to be congratulated upon the substantial progress made, which was particularly gratifying in view of the extraordinary features of the 1909 trade. If private enterprise is not satisfied with these returns, the reason must be that it is bewildered by the amount and the multiplicity of its profits. Mr Anderson continues :— When I visited London formerly. New Zeala-nd meat stood out prominently -well ahead of Australian and River Plate for dressing and appearance. During the la3t two years there is a marked change. You cannot distinguish New Zealand meat to-day by its superior dressing , ; it has fallen to the level of Australia. When asked what is the reason of the difference, those who a.re connected with freezing- works say that it is the result of the " award." Last January the Frozen Meat Conference was held in Christchurch,, under the auspices of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association. At that meeting various speakers referred to the disgaceful way in which New Zealand meat was handled after it reached London. The meat, it was alleged, was jumped on and walked over in the handling, and often it was taken out of the ship's hold and allowed to lie for many hours, and sometimes for days, on barges and wharves until it was half-thawed. Mr Anderson's company and other meat companies made a vigorous defence of their own really excellent methods of dress- '" award " conditions, and it was freely admitted that there was nothing Avrong with the killing, dressing, grading and freezing of the meat—that, in fact, it left the New Zealand factories in perfect condition, but that the methods of shipment were faulty, and. that the utmost confusion and disorganisation prevailed in regard to the distribution, on the Home markets. In regard to Smithfield, one grower who had recently been Home stated the conditions under which this market was conducted would not be tolerated in New Zealand for twenty-four hours. The market was open for anyone to walk through, the straw 7 and litter seemed to have been lying about for months, men were chewing and spitting in the market, and consumers in consequence often found the meat so dirty that they could not eat it. Sometimes rough handling after the meat left the ship's hold left the carcases bruised and broken, and altogether unsaleable as first-class meat. These conditions, it was alleged, did not prevail in regard to Argentine meat, and therefore this meat was gaining a higher reputation than New Zealand meat. A large number of growers urged the establishment of a Government distributing depot, where New Zealand meat could be disposed of in a clean and efficient manner, at regular intervals. All of which shows :— (1) That private enterprise cannot be safely trusted to distribute the food of the people.

(2) That even the most blatant blame -it- on - the - dog advocate should not publicly contend that New Zealand Arbitration Court awards are responsible—(a) For the thawing of frozen meat on English wharves. (b) For the hob-nailed boots worn by English wharf lumpers when walking on New Zealand carcases. (c) For the straw and other litter into which New Zealand carcases are thrown on the floor of English markets. (d) For the chewing and spitting habits of the Smithfield market visitors and employees.