THE RAILWAY MEN'S GRIEVANCES. Also Some Cool Requests.

Free Lance, Volume IV, Issue 205, 4 June 1904, Page 6

THE RAILWAY MEN'S GRIE V ANCES. Also Some Cool Requests.

SIR Joseph Ward, as Minister of Railways, gave patient and sympathetic consideration on Monday last to the grievances of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Seivants. They had a nice little tally of 113 to lay before him, and he went through the list m the most cheerful spirit The various concessions they wanted footed up to £165,000 a year, and, while not prepared to go the whole animal, he was quite willing to do what was just and reasonable Passing by the ruck of little things, there were two points on which the deputation spoke with force and fairness. • ♦ * One was the contention that the wages of surfacemen should be raised from 7s to 8s a day. Although it may mean an increase of £50,000 a year, the State must pay a fair wage, and 7s a day, m view of prevailing conditions, does seem very inadequate pay for married men with families to bring up. If the birth-rate is to go up, the State must not screw down its adult employes to seven bob a day. On this point, the Minister's sympathy was with the men. It was also touched by the claim for the right of appeal being granted to casual labourers after three years' service, instead of being confined to permanent hands only. • • • So far so good But, the delegates of the Amalgamated Society exhibited the usual narrow, selfish spirit of the trades unionist when they came to the questions of "apprentices" and "preference " It is refreshing to find that the Minister put down his foot firmly As to apprentices, he pointed out that 110 more apprentices could be taken on without passing outside the proportion which the law observed in relation to journeymen. It is really astonishing to note this jealous, intolerant, and short-sighted spirit with which the journeyman regards the apprentice Presumably, the bulk of unionists — whether in the Government service or outside of it — are married men with families. How are their own sons to get on in life if every trade is to be made a close corporation for adults ? * * * But the coolest demand of all was that, where reductions of staff had to be made, the non-unionist should go first It didn't matter a tinker's curse how old a servant the nonunionist might be. The Society hand might only have been a year m the service, and the non-unionist fifteen or twenty years; the preference was to be exercised in favour of the unionist An impudent demand truly to make of the State It was tantamount to asking the State to employ on the railways only members of the Amalgamated Society And yet, after all, it is the natural outcome of the Arbitration Court's decrees for preference to unionists » * •* The same arrogant and tyrannical spirit is displayed in the notice of motion handed in at last week's meeting of the Wellington Trades Council, calling upon the Government to pass a law limiting the rent which a man may charge for the let-

ting of his house. Nothing will content these people but the most absolute liberty for themselves, and complete bondage for the other fellows. Government must keep them clear of rates and taxes, find them work, insist on preference for them, limit the apprentices in defiance of the natural increase of the population, and make the individual who puts his money into houses let them at low rents to the happy, ruling class — the free and independent working man, trades union brand. The next step will be to decree the prices at which all sorts of every-day commodities shall be sold. How much further is this sort of thing to go?