WELLINGTON TOPICS

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3393, 26 January 1920, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS

INDUSTRIAN UNREST.

THE LABOUR PROBLEM‘

(Special Correspond'ent_) "K

WELLINGTON, January 22.

V Rightly or wrongly, there is an impression abroad among employers and their_ sympathisers that serious labour _j;roubles are brewing. The represen‘t_atl'v'ag ._of the workers are extremely reticent always, and if ~ihcy say any',thing at all upon this subject it is‘ rather to protest they are doing their] best to avert an. upheaval than 130' give any assurance “such "an upheaval will not occur.‘ The initiative, if trouble is to come, seems ‘to lie with lhe minc-rs,_but’ ‘if they should -go out theyJWould' be speedily followed by the tran_§p_ort workers‘ and the mem"’)‘:>l's of the other militant unions; The res'tra.ining influence so far as the men are concerned is the knowledge ‘that the weight of public opin~ ion is againsf them “and that no fundsaro available for a prolonged struggle or even for" a short and decisive“ one. I ‘ THE EMPLOYERS’ CLAIM. !

Seen to-day a large employer of labour. whose business would be very gravely :2fl’ected by even a. brief in.l:erruption ‘of the _transport services, said he. had gone into the _men’s grievances. very carefully and with a dei sire to be quite unbiased by his own i interests, and had satisfied himself that on the score of wages and hours .'there was no good cause for complaint. The increased pay, speaking generally, had kept pace with the increased cest of living, ‘and there had been no disposition on the part of employers to lengthenlthe hours without adequate recogni-tiorn. There were difiicultics in connection with the iiousing problem, however, which imposed much inconvenience, and even suffering upon the workers and their \families, and until these were removed by some State or municipal effort thc position would remain unsatisfactory. A ' THE WORKERS’ ATTITUDE.

The general attitude‘ of the average Worker towards the existing conditions is one of dull inclifferenée. He is being constantly told he is not receiving a fair share of the products of his labour and he l~.on:st‘._v believ:-r,‘. the capitalists are treating -him badly and the newspapers habitually misrepresenting him; but in spite of all this he is daily becoming less disposecl towards T->‘tl.fili_ets and better incline-d towauds ‘political anr_i _constit,ntiona'l action. The average worker, of coursez is only 9. private in the labour army and experience of industrial strife. is that he pays the piper while’ his ofiicers call the tune. “The organisation to which he belongs may be democratic enough in letter. but it is flagrantly .'bureaucratic in spirit. These are the influences that are making him more and more of a constitutionalist and less of a anarchist. THE SILVER LINING.

It is perfectly safe to say the rank’and file of the labour army wish to 1 adjust their differences with the employers without resort to direct action. This is one of the most hopeful facts ‘ in cnonection with the situation. "Another is the appearance of an in-1‘ creased number of Labour members‘ in the House of Representatives. Nothing was more obvious in the last Parliament -than the sobering influence of responsibility and knowledge upon Mr Peter Fraser and Mr Robert Semple, and even upon Mr Harry Holland. Mr Fraser and Mr Semple speedily recognised the advantages the representatives in Parliament possessed overrthe agitator -in the -street and quickly adapted themselves to their fuller responsibilities. Mr Holland had a reputation io sustain and did his best to sustain it. But. Parliament is going to provide the safety-valve for labour unrest and Parliamentneed be none the worse for the service.