The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1920. THE RAILWAY STRIKE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3479, 6 May 1920, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1920. THE RAILWAY STRIKE.

' With which is incorporated “The Taihape Post and Waimarino News.”

The Railway Strikcxis new defi--nitely at an end, and we are inclined ‘to the opinion that its prolongation resultctl from an error of judgment ilt foes not" -seem at all apparent that ithe men stood to gain anytlfing by insisting upon the new issue they raised, or by dissociating thesiiselzes f'l‘u(‘.l the A.S.R.S. and the 'lla*x.l--my .Ofl‘ie.ers’ Institute. They ceased work, ostensibly, for the setting" up ’of "an impartial tribunal to hear and determine their disputes, and when that was granted the strike, nzcard» ing to all rules of just dealing, sl=_.)uld ',_have been called off. To most. people t it was obvious the men had blunie:e.d, and that they would have to give way, for there were too many difficulties militating against the new issue raised being given a reasonable or practicable phase. What the men desire the new tribunal to grant th.e«.n a. wage based exactly upon the in\ereased cost of living, which the Prime Minister says is 62 per cent; but the cost of living had not increased 62 per cent in April, 1919, and for the E.F.C.A. to insist upon an Zncte-.lse of wages greater than the inc:-*:-iced cost of living would have estrmged "from them the -all~but universal public sympathy they undoubtedly enjoyed. Going back a. year would con.~:ti.‘u‘;e a very difficult problem for ‘he Tribunal set up, for no body of nxen would concede more than the living cost warranted, and it is do'lo‘:ful whether a retrospective award would not have been something matcri-.llly less than one to go back only to ‘he beginning of the current year. To secure the surest basis for a 62 per cent increase for all railwaymen' it ' was necessary to -abandon? the demand Rfor having it retrospectively so far .:back as April, -1919, for whoever may I constitute the Tribunal-the main effort twill. undoubtedly be" to avoid com- . plexities‘. Had the Premier conceded the new;is'sue, the Tribunal would lhave had to make a separate award i for _the period when increased living icosts did not, amount to per cent, or it would have had to find a general average that would be applicable to ‘the whole railway service. Whatever adjustments were. made would be likely to provide bones of contention that neither side could assimilate. 'l‘herefore, the decision‘ to abandon the new issue will be publicly ,:Ipplauded the length and breadth of the whole Dominion, and the raijwaymen i will not have forfeited the widespread -‘public support and sympathy in their Lefforts to secure concession of‘ a just idemand for necessary means to live.