The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25. ASPIRING LABOR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8093, 25 April 1906, Page 2

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25. ASPIRING LABOR.

It occurs to us that there is less need, as time goes on, for a Government in New Zealand, and that Labor leaders at their conference—the latest of which has just occurred in Ohristchurch might with advantage, to the Labor Leagues and leaders, usurp the powers of Parliament. Of course, the source of all wealth is manual labor, but it is painful to reflect that the manual labor of the present day in New Zealand is neither the source of wealth in the colon/, nor has it the least chance of continuing to labor without the aid of its pet horror, the capitalist, or the person who takes the place of u capitalist in a country too young to possess the bloated person one sees caricatured in the American papers. * * * *

Labor in New Zealand (through its advocates) looks upon the employer as its arch-enemy, and labor is always in a hurry to become an employer. In the vast majority of cases the present day colonial employer has been in his time the employed. It is usually the man of stronger individuality who becomes the employer, and it is the person who hasn't the grit either to work as au employee, or become an employer, who gets oil' the following kind of sentiment:

" As the greed for surplus profits is the curse of all industries, this Council (the Christchurch Labor Conference) urges the conference of delegates of the Trades Councils of New Zealand to discuss the arlvisableness of the work of the colony being done for use instead of profit." Following is the iesoluli>n: — "That the tiovernment be urged to bring in a Bill fixing the maximum profits in all industries, and empowering the Government to call biennially for returns from all manufacturers and employers of labor in the colony, and to encourage the combination of industries on a co-opera-tive basis."

The first question that naturally arises is, " Would the men who supported such a motion in 1906, still support the same motion in 1908. supposing they had in the meantime become employers of labor?" An othor simple question occurs to us " Would the men who supported the resolution be content for the Government to prohibit them from making more than the present minimum wage ?" And if they would uot be .so content, would they blame the "capitalists" who bitterly resented the fixing by law of their profits? The presumption is that, under th< legislation desired by the L ibor Con ference, the employers who had made more than the maximum profit as laid down by law, would have thest (Tofits confiscated by the Government. One of two tilings would hap- . en. Employers would either movt along to a country which they re garded as reasonably san», or the Government would add largely to it* surplus - that is profits spendable on luxuries. Perhaps Ministers of the Crown might then be able to make a living wage out of it.

It is sad to believe that not a singh delegate to that Libor Conference would refuse added profits if lie were offered them to-morrow. Quite recently they refused to attend a L:t bor Parliament because the profitwere not going to be as large agaii ns the averago wage for men of their class. You will notice that the proposed great and glorious reforms are suggestions by people who don't work, except with their tongues, and are for the reforming of the other fellow. A coercive method of dealing with the trades and manufactures of New Zealand would have the effect of bringing the trades and manufac tares down to the lowest ebb. The man who knows that, despite every effort, he will not be allowed to make more cash than he could make without any effort, is not going to shift himself. Neither he nor the Labor Councillor is permeated with love for his fellow men, He—like the Labor Councillor—is chasing the dollar every time.- It is just that chase for the dollar that builds our warehouses, fills the sl> ; ps with wool and butter, and makes the man with the gift of the gab throw over work to become a Labor leader, emancipate his fellowworker, and kick the man his fellowworker gets his wages from a little harder.

The " combination of industries on a co-operative basis "looks*excellent on paper, but any such combinations that ever existed have been the rankest failure, merely because there are men who ha'vi the gift of the gab, and pretend it is a good substitute for work, and because there are also workers who quarrel with the men who believe that talk is their fanshare of the communistic work. One has but to mention Lano and Paraguay. Nobody is going to dony that in many cases traders make exorbitant profit, but the suggestion that all traders shall have the ir profits kopt to a minimum by law is as large an order as would be the marching of a Trades' delegate to a State -Ihuroh by an armed guard. If yon started every man in New Zealaid on a level, giving all equality of opportunity, the probabilities are tliat in a few years time they would /ever'. *» the old positions, and tho " own with employers" delegate m ild f.rowl that he did not get a thoi>- .nd pounds start.

Co-oi'ERATroN is a very hs > aing if you can keep it going, t. ' the cussedness of human natui v hi up to now rendered it impos ible. It is not the " poor working r.mn " in New Zealand who growls. It is the man who does not work, aw' vho is the paid advocate of the -aim whose wages he helps to spend. This kind of person is very loud at the present time, merely for the reasons lie deprecates, namely, that the employers are making a good profit, and consequently require employees. The simplest way for the Labor advocates ti> test the workableness of their theory of co-operation, and no employers but one's self and one's work-mutes, is to get the Government to deport the wretched people who have made money by hustling, and give the people who haven't done any sucli thing a chance to show their metal. If the no-capitalist-co-operative-wor-ker time comes, the day of the loafer will arrive simultaneously. Equality of opportunity is all very well, but you can't get men to seize opportunties with equal quickness. Hence wo have the people who make profits, and the people who talk, and who hate anyone else to possess what they themselves haven't grit enough to get.