ARBITRATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81887, 14 November 1906, Page 3

ARBITRATION.

TO THE EDI rpR. Sir,—l have mostly considered your artides t i*fasunable and tau, ljut 1 would ask lor space in which to disagree sumewha l from your article ot last Saturday, headed "Much Arbitration.'' A.l through it you appear to be trying to prejudice the public against irade unionism, and to breed distention and distrust of iheir leaders among the rank and hie of the unions by labe ling them "agitators in a contemptuous manner, or sarcastically calling them ''the saviours of the horny-handed/' etc; a-so by trying to make the agitator appear as a king and a tyrant who lias the power of declaring war just at his own sweet will. Now, sir, my experience is the direct opposite of that. When I was a member of a union in England, our executive was elected by ttie vote of the whole of the members of every braneli throughout the country, except those who, like the New Plymouth ratepayers, prefer to slay away and growl and pay up rather than attend a council meeting. Our branch officers were elected by tfhe branch,j and every demand ot any branch fur an advance in wages etc., was first submitted to a referendum of the whole of the members. How is that for high, ye upholders of hereditary loidly and kingly ruler.' and /,'iooo-a-year governois? Do you knuw of any government inure democratic, or less 111 the hands of its agitators; I lave you never heard of unions striking in spite of advice of their leaders? 1 have. And yet

the same old yarn- are trotted uut of agiiaiors fattening on their dupes, of lamenting disturbance ;n older to jusiify their cxi-ience, etc., just as ihougli we never read any other paper than the Takanaki daily News. And, after all, the agitator who iemployed by the unions to devote the whole of his time to union interests, is only a product of the tyranny of our employers who, umil we learned a little sense, usually sacked or blackballed any man who dared to stand up for the rights of himself and his them to have tile power of demolishing ua in detail, but now they have to deal with a man they cannot sack, who has the solid body of the union a*, his back. That man is the labor agitator. Would the same hard names you apply to our paid officials, also apply to the agitators of the Employer-' Federation and the. Farmers' Union, the Liberal l.aboiu Federation- Political Reformers and paid newspaper writers, to the ptof' -siunal n.en of the temperance and religious bodie-, who ale called organi-ers, lecturers, evangelists, priest, minister, of perhaps some military name! Call them what you will, it all amounts to the same thing. They are all men who, in your own words and meaning, never .ake their coats off. 1 am quite satisfied, and proud, that til agitator- of the wage-earning mini, i- the only one worthy of carrying such a name, unadulterated and in the rough. To me all progress has come from agitation and discontent with things thai are or ill the words of the poetess : ''lie not content; content ment means inaction. The glowing -oulc! aches 011 its upward! gue.-t. Satiety ia twin to satisfaction. A 1 great achievements spring from lifi's nnt'e-:." You tell us that, in extiemely few ca-cs do employees complain of the wages they get. I s lli.it in itself a proof thai thej- are (onP n,. ()[ is u tha l they thiottgli -can ity of emp[ ( ,yn;,nf ale afraid to speak i Mavtc you have known wag*'earners and employers who are content with tle ir wane- or dividend-, when (lie 1 wa- a chance of making mote equally easy in honestly. but I never did. I'lefen-nce O unioni-t- ->>' ms espeeial'y ebnoxi . ens to vou, because yon know that without it employers would have a preference for non-itni"ni-ts, unless 1 unions were nothing more than -o eieti, s for taking care of the poor old [ layered wrecks nf industry. You te i u- that it is right and proper that . a man should get the worth of his la- . bor. Hear- hear I Dm you know that under our pre-ent competitive system that is impossible. The em jjt'oyer gets his labor and his material • j-i=t as cheap as possib'e, and labor t -ells itself for the best terms it can ' get. Our interestij are direrilv op. ■ P'.-ite, and we shall never walk hantll . in hand until we have equal oppor-l , tunity, in I be time comipgj tall-

Ed Socialism, when each shall be fot ■til, and alt for each, which is fas. oming, as was so well pointed om .1 few weeks ago by one of your win .'is. We ;t I s(eni to love free comP'tition, among ihe other fellows. I'.mpi'iyers love to see us struggling tor jobs, which is ihe rule, because it means cheap labor. 'VYo would ike 10 sec ilicni keenly competing loi ■is, but it very lately happens. The ■mull employer tears the free compe tition of the trusts with himse.f, alio wants preference, or legislation against it As for aibilraliun, the liriti-h and Ameiican unions as ye Ippanntly see 110 benefit in it. The; tent 10 prefer ihe old weapon of tlx st 1 ihe as they have lately done io Oia.es against ntiii-unionists to me (], cision of the judges (not from out 'las-) who may b-' biassed against theni. In conclusion, I hope tlia• "ti wmi't take it that I have the leas 11-will against employers. 1 admin •l"' Way tiny hang together as a das* t wooUl that we. too, could see when •Ui interest* lay, and that the shortui ut to our ideal is through the ballot' ">x, rather than by way of ihe better hail-nothing trade unions', but wliih vaiting for the good time coming. I intend to honestly carry out my -iintracts to the best of my ability tinder existing conditions. Trusting that you may give these few lines in 'tir defence the same publicity a*your attack,—l am, etc., CHARLES PARKER. New Plymouth, October 12.