THE NEED FOR ORGANISATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 181, 22 July 1908, Page 4

THE NEED FOR ORGANISATION.

ADDRESS TO EMPLOYERS. Jlr'W. Pryor, secretary of the EtuioyeiV Federation, addressed the anlal meeting of the New Plymouth inployers' Association on Monday night )on the necessity for and value of the doniul organisation and co-operation : em'ployers. His remarks were attenvely listened to throughout. Mr Pryor opened by remarking upon le more healthy condition of this As-i jeiation than at the time of his prcv>us visit. The Federation too, was rogressing all along the line and doing most necessary work. It was well hat employers of labour should meet nd discuss matters affecting them as mployers. The workers were eomlined from Auckland to the Bluff, one lection working into another, and that ! act justified the combination 01 the employers. Unless the employers met ind compared notes for mutual benefit, I hey nwist expect to "keep going down ( ill the time," for the workers were al-' ivays on the alert The employers had been slow to combine, and it was only five years since there was a concerted colonial movement. Then for the next two years the Federation was not treated seriously, lint in the past three years it has been recognised as a power in the industrial life of New. Zealand. Up till three years ago the labour department had been conducted solely for the benefit of the working; classes, but since then a change had taken place, and that change had been brought about mainly by the moder- ' ate views of the employers on laibo]r questions. Now, when the Federation's Advisory Board on the Parliamentary KJommittee went before Ministers or heads of Departments their representations were properly received ana duly, considered. Even had nothing else been done, that fact fully justified tho organisation of the Federation. >; A CRITICAL PEIUOD. Hb might say that the Federation felt—that we iiad arrived at a most critical period of New Zealand's history, industrially, at any rate. Whatever was'to be done in connection' with industrial legislation in the next few weeks, will have a tremendous bearing on our industries and upon the ■!« community. The country was at a I. crisis, so as to speak, and that being io, the position must oe very carefully jonsidered. It was necessary, wen, ior the members of the, Association to take a broad view, not merely looking it the- question through cither the employers' or the employees' spectacles, but putting class interests out of the mind for the time being, weighing the position as affecting the whole community, and endeavouring to arrive at a conclusion upon that basis. He would like, to souna, not jingoistically, a patriotic note, asking employers and employees alike to be guided by one thing only—the country's good. If employers and workers, would do this, and Parliament itself could for a while forget all about the impending elections and about votes; then there would be no fear for the country, no need to fear the depression that had been predicted in sqjne quarters, and a satisfactory solution of the labour problem would be arrived at. He appealed to the local Association to be loyal to the Federation, and members to be loyal to their Association, if they were to get the best results. If the Federation asked for funds, send them funds, if for sympathy, give tliein sympathy, and if they asked the different Associations to consider proposed legislation, then consider it carefully unit closely, giving to the Advisory Hoard some guide as to opinions here and some suggestions as to possible improvements. PROPOSED LEGISLATION. Dealing with the proposed amendment of our arbitration laws, Mr Pryor Said he believed it was an honest attempt on the part of the (lOvi-rnmenl to cope with a very difficult situation, but he did not think the Bill contained a solution of the problem. Arbitration would never do that. As Dr Findlajy had said recently, the Arbitration Act had brought about a levelling down of the workers. So long as the present system obtained they would have that levelling down, and as long as they had that they would fail to solve the difficulty, and the New Zealand employers would be debarred from rewarding merit amongst their employees. This country would never be without mine form of State regulation of labour, but it must be more satisfactory than the laws now operating. They must get past attempting, as now; to fix a standard wage. The new Bill must be made to catch every form of strikes and lock-outs, and the law must be made to press on employers and employees equally. At present only the employers were bound by Arbitration Court awards. The strike clauses as circulated were sulliceut, lie thought, to make the extreme labour section pause and consider whether they had not gone far enough in their present in-' sane methods. If the Bill were not passed there was a still more serious problem for the Government to face—the people woulu not tolerate JawiS. operated only in respect of one parly to a dispute. Look at the niise>"y> that might have been caused in many a household, had the bakers' strike in Wellington come off as the strikers expected. And there was no guarantee that the milkmen would not strike next, and Dr Mason had stated that a milkmen's strike would mean 50 or 00 children's deaths a week in Wellington alone. The employers wanted the legislature to pealise Unions who struck or aided in a strike by cancelling the registration of the Union for a term and debarring its members from the privileges of the award, the Arbitration -to drop immediately upon a strike occuring. The Conciliation Court would not be a success, for itwas "compulsory conciliation." Dr Findlay's "needs and exertion wage" proposals were impracticable in a country like this, unless so little lab-' our was specialised as to make it impossible to fix a standard. The appointment of assessors in Arbitration Court disputes would entail large unnecessary expense, for there was already provision for the appointment of experts to assist the Court. However, he would not advocate a repeal of the Arbitration Act. The Employers' Federation were giving it an honest trial. They must combine to fight? Socialism. A few noisy socialists were inlluencing the Trades and Labour Councils, and these controlled the Unions, which, again, controlled the workers' votes. (A voice: Question.) Socialism threatened to throttle enterprise, and the Association should take steps now to throttle socialism. Answering a question. Mr. Pryor said a Socialist was a man who, without industry, energy or enterprise, wished to share the result of the industry-,, energy, and enterprise of another. Upon the motion of Messrs Brooking and H. Newman, axhearfy vote of thanks to Mr Pryor was unanimously' "passed.