The Daily News MONDAY, JULY 27. LABOR AND ARBITRATION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 185, 27 July 1908, Page 2

The Daily News MONDAY, JULY 27. LABOR AND ARBITRATION.

There cuii scarcely be a doubt tiiaL Ui« duel work 01 the session will centre roll,Hi tile Conciliation ami Arbitration Act Amendment Jiill. Parliament, . s practically uiianimou, Unit the Arbitration Act must lie satisfactorily amended 01 lcpealcd; bill the ipiestion is, what is meant by "satislaetory amendment"? Since the Arbitration Act was lirst introduced nearly every year lias witnessed the passing of au amending measure, and at the time it was passed ever; amending measure was held lo be "satijfactory." it may lie predicted with conJidence that .an amending JJiJI will be passed and that at the time of its passing it will bo deemed "satisfactory," but how long it will continue to be held "satisfactory'' is >juito another question. The amending Bill is uow before tlie Labor -Bills Coiiiinittee; in the meanwhile a variety oi opinions have found expression. Compulsion is ever objectionable, and, as far as practicable, to'bc avoidei ill relation to every question. Is it possible to have a system of arbitration without resorting to compulsion? is not compulsion an integral part of anv Court of justice? What is the use of a civil Court to give judgments in property eases without the power to distrain/ What would be tlie use of a criminal Court without the power to couline'; if it can be shown.that a section of the community clamored for the establi-'.i-ment of a Court with power lo line and imprison; that that section of the comi inanity derived substantial beneiits from j the establishment of the Court; thai. I finally, they defied and pursued a course || calculated lo destroy tlie Court, what f would be the value of the Court it' the I power to tine and imprison were withdrawn?

A Court dependent wholly for respect on sentiment would be puerile enough, hut when it is manifest that the sentiment upon which it depends is liable to sudden and violent changes its position becomes helplessly ridiculous. On the other hand, it must he admitted that with compulsion there are difficulties. Putting on one side the last resort—imprisonment—it. is not pleasant to contemplate putting a bailiff into a mail's house and selling off the little hits of things he has, in llie course of years of toil, contrived to gather about liiin, because of his aiding and abetting a strike. The Hon. the Minister of Labor has confessed that on one occasion, rightly o:wrongly, he felt hound to go with his fellows and take part in a strike i n the merits of which he did not believe at .. I. Under the present law for such condu.it lie would be liable to pay ;ClO or be visited by a bailiff. Apart altogether from the wound inflicted upon a man s dignity and -self-respect, liability to the loss arising from line and imprisonment is a little bit staggering. It is quite clear, however, that if the country decides to have a Court that Court mint be endowed with power, and to prove effective that power must be far-reach-ing and drastic.

Whilst the Labour Bills Committee is about to wrestle with the difficulti«s of compulsion, and two or three other knots on thc -arbitration string, there has been sitting in Wellington a conference from tin: Trades and Labour Councils of the colony. Tin: decisions -jf thi s conference are eminently characteristic if. ill view of what the people of the colony already know, they cannot lie said to lie instructive. The conference professes to be exceedingly anxious io retain Iho Arbitration Act, but when the Arbitration Court cannot see its way to grant all they demand they claim to be at liberty to. strike. Than this ii is scarcely possible to conceive anything more impracticable—not. to say'impudent. The country is to be put to the expense of maintaining a Court for no purpose but to comply with the demands of labour. A figurative pistol is pointed at the. heads of the people of the Do million with the cry—"(live us what we want or we strike!'' Obviously, in such a case an Arbitration Court is superfluous. No man can be accepted as a judge in his own case, vet it is calmly proposed that Labour is to !>.? judge of tlitArbitration Court. '• If awards are unjust, what are we to do'/" asked Mr. Westbrooke. Labor, of course, is to letermino when awards are unjust. "The workers," exclaimed the chairman, "will not endure arbitration when it goes against them,'' and such a statement is enough to close the door at once.

ill this Dominion the people who sympathise with the workers are very numerous. The recollection of the wrongs indicted upon the toiler i n past da\s conduces to excite sympathy, whilst it is recognised that the uplifting of the worker means the practical advancement of the great bulk of the peop:e. It is in the highest degree disheartening, therefore, to find tho leaders of Labour attempting lo assume a position that 110 reasonable mind can for one moment tolerate. Tlicy altogether ignore the fact of tho existence of otherinterests than theirs. They have 110 sense of fair play, and '' justice" is just what they please to consider is justice. On tile part of the leaders there does not appear to be any sense of l'espousiI ilitv, and. apparently holding that the whole country lies prostrate at tin- r ferl. they are ipiite reckless. The uncompromising attitude of hostility they present is enough to make the best—the truest—friends of Labour turn frori them in utter disgust. Of course, there are among the workers many reasonable and fair-minded men—there are such to be found in every class of society—but here is a body of delegates from representative councils of Labor pursuing a course which can only lie fittingly characterised as complete folly, and the workers as a whole must hear the burden,