The Daily News WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5. AN IMPORTANT DECISION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 193, 5 August 1908, Page 2

The Daily News WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5. AN IMPORTANT DECISION.

Tile Court of Appeal has given. its decision in the matter of lire application to set aside t lie order made liy the Arbitration Court to enforce payment npon the individual members ol the Hiiu-nball .Minors' Union of tin- liu- oi JJITi, imposed as a penally for til.- oficiice ~!' pr..pi»ing a strike. Th.- d.ci- \ sjon—bused upon broad and gc.io.al grounds—was delivered liy his Honor the Chief Justice, and ids views wore supported by their Honors Judges Williams, iJeniiistun, aud Cooper. It is satisfactory to lind that of the live judges four were agreed, the line was not imposed upon iliu members of the Union individually; it wus imposed upon tlie Union, but the view taken by the Court was that, in the event of failure to recover from the Union, recourse could be taken upon its individual members. The Legislature, recognising how easy it would be. for a union to so dispose of its funds that they would he safe against seizure in the' event of. a judgment, look the unusual course of making the members liabl« individually. This power may he described as the foundation upon which the whole superstructure of arhitra'iou rests. To establish an Arbitration Court without endowing it with p-.wer to fine for disrespect of its and awards would he absurd; to give to it the power to fine a union that owns no property aud can ensily hid:away its assets in cash, would be cq-al-Iv futile; to be of any practical value it must have the power to fellow further to whs-re there is property upon which distraint can be made, and clearly that could only he achieved by making the members of the union liable inj dividually. Without the power to en- ' force paynit'nt from some quarter the | whole scheme of arbitration resolves itI self into a pure farce.

The Arbitration Court is an extraordinary Court, called into being to deal with "extraordinary circumstances, and therefore it lias been armed with extraordinary powers. His Honor the Chiel Justice describes the position thus:— "The Court of Arbitration had been granted really a greater jurisdiction than even the Court of Appeal; it might proceed contrary to law or to fact in dealing with matters under its jurisdiction, and from its decisions, however erroneous, there was no right of appeal, and it might receive as evidence what no Court of ordinary jurisdiction would receive as evidence. It appeared plain from the wording* of the. statute that the intention of the "miners of the Act was that the ordinary rules of law and justice that have been slowly evolved through the ages were not necessarily applicable to those dealing with disputes in .—>ustrial matters. 'This might have been necessary, for tie exceptional work that the Court was called up to perform might have required such a statute to be passed.'' There can be no doubt that tne Legislature fully comprehended the exigencies of the position when the Arbitration Act was passed, in the circumstances ordinary rules had to be dispensed with, and the fact that the Legislature had tile courage to go far apart from usual courses sliows the determination wii.i Which they were imbued to put an er.d once for all to strikes.

This journal has not hitherto enter'd on an examination of the grounds upon which workmen have recently gone "on strike," for the reason that, whatever the injustices might be under which workmen labored, there was a court established for enquiry and rectification, and so long as that court existed there could be no juslilicaiion for a strike. It is somewhat amusing, however, to liolice how a general election being close at hand—certain politicians seem anxious to trim their sails to catch the possibly favoring breeze ill city constituencies. In the ease of the' Blackball strike it will be remembered that, without any intimation or representation to the company, the workmen issued a declaration that they intended, on and after a certain time stated, to take half an hour's crib-time, thereby taking upon themselves, practically, the control of the mine. The alleged "victimisation" of miners, the asserted defective ventilation of the mine, and other complaints were never heard of until after tin strike had taken place. Evidently they were afterthoughts designed to justify action to which the workers had committed themselves. The Hooding of the Tyneside ine n saved the strikers, otherwise there is little reason to doubt that the. Blackball mine would continue ;o be uuworked to this day.

It is precisely the same way with the Wellington bakers who struck work ; n order to win shorter hours 'of labor. After the strike hud taken place, the question of wages, victimisation, ami other complaints were raised. If the workers desire to carry with them the sympathy of the uencral uulilic ill any striking attitude they may propose to assume, it will be well for them to render quite clear the whole of the grounds upon which their proposal is based, otherwise any allegations tliej put forward subsequently will lie justly op; n to the suspicion ■ of being mere alter'houghts. However, even if at the time of striking all grounds of complaint —victimisation, bad ventilation, insanitary conditions, hours of labor, wages—had been dearly and distinctly lornui-. lated, it is manifest that every one of them is matter for the Arbitration Court to deal with, and, such being tiie case, singly or wholly, they afford no justification for a strike.' Whilst the Arbitration Court remains it must be accepted and respected. If employers or workers go before the Arbitration Court with any cause of complaint and the decision given by the Court is not according to their liking, then must they lie patient, just as other litigants in other courts have to be. It is not open to them to seize a bludgeon and go striking, hitting the whole community for alleged evils which they—by the establishment of the Arbitration/Court — have sought to avert. It cannot be too often repeated that a system of arbitration and a tolerance of strikes cannot subsist together.