The Daily News TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6. THE ARBITRATION BILL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 242, 6 October 1908, Page 2

The Daily News TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6. THE ARBITRATION BILL.

'iiic liynt ui interest in the Arbitration liill, \\ iiil'Ji had very nearly (lied away, had suddenly U'ckcicd up by the introduction 01 that measure inio the Legwiai<ivc Council, it may be reniarKeil, incidentally, tual recently, by wellsustained and spirited debates, the upper Chamber has done niucu to ic.store itself in public appreciation. I''roiu tlie speech ui tile AUornevUeneral it would appear that lroui the tir.-1 he 'has takvn a very lively interest ill the preparation of the liill; one would conclude that he had superintended the draughtsmanship it he mul not actually drafted the BUI himself. The Bill was introduced to the liuunO. and, as a matter of course, was reierred to the Labour Hills Committee. Jmoiu a statement made by All'. Arnold in tlie debate on the second reading, it transpires that in the Labour Bills Coimnili«e every amendment made in the Bill was moved by the .Minister of Labour (.Mr. Millar). Tile Ministry, therefore, must be held responsible for those amendments. In committee of tio| House amendments were made 111 lliel Bill: but here again if ihe amendments were not all moved by the Minister of Labour they were such its received nis approval, and so were accepted. W hen. therefore, the Arbitration liill found its way to the upper Chamber it was exactly the Bill that the (ioverumenl desired; they had framed it throughout Then, as reported, the Attor;ie\-(,vneial vose to express himself to the eliect that lie had given tee Bill very serious consideration, and, speaking as ft lawyer, he was free to say amendments would be required ill those i-lauscs v.. ,ch had been altered to a:iy e*vcnt if their intended meaning was to be fully expressed. Tlie committee would 'require to revise every section which had been altered since uie Dill left the hands of the draughtsman. That is to say that the amendments moved by his colleague in hhe Labour Bills o j"' uiittce and in the House were so badly drawn that they failed to convey the meaning that was intended, or, sLUI more seriously, that tliey were wrong in principle. It is but fair to t to. Minister of Labour, however, to rcuiemIber that, according to press criticism delivered at the time, there never had ibe,ll submitted to Parliament a more badly-drawn measure than w-as the Arbitration Bill. It ia.not a. pleasant thing to behold two Ministers apparently arrayed against each other in this fashion.

Tho lion. J. T. Paul, whose name in this connection lias already appeared in these coluiuiisi reminded the people that "no system of arbitration can be successful unless it was based upon absolute justice; and strikes eould only be .prevented by goodwill and mutua understanding." It seems a shameful thing that such worua snould require to be said. "Absolute justice" should not Jw confined to Arbitration Bills; it should permeate all the Acts of the legislature and all its proceedings. From the inception of legislation upon the subject of arbitration, Uie desire has beun to deal out "absolute justice." to give no right to the employer that \va.s not shared by the employee; but how far has this fact been recognised? A week ago the. Trades and Labour Council passed a vote of want of confidence in the Hon. Mr. .Millar, who lias manfully striven to secure " absolute justice." Absolute justice in connection with labour troubles is not what some people seek, and it is very doubtful whether many of the workers whom the Hon. Mr. l'aul so ably represent will thank him for his expression of opinion. However, apart from the noisy, self-seeking agitators, thepeople of this Dominion as a body will ( join with the Hon. Mr. Paul in Hie iio.pe he expressed that the aspirations of the Minister of Labour will be realised as they deserved to Iff 1 , a hope to which we cordially subscribe, though no', without grave doubts. The lion. J. It. Sinclair emphatically declared that " now there was no opposition to arbitration law." TiiaL is very well and satisfactory as far a» it goes, lint tihe same blissful whiiitioa has existed before to-day. When the first of Uie Arbitration Hills passed into law, all was peace and joy; there were to be no more strikes; the lion of caipital was to lie down with the lamb of labour. But soon there came a rude awakening. Since 1894 there have been no fewer than twenty-three strikes, and Mint fact is not encouraging to a belief that the present state' of tilings will long continue. There are still plenty of people in Australia who would not mind coining U> Xew Zealand for ClO per week for the privilege of ]K'rsuading the workers that they are a deluded and sorel.i-oppressed class, and that there is no "absolute justice" in the land. The. workers may /all into the snare, and again there will b<\ trouble, in which tile principle of arbitration will go to th? wall. The Hon. Mr. Sinclair affirms that there is no country in the world where the worker is better cored for than in Xew Zealand, and. wthen the workers take advantage of the benefits of the Arbitration Act, they are in "honour bound to submit to and abide by the awards. This sentiment of "honour" of which the lion, gentleman speaks should always have obtained, but ne must know there lias been no sentiment of the kind. However, it is assuredly ■nice , to find linn, gentlemen speaking in hopeful and confident tonics, and it is hoped 1 their aspirations in connection wi.Wi Uie Bill, which passed the Council at an early hour this (Tuesday) morning, will be realised. ON THE FOUItTH PACK. Sculling. Commercial. Amusements. Silting up Streams. Mistaken Identity. Tar.inaki County Council. [ Inglewood Bacon Factory. | County Engineer Criticised. | Scandals in Japanese Army.