The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, MAY 26. LABOR AGITATORS EXPOSED.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 101, 26 May 1909, Page 2

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, MAY 26. LABOR AGITATORS EXPOSED.

If there is any satisfaction to be derived from the result of the Conciliation Council's deliberations in the slaughtermen's dispute, -which was disposed of so far as the public abattoirs, were concerned, yesterday, it 'a principally in , the fact that the occasion served to cx- ' pose in all its' nakedness the means by I which disputes are fomented by agiItators. So far as our memory serves us, no mure glaring instance of unwarrantable interference with industrial peace has been brought .to light since legal process of conciliation and arbitra- 1 tioa has been the law of the country. In the present case, that at any rate in which the Xew Plymouth abattoirs was concerned, the evidence adduced befori the Council way unanimous that no dispute existed locally, that the men wuve perfectly satislied with llie conditions uuuer which they were working, aud that, moreover, the rates of pay were considerably higher than jJiose ruling undkjr the Auckland award, which it was sought to have applied here. And yet

the Council was asked to believe that the local abattoirs' employees were dissatislicd with their conditions, and were I desirous of being brought under the Auckland award! As we statci* on a previous occasion, it was only too apparent all along that this so-called dispute was engineered by Auckland agi tutors, whose dignity—pardon the word —was hurt because the local union had the audacity, some months ago, to come to an amicable arrangement with the Borough Council without reference 10 the self-constituted judges' in Auckland. There is something rotten with the government of labor unions when the workers allow themselves to be tyrannised by the men tlrey appoint to watcli their interests. It is a sad commentary on the vaunted independence of the New Zealand worker when men will tamely submit to being chastised by distant drones beeaus'e they held a conference to better their positions without the consent of their sell-constituted "keepers." We confess we are at a complete loss to appreciate the standard of loyalty that could decide men, against the interests of themselves and those dependent on them, to accept a reduction of wages' at the behest of their leaders. At the same time we cannot but admire the spirit of loyalty prompting such self-sacrifice, although we are bound to state we do not believe it would be tolerated in practise by tin workers. Heading between the lines, il seems to us that there is more fii tin domination of this union executive, am I more behind the professed loyalty o. local unionists than appears on the sur

face, Absolute proof is not available, but we shrewdly suspect that if it were not for fear of the consequences', fear of being dubbed "blacklegs," no body ot competent workmen would consent for a moment to be placed in so false a position by their representative*'. One weakness of (he labor law stands out prominently in connection with this citation, and its unfairness will probably be the bettor appreciated because in this case it might have- had the effect of injuring the workers. The power placed in the hands of a limited number of malcontents of fomenting a dispute, and citing employees indiscriminately and against the wished of the employees, should be reviewed if it is to be abused as in the case under review. It should certainly not be possible, as, in the present case, for outsiders to interfere with tlie pleasant relations obtaining between master mid men.particularly wl-'ii the men are receiving remuneration in excess of the agitators' demands. Only in such a case ,ns the present one may the harmful inMmnee of the agitator he adequately realised", and itfyshould bo .surely evident to unionists that soli/ilude for their welfare fcfjio.t so ni&h the object of the agitator a/,solicitude for hi* own "collar and oifff" billet, which he seeks' to justify by'always having a "dispute'" in the making. That the organised workers are waking up to the false .position in which they are often placed by their intolerant loaders was clearly evidenced a day or two ago in the peremptory dismissal by the Broken Hill miners of agitator Torn Mann. Such individuals can never advance the interests of worker*. In the rapprochement of capital and labor, not by the widening of the gulf between (hem. the welfare of each can be best guarded. An 4 in this direction we believe the Conciliation Council system is destined lo have a very beneficial effect on industrial conditions in Now Zealand, and the fact that the Commissioners have been ironiicntly thanked by employers and employees „t the conclusion of their labors speaks for itself.