CORRESPONDENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 183, 7 September 1909, Page 4

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE OTIRA DISPUTE. Td the Editor. Sir, —It is a delightful trait of human nature which ena'bles one to ''look always on the sunny side." Unfortunately. it is a phase of generous feeling which growing years is apt to impoverish. Your rapture of triumph Che suecets* of the Conciliation Board in your issue of the 4th instant amounts to this, according to all .published reports: A contractor Mis a large public wo&Jt on hand which doubtless keeps his busy mind working at high pressure much more than eight hours a day. In an evil hour lie allows himself to lend his employees certain lamps necessary 1 for their -work. Probably nineteen out, of twenty arc straightforward, honor- 1 able men, and take reasonable care of, I heir property and "return it l in good condition. The twentieth is careless and indifferent, and relegates! his lamp to the vcrap-heap in quick 1 order. fhc employer .asks, as a fair guarantee, that before lending any more 1 the price of the lamp shall be deposited 'before lifting, sin arrangement which the employee is perfectly willing to recognise us just when dealing with his Uncle ' of the three brazen starts; but the em-: plover is a natural enemy. Evil blood ! is stirred up. mid the men are called 1 upon 1,0 put up a fight, disastrous as it I must be to manv of them with wives I and families. The result is that after many 'bitter weeks of enforced idleness the men are gracefully allowed to go back to work on terms that had been theirs for the asking, without depriving their wives and families of the necessaries of life in the depth of winter. If that expensive Conciliation Board had the power to I'liminate the disturbing factor jjV an undesirable resident, whose iurther stay in the Dominion would be attended with much inconvenience to himself, your little paean would have found triumphant echo from the North Cape to the Bluff.—l am, etc.. THE ARCfeER.

[Oiu* has to inkv things ae on© finds them, nut, unfortunately, us thev ought to he. The professional agitator is a curse as much to the employee as to the employer, and could lie be eliminated, we believe there would be very few industrial disputes in the country. But lie is here, and therefore lie is a factor to he taken into consideration. Does our correspondent believe it would have been better had the Otira dispute run its eoui-.se than to have invoked the aid of the conciliation and arbitration system, the operation of which in this instance was attended with so much success ?—Ed.]