"MATTERS OF MOMENT."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 276, 12 April 1911, Page 2

"MATTERS OF MOMENT."

TOO MUCH RESTRICTIVE LEGISLATION. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Hastings, Tuesday. Mr. E. 11. Williams, president of the Chamber of Commerce, gave an interesting and instructive address on "Matters of Moment." Speaking on labor, he said there was too much legislation of a restrictive kind, too many harsh and difficult regulations which the ordinary person was ignorant of, and too much officialdom. He supported all that tended to make life easier and better for the masses, but they wanted to consider whether the present system did that. The best way to build up a young nation was to make young people feel that nothing restricted them from using their own energies for their own advancement, provided they were used in a lawful manner. If the population was spoon-fed and lived subject to strict regulations people would become mere machines and lose all inventive qualities, all initiative and energy. New Zealand wanted developing. By all means proper remuneration for labor should be fixed and paid promptly, but labor should do its part and must work as one unit, in which the employers should join, otherwise New Zealand would not advance, its people would lose initiative, and capital would not lie embarked in industry. Why was there a conflict between capital and labor ? It could only be a difference in terms. The real danger and difficulty was the agitator and the life he led sowing dissension.