Thank you for correcting the text in this article. Your corrections improve Papers Past searches for everyone. See the latest corrections.

This article contains searchable text which was automatically generated and may contain errors. Join the community and correct any errors you spot to help us improve Papers Past.

Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1917. POST-WAR INDUSTRIAL POLICY.

The announcement just made that the British War Cabinet has adopted the proposals of the Whiteley Teport, in connection with the plan of reconstruction after the war, marks a new departure in the relations of capital and labor. It will not be an easy matter to create a working basis on which industrial work in the j future can be carried out so as to avoid the friction which has been so destructive of the best interests of employfrs and employees in the past. The evils that have been accumulating for centuries cannot be destroyed by a mere stroke of the pen. There must bo a gradual recasting of inherited dogmas, a jettisoning of conservative tenacity of the rights of capital on the one side, and, on the other, a tangible prospect of a fair deal whereby the workers will not be exploited, but will have a direct interest in the results of their toil. Both parties will have to take to heart the dominant principle of co-operation in its highest and most effective sense. It has taken the most terrible war in the world's history to reveal to Britain the immensity of her industrial strength, and to demonstrate to the workers the greatness of their power. Britain might have been the storehouse of the wealth of the whole world and yet would have been totally unable to take her place in the war without the aid of her industrial workers, and it has been the co-operation of capital and labor that has enabled our armies to be raised and equipped in such a way as to justify confidence in victory. The great lesson of the war is summed up in the word co-operation, and It is the fruits of that teaching which should manifest themselves after the war. The unitß of the British forces will never revert to their former conditions of life when peace time comes. There must inevitably he a fuller realisation of their rights. Men who have proved their virility will not be content to subside into servitude. The captains of industries will take wider views, the one great fear being that for a time there will be an epidemic of swelled heads, but that will pass when the new conditions settle down. There is to be no compulsory arbitration, but in lieu thereof is to be established, in every well organised industry, joint industrial councils, The success of these councils can only be ensured by. legislation prohibit-

ing strikes—a clumsy weapon that lias proved a source of irritation and loss.

The employers have also been taught a great lesson by the war in the direction of Socialistic measures, or as they term It—State intervention. The Government lias demonstrated to employers that the industrial work of the country can be nationalised and not only a great saving eli'ected, but a much larger output obtained. The need for organisation after the war will be equally as great as it is at present, yet there must be a considerable difference as to details. At present

there is but one great aim—to win the war—but when peace arrives the one l?reat aim must be reconstruction —the building up on more sound and equitable lines of an enlarged sphere of industrial activity. This can only be accomplished successfully by giving the workers a direct incentive to do their best, and the recognition of this principle involves the institution of profit sharing. There are employers who have for some years past proved the economic and social value of that system, and it is on that line success -will be most easily achieved. The jlarger employers' associations in Britain are working in the direction of founding a common national policy. Apparently they do not view State intervention with favor. There is a danger in only one side seeking for a national policy, but if the workers and employers joined hands in this effort in the proper spirit much permanent benefit would accrue to both. What the workers are looking for is a fair return for their labor and the opportunity to rise. Sever in the history of the Motherland has the poor man's son had such chances as in recent times. The Prime Minister boasts of the poor Welsh home in which he was reared. The First Lord Admiralty is proud of the fact that.he was once a railway porter, Mr. Henderson, who was one of the members of the War Cabinet, was a moulder; Mr. Geo. Barnes, another Minister, was once a railway guard; Dr. Mac-namai-a (Assistant Secretary at the Admiralty) was the son of a Bergeant in the Army, and there are numerous other instances to show that the topmost rung of the ladder of life is attainable by, those who have ability, perseverance and determination. Post-War conditions must be based on sane and equitable lines in which the rights of capital and labor are duly recognised, and the closer these are co-operated the better it will be for the units and for the nation,

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19171031.2.22

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Taranaki Daily News, 31 October 1917, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
845

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1917. POST-WAR INDUSTRIAL POLICY. Taranaki Daily News, 31 October 1917, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1917. POST-WAR INDUSTRIAL POLICY. Taranaki Daily News, 31 October 1917, Page 4

Help

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert