WELLINGTON NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 February 1919, Page 5

WELLINGTON NOTES.

THE LABOR POSITON. (Special Correspondent.}; Wellington, i'ob. 12. Manv large employers of labor here are "rively concerned by,the continued unrest among various bodies of organised workers. No sooner is one trouble settled, they complain, than awther arises 'often in the same industry, lnis state 'of affairs is inevitable restricting enterprise and prejudicing trade, both by the uncertainty it is creating and by tile iv < Hat loss it is occasioning, and but for the tolerance and necessity borne oi the w \r there would have been open ruptures in several industries long before tins, A disquieting feature or the position is that the unrest is not confined to the less responsible bodies of worKcr.3 Even the railway men are disaffected and a minority of them are persistently urging aireet action upon their fellows. GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES. Representatives of the railway men are to meet the Minister this week with a long list of grievances to which they will demand prompt attention. Apparently the main purpose of the men m seeking an interview with Mr Hemes, however, is to obtain from him a promise that the war bonuses they have been receiving will be converted into permanent additions to their par. Of course the final determination of this matter does not rest with the Minister alone, but it is taken for granted if the concession were recommended by him it would he readily endorsed by Parliament. There is scarcely a member of the House that has not been primed on the snbieet hv bis constituents, and even if this Were not so there atc many obvious arguments, by the railway men should be paid at least as well as outside workers LABOR AND LTVIN«. The railway men are very far from being alone in demanding better pay. The question of wages, indeed, still remains the main question with the great majority of the workers, as it aoes, perhaps under a different name, with other classes of the community. They may asked for improved conditions—shorter hours, better accommodation, greater protection and so forth but wages are made the foundation of the ultimate compromise in nineteen cases out of twenty. It follows, therefore that the demand being made upon the Minister of Railways is going ~to be made, in effect, upon every other employer of labor in the country who is in any way amenable to public oniniott. This, probably, is the respect that is making Mr Herries hesitate in coming to a decision, but with the cost of living arguing for the men they are pretty sure to win the day. THE WORKERS' OUTLOOK. A sane worker, closely associated, with one of the unions, but taking no part in union politics dismissing to-day the rudiments of the labor problem, declared the great mass of the workers had neve* been less inclined towards cxtrew* measures than they were at the present time. Experience, as well fis siieh ed* cation as they were getting, Were di«« bosing them to put their trust iit the 'ballot bbx rather than in strikes. The process might be a little slower, but ; it'was a great deal mors effective. With seven Labor meniHs in the House the workers already iw'ire gotr-v a tetter hearing in the country tb:.'i (hey ever had got before n«i«*—lie added in an outburst of candour —"if they givn ur> fool-, inpr. away tiieir strength upon silly inIdusf.rial quarrels they'll sooja.c|et. » hfitoi 5» A».*QUy^J»Mbj»JC' , I