WELLINGTON TOPICS

Taranaki Daily News, 14 February 1920, Page 6

WELLINGTON TOPICS

LABOR TROUBLES. "INCITING TO STRIKE.". (Special Correspondent). Wellington, Feb. 11. The Labor leaders continue to ridicule tin stories of an impending' general strike, .in which all the workers' unions of any consequence are to be involved and every important industry in the Dominion attacked. "The sort of stuff that is being talked about the, town and published in the newspapers," a secretary of one of the , unions e |aid this morning, "is nothing, leas than an incitement to strike and if the authorities did their duty they would pull up the gossips with a 'round turn before they do any more harm." Other prominent figures in the Labor movement have spoken to the same effect, and. it! luust be submitt^i|thatJtf' the workers, speftfciiig g«i6ritliy, appears to be much less bellicose than' it was in the before the war. j cos£ Of hvii&, The main cause of eueh as-; erists among the workers istfie high cbst.f of living and its persistent increase. Here they do not blame the great body of the employers, who are sufferers themselves from the enhanced prices, but the Government, which they firmly believe hag signally failed to restrain the operation of the exploiter and the profiteer. Even here, however, they are not preaching direct action a 9 the remedy for their troubles. Their heavy polling at the general election, which they are estimating at its full value, has inspired them with a new faith in constitutional methods and a new belief in their own political power. They are devoting themselves to propaganda work and looking forwardconfidently, they profess—to the next appeal to tlite A WAITING POLICY. Meanwhile, Mr. Massey is following tho "waiting and seeing" policy There is a disposition on the part of some of the employers, who have difficulties with their hands, to shift their troubles on to his broad shoulders, and to-day he jis meeting the representatives of the mine owners and the miners in conference, but so far he has given no indication of tho resolute measures which were to place the industrial affairs of the country on a sound basis, and so facilitate the great work of tion. Nor apart from the mining dispute, which at the moment is sub judico, is there any labor problem calling insistently for his more active intervention. If there is serious unrest among tho workers, it is not apparent on the surface, and Mr. Massev is too old a politician to meet trouble halfway.

CABINET MAKING. Probably a matter occasioning the Prime Minister more anxiety at the present tinie is the reconstruction of his Cabinet. He is receiving advice on this matter from all quarters—from his political opponents almost as freely as from his political friends—and there have been runnings to and fro between Wellington and the provinces, which seem to suggest that lie is not averse to hearing the views of other people on the subject. There is one section of his well-wishers urging him to include Liberal and Labor representatives in his Ministry—the Hon. W. T). S. MacDonnld und the Hon. A. M. Myers being named as the representatives of one party and Mr. W. A. Veitch as the representative of the other—but' it. is doubtful if the rank and file of any of the parties would appi-ove of this course, and without the approval of them all it would serve none of the purposes ho had in view, except, perhaps, to secure the services of Mr. Myers at the Treasury.