WELLINGTON TOPICS

Taranaki Daily News, 19 March 1920, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS

MILITANT RAILWAYMEN. DEMAND EARLY DECISION. (Special Correspondent). Wellington, March 17. Tli executive of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants no longer minces matters in declaring its intention to obtain better pay and better conditions for the men it represents, It has finally Pfid emphatically rejected Mr. Justice Stringer's recommendations and has declared its intention to resort to militant methods, if these recommendations are the Government's last word on the subject. It points to the fact that unskilled workers, with practically no responsibility, who have threatened to strike, are receiving higher wages and enjoying better conditions than arc the railwaymen, who arc engaged in a highly skilled occupation and boaring enormous responsibilities. "No wonder," a member of the executive said to-day, commenting upon this fact, "our men have come to helieve militancy pays." That the executive is averse to any precipitate action may be judged from its determination to delay further action till Mr. Masscy is able to consider the "ultimatum it has in readiness for him. PRIME MINISTER IN HOSPITAL It is extremely unfortunate that Mr. Massey at this particular juncture should be kept from his office by . an operation his medical advisers insisted upon. The operation itself is not a very serious matter, and no complications are feared, but the Prime Minister has been recklessly overworking himself since his return from the Peace Conference, and his recovery may be slower than it would have been had bo been taking things easier during the last five or six months. One cheering incident in connection with his hospital experience is the determination of the executive of the Society of Railway Servants just mentioned, which shows a nice appreciation of the fitness of things on the part of one. section of his critics, which has afforded him much satisfaction- With a Cabinet in the course of reconstruction his position is a peculiarly difficult one, and the kindlv thought of the executive augurs well for the outcome of their further negotiations. HIDES AND HOOTS. Th'e Minister of Agriculture is not likely to got much the better of the argument with Mr. C. J. Ward over the relative cost of hides and boots. Mr." Ward is a large boot manufacturer with an intimate technical and practical knowledge of his business, and the Minister is engaged in an unequal contest. But Mr. Nosworth'y, in the view of the laymen at any rate, seems to have scored one point against the expcrt_ "It is not clear," he says in the course of a statement published this morning, "why an advance in the price of leather necessitates increased cost being shown in respect of every other item, including the manufacturer's and the retailer's profits." But though the reason for the advance is not clear, the fact of existence is frankly admitted by both the manufacturer and the retailer. It appears it is a recognised practice of the trade for the retailer to charge an advance of 33 1-3 per cent, upon the manufacturer's prices, and, therefore, the higher the prieo the higher the profit—standardised boots or any other boots. THE BENZINE FAMINE. The Wnikato dairy farmers have been calling out loudly in their local paper against what they deem to be an unfair distribution of benzine under the system of control instituted by the Board of Trade. They allege that the controller unpointed bv the Board, and stationed at Hamilton, has been removed, and that the distribution of motor spirit has been entrusted to the representatives of the oil companies, who have heon more attentive to the requirements of the "joy riders" than to those of the small farmers. But the chairman of the Board of Trade, when seen this morning, strongly renented the suggestion that the needs of the farmers were being neglected. An abundant supply of benzine lrd been ordered to the district three or four days ago and must have arrived before thifj and the controller was returning to Hamilton forthwith to make sure the method of distribution which had proved acceptable to the farmers was being continued.