THE NEW BONUS.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 November 1920, Page 8

THE NEW BONUS.

?0 MEET COST OF LIVING. SHOULD A HALT BE CALLED? By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Nov. 29. The Arbitration Court to-day heard argument in reference to the "ranting of the new cost of living bonus of Us. Great interest was taken in the pro-' coedings, as the decision of the court will utfect bonus applications from unions in all parts of New Zealand. I ■ _ The application lor the review of the ; uoiuw was made by the New Zealand fc-mployers' Association, which was represented i, y Mr. who stated tnat the Court was asked to decide whether the payment of the bonus would not have a disastrous result upon employers, workers and the community generally'and, if so, whether the time bad not come to call a'halt in the neverending round of increases of wages and higher pricey Tremendous issues were at stake and it was not too much to say that upon the decision depended the existence of some industries and whether unemployment was to be precipitated or not. The attitude of the Employers' Association was, in no sense a challenge to Labor, as suggested but the action was decided upon after dus deliberation in the interest of every. Mr. Prvor opened h> general argument wrth an exhaustive survey of the finaneml, industrial and economic situation generally. Unless great care was exercised unemployment would become » serious problem. The position could only be met by boldly facing- the situaUion and by employers and workers alike recognising that the dominant cr tor a further increase in jvages would surely loa.-J t- unemployment and anfurther restrietior of the financial situ(ation must, be met by a reduction of working expense- ; 0 ;,he utmost limits which meant in Ml probability a lower wage scale. There was no question that the lot of New Zealand workers was better than th»', of workers in othparts of the world. Generally speaks, ! "'ages had been, raised bv at least a* much per cent, as the cost of'living had increased. METHOD OP COMPUTING. , A3 to the siaouiit of bonus to bo I pa.d Mr. Prvor sa?d he desired to make ! it penectly clear t.i.at he was not criti- . visinjr the department's methods »f : vjmphng sialics. He reviewed al ; u„. various tables and announce- « wonts from tiie Government Statistic- i : .ftiri ofiice. Ho -.-intended that for the ; I period September, IMB, to March 19'?0 ' | only 7s 3d bmuis should have' b'e»ii j awarded as against, lffe 4rt; on the in- | crease from the -ncrlod March, 1020 to j, September, 1920, lfe lid waa the correet | amount, instead of 10s. If the correct I method of computation was adopted | the workers were, now entitled to only is 3d per week, instead of 9s.

Jt appeared that the Government statistician Hart acted upon the monthlv index numbers instead of the six-month-l.v ; n( i cx . :nmberS) whi(|]l . vero apeed upon as the best to adopt for the computation of the bonus This had resulted in taking the difference between the first month nnd last month m each period, instead of the average for the period. °

The announcement of the 9s bonus came as a bombshell to employers. The cost to the \vho> Dominion could not be less than five,millions per annum. The Railway Department would be called upon to rind over £1,000.000 to cover the bonus and thai would mean an increase of all rate?. The position in resrard. to the tramways was grave. If the bonus was granted, the services would be curtailed and fares increased and the ratepayers probably called upon to make up the deficiency.

Mr. Pryor dealt with various other industries and then questioned the advisability of awarding any bonus at all He submitted that it would not be just or equitable to employers or the »eneral interest to amend the awards under the present eirenmstances.

Mr. if. J. Reardon. on belialf of the unions, asked the court to adjourn until Jnursday. It was impossible fur him or any of his colleagues to meet immediately the statements made by the Fmployers' Association. He drew attention to the fact that the Government Statistician's figures had been questioned by the employers in a letter to the Registrar, and they asserted that the statistics published by the Government Statistician did not appear to warrant the Court in awarding the amount of the bonus.

QUESTION'S FOR STATISTICIAN. Mr. Roardon suggested that the Statistician should be asked-(l) 4re the figures on which the Court is accustomed to rely correct? (2) Ib the system ot calculating prices one that has the endorsement of statistical authorities in other parts of the world ?

-Mr MeCombs al.so desired to address a question to the Government Statistician and the president of the court said lie woi.ld pass such questions on to that officer.

Mr. Justice Stringer stated that after listening to Mr. Pryor's addre-s he was more than ever convinced that the public should be represented in Arbitration Court proceedings. It was admitted hat the employers were quite prepared to concede the bonus so lon* as th»v could pass that increase on. It amounted tn a combination on the part of em plovers and workers to rob the cencral public. "

Mr P. Cooper. Canterbury fimploy ' ers Association objected. He s , t ated I hat, the employers had protested hi court, but until now they did not havo a proper basis upon which they could calculate. When the (Is bonus m< nil . mmnccl they had to admit the impossibility of proving a case. The hearing was adjourned till Wednesday. when witnesses will be called to substantiate Mr. Pryor's statement.