ARBITRATION COURT.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 September 1921, Page 5

ARBITRATION COURT.

MR. McCULLOUGH’S RESIGNATION. ACCEPTED BY GOVERNMENT. DISLOCATION OF WORK. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington. Last Night. The Attorney-General to-day handed to the Press a statement in which he discusses the constitution of the Arbitration Court and the effect of Mr. McCullough s resignation therefrom. After reviewing the manner in which appointments to the Court are made Sir Francis Bell says it has devolved upon the Government to advise His Excellency the Governor-General as to the date from which Mr. McCullough’s resignation shall take effect, and, the only purpose of advising that the date should be postponed beyond the date of the receipt of the resignation would be to keep the Court still constituted of three members, and to allow Mr. Reardon to sit as the acting nominated member, during the interval. That means that the question before the Government was reduced to the single question of whether the terms of the Act would authorise an acting nominated member to sit under such circumstances. Sir Francis Bell adds: “That is a question of law upon which necessarily I have had to form a separate and individual opinion as the principal law officer of the Crown, and I have been unable to advise the Government that during the period since the date when Mr. McCullough sent in his resignation, and any date from which that resignation should take effect, Mr. McCullough is unable, by reason of illness or other cause, to attend any sitting of the Court on the day fixed for same. Mr. McCullough is, in fact, able to sit, but is unwilling ot sit. Any other interpretation of the words of the statute would enable any nominated member to abstain during the whole term of his office from sitting, and to substitute for himself an acting nominated member, and I am quite satisfied that such cannot be the true interpretation of the language of the statute.” *

Sir Francis Bell proceeds: “In consequence I have felt bound to further advise Cabinet that the postponement of the acceptance of Mr. McCullough’s resignation would have no effect other than to prolong the period of dislocation of the Court until McCullough’s successor can be nominated and appointed, inasmuch as the Court cannot be constituted without the presence of Mr. McCullough himself, so long as Mr. McCullough continues to be the nominated member, unless Mr. McCullough is disabled from attendance. With great regret, therefore, the Government have been forced to the conclusion that Mr. McCullough’s resignation must be accepted as from the date when it was tendered, and that nominations from the industrial unions of workers must be taken, and that the Governor-General must be later advised to select two names from the persons so nominated, one to be a member of the Court in place of Mr. McCullough, and the other to be acting nominated member. The casual vacancy creates a vacancy, not merely in his office as nominated member of the Court, but also in the tenure of the position of acting nominated member, held at present by Mr. Reardon. The Act requires amendment in this respect. There should be due provision for the continuity of the Court, and it must not be possible in future that the business of the Court should be delayed for a long period by the death or resignation of one of its members.”

NO BREACH OF AGREEMENT. Wellington, is}ept. 12. A statement in reply to the charges made 'by Mr. McCullough (employees’ assessor on the Arbitration Court) upon hh resignation from that body has been prepared for the Minister of Labor by the President of the Court (Mr. Justice Frazer), with the concurrence of the employers’ assessor (Mr. Scott). His Honor states emphatically that there was no breach of any gentleman’s agreement arrived at by the three members of the Court. He refers to Mr. McCullough’s resignation as having arisen out of a misunderstanding. “The stabilisation pronouncement,” His Honor says, “was intended to be as far as possible of general application and to remain unaltered unless the general financial and industrial situation became suoh as to render reconsideration necessary from a Dominion standpoint, but it was recognised that circumstances might justify the court in treating certain applications as special cases. “We desire to refute emphatically the suggestion that there was an agreement, written or unwritten, that members of the court would prejudice any and every application for nearly 12 months ahead, thereby reducing the functions of the court /or the period to the level of' an empty farce.”

MR, McCULLOUGH’S DECISION. Christchurch, Sept. 12. On receipt of a telegram from the Dunedin Trades and Labor Council stating that it had nominated him for the Arbitration Court, Mr. McCullough replied: “If re-elected I ,will hold the fort until such time as the movement has an opportunity to elect a successor without the present excitement./ 4 After reading Mr. Justice Frazer’s remarks, telegraphed from Wellington, Mr. McCullough said he would not say any thing at present. The Canterbury Trades and Labor Council has nominated Mr. McCullough. AUCKLAND SITTING POSTPONED. Auckland, Last Night. The next sitting of the Arbitration Court at Auckland, which was fixed for Thursday next, has been postponed indefinitely. Intimation to this effect was received from the Registrar of the Arbitration Court to-day.