P. & T. SERVICE.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 October 1922, Page 5

P. & T. SERVICE.

move to link with labor, FURTHER DEBATE IN THE HOUSE. PETITION CONSIDERED. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Wellington, Last Night. The report of the committee on the petition of the Post and Telegraph Association, asking for the right to affiliate with the Alliance of Labor, was again discussed in the House to-day. 'Sir John Luke (Wellington North), resuming his speech, urged the House to remember what was behind the proposed affiliation. He felt sure it was to be used to strengthen the P. and T. Association so that it might use greater force to wrest from the Government what it wanted. He did not think affiliation would be in the interests of the State. Mr. T. M. Wilford (Leader of the Opposition) did not believe the P. and T. Association should affiliate with the Alliance of Labor. It should be impossible for an outside body to function in a dispute between the State and a section of its employees. The trouble which had arisen was due to the muddlement of the Government. The Postmaster-General actually told members of the association to vote, instead of telling them straight out that the Government would not permit affiliation.

The Hon. J. G. Coates (Postmaster-Gen-eral) quoted from the platform of the Alliance of Labor to support his contention . that the affiliation of a public department with that body was not in the interests of the State. After dealing at length with the arguments for and against affiliation, he stated that the Government had not at any point used pressure ag affiliation. The conversations had bee. ..'tied on in the best possible spirit and no more pressure was used in the case of the counterpetition than was used in the case of the first petition. He did not think what had happened so far would interfere with the loyalty and efficiency of the department, but affiliation was something to which the Government would not, as a matter of policy, agree. Mr. M. J. Savage ('Auckland West), in supporting the right to affiliate, said , that if there was no intimidation used towards members of the P. and T. Association something very like a threat was held out to them in one of the Postmaster-General’s letters to them. Mr. W. A. Veitch (Wanganui) said he recognised that the P. and T. men were suffering from grievances, which should have been settled between them and the Government. At Ihe same time he could not see how any advantage could come to the P. and T. Association by affiliation with the Alliance of Labor. He thought a tribunal should be get up to adjust the differences between the department and the Government. PREMIER’S VIEW OF POSITION. Mr. Massey paid a tribute to the loyalty of members of the Post and Telegraph service; about that there was no question in his mind whatever. There was no relation between the position of the railwaymen and the P. and T. men, but as a matter of fact not all the railwaymen were affiliated with the Alliance of Labor. Only the A.S.R.S. men were affiliated, and that was clone at a time when it was not noticed. He did not know how that came about, but he was quite prepared to take action if necessary. When the House resumed in the evening, Mr. Massey continued the debate. He said the whole question was whether or not the P. and T. men should be allowed to join up with the Alliance of Labor. That question could be discussed quietly and a vote taken, and he had no doubt what the decision of the House would be. He did not consider it was in the interests of the State that this affiliation should take place, because it was perfectly well known that the leaders of the alliance were for the most part in favor of direct action, and he wanted to know what was going to happen if the alliance called upon the P. and T. men to join in a general strike..

Clause 427 of the Versailles Treaty had been quoted against the action of the Government, but he wished to point out that the terms of that clause were not intended to apply to a country such as New Zealand. It was intended to apply to backward countries, such as Japan, where men often worked 60 hours a week. The clause had no application to New Zealand whatI ever. Proceeding, he quoted from the report of a commission set up in Australia on the identical question they were discussing that night. That report pointed out that there could not be such affiliation without serious detriment to the public interests, because sooner or later public servants must become involved in disputes in which they were not directly concerned. Similar reports were brought down by commissions set up In France and Britain. What applied to those countries applied with equal force in Nev/ Zealand.

So far as State servants in New Zealand were concerned, they had very little to complain of. Tribunals had been set up to deal with disputes, and anyone searching the records will find that the Government treated its servants well. Personally, he did not think this proposed affiliation was in the best interests of the State, and is head of the Government he was quite prepared to take the consequences of that opinion. PREMIER AND LABOR PARTY.

Mr. G. W. Forbes (Hurunui) thought that from the point of view of the P. and T. men themselves, affiliation was a mistake. He then proceeded to discuss some - remarks made by the Premier at Levin, and asked if the Liberals came into power after the next election, would the Premier join with the Labor Party to put the Liberals out? Mr. Massey heatedly shouted across the I House: “The hon. gentleman is suggesting , the impossible, but I will not join with | the extreme Labor Party for any purpose whatever.” Mr. E. J. Howard (Christchurch South) said the P. and T. men were law-abiding citizens, and they were prepared to obey the law; but there was no law to prevent them doing what they wanted to do. The whole issue was why should they be selected for different treatment from all other sections of- the community. Mr. S. G. Smith (Taranaki) said he had no brief for the Alliance of Labor, but he ! thought that if affiliation had been allowed j in the first instance, nothing detrimental . to the State would have happened. The . Alliance of Labor could not compel the P. and T. men to strike if they did not wish | to, and he ridiculed the assertion that affili- , ation would result in officers of the de- 1 partment breaking the oath of secrecy. He j was going to vote to refer the report back, because the prayer of the petition asked that the Postmaster-General should be com- j pelled to disclose the legal authority on j which he based his ban on affiliation. That j ijiuormution should be given to the House |

and to the country, or the ban on affiliation should be withdrawn. On a division the amendment moved by Mr. Holland that the report be referred back to the committee for further consideration was defeated by 53 votes to 11. The petition was then referred to the Government in accordance with the committee’s report.