THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 1909. THE CONCILIATION FARCE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3130, 5 March 1909, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 1909. THE CONCILIATION FARCE.

It certainly required no prophetic ability to predict that Mr T, Harle Giles, one of the newly-appointed Conciliation Commissioners, had a troublous time an store. Immedi ately his appointment was announced, exception was taken to it in various trades union circles, and at the first ;mee;tiing of the Conciliation Council, held in Auckland on Wednesday last, Mr Ciles was called ', upon by a representative of Trades Unionism to resign his position. This Mr Giles very naturally declined to do, and upon his easting vote the Council has been ndjoumed for three weeks. In view of the fact that all systems of conciliation that have tried for some ytars past have proved, practically, a complete failure. the action of the Government in establishing Conciliation Councils was one of weakness, and showed either a failure, or an unwillingness, on their part to grasp the present position existing between capital and labour. Arbitration has been carried on to too great ari extent in regard to certain industries, and the Government j are, of caurse, aware of this fact, ' and in order to try and improve a somewhat hopeless position Conciliation Councils have been resorted to,

Arbitration, or labour legislation, havirg ah its object the preventing of sweating and over-working of employees, is eminently r'ght and justifiable, but it ia difficult to go further 4ian that, and at the same time properly conserve the interests of both capital and labour. The extent to which Arbitration has been carried has resulted so far in the employees in certain industries being benefited, while employees outside the industries affected have benefited, also, to some extent, and employees, whose hours of labour and rates of pay have I not come u»der the notice ot the Arbitration Court have, unquestionably, in very many cases, been injured. Arbitration is commendable yvhen it ensures reasonable hours of work, and a genuine minimum wage for the worker—after that employers and employees should be allowed to make their own arrangements, which would be based upon the general con ditions of the industry in which they are engaged.