UNITED LABOR PARTY

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 12 November 1912, Page 6

UNITED LABOR PARTY

OONDUCTED B1 THE DOMINION EX EC U'l 1V E CO U NCIL. {The Master Conference of tho United Labor Party voted to make no paper its .special organ, but to piovido official nous and comments to any paper promising to regularly publish same, 'Hie paper Is not responsible for this column, and the- party assumes no responsibility for any utterances for the paper except for its own-official utterances in this department.) EIGHT HOURS AND SOME OTHER THINGS. A week or two since I outlined the great international movemant for eight hours in continuous industries. The work w:;,s set afoot by the International Association for Labor Legisi latum, which has done much to pro- ' mote international agreements in labor legislation. The international conference was held at Zurich in September, and a report from the 'special correspondent of the London "Labor Lea-dor" lias just reached me. It brings the welcome news that the delegates have accepted the decisions of the Special Commission 011 hours of labor which met in London last June, and maintained that the -eight-hours diy should generally he adopted for continuous work; and they took an important step further in instructing the Central Bureau of ' the Association to get a conference of the Governments convened os soon as possible with a view to the conclusion of an international convention to introduce the three-shitt system in the iron a nd steel trade. As is well known, the eight-hours day has made more progress in thf iron and steel trade in the United Kingdom than in other conn tries, and whenever reforms in the direction of a reduction of hours arc proposed one finds objections raicvl on Lite grounds of increased (... . foreign competition. Once a convcv: tion is successfully concluded and brought into force to introduce the eight-hours day, even if it is at first only in iron and steel works, wo may reasonably hope to see a rapid extension of the principal of regulating hours of labor by international agreement-, and a great deal may be done in this way to promote the movement towards a- general eight-hours day not only in Britain but in all] parts of th« world.

The ( iron workers of the United Kingdom were represented at- the conference by Mr -I. Fox. of the Amalgamated Society of Iron and Steel Workers, and Mr J. Hodge, M.P., of the British iSteel Smelters' Associa'tion. Developments towards the proposed treaty will now be awaited with interest. Many other matters of world-wide interest were discussed at this international gathering. Xhe system of fines for breaches of what employers aro pleased to call "rules" is not prevalent in New Zealand. In the Old Land the imposition of this form of -robbery has in many cases left a girl owing the employer something over and above her week's earnings. On this subject the conference declared that -illl disciplinary lines should be prohibited, that deductions for : damaged goods should only be allowed in cases of deliberate sabotage, t and that until deductions for tools ( and materials are abolished the worker should .never be required to pay moro than cost price. It was through the efforts of this association that the deadly phosphor ous was abolished in the match industry. The association does not at the present- time suggest the conclusion of a treaty for the prohibition of the use of lead in potteries. Never-* theless, the possibility of future developments is foreshadowed. At the I present stage the sections of the association ure merely to agitate in their • respective countries for the establishment- of preventative regulations and the elimination of lead as far as possible by national legislation. A great many other dangerous trades were discussed in addition, ana also the problem of the enforcement of labor laws, on which subject it is interesting to note that tho association urges the appointment of more women inspectors. The resolutions on sweating recommend the adoption m other countries of legislation of the same type as the British Trade Boards Act. J. T. PAUL. j HOW TO BUY A FARM. "T am earning 30s a week. Of this sum I have been able to save 10s per

week. That amounts to £2O a year. 1 have been trying to save money to start 011 a piece of land for myself. I had a piece of land in mind,but it lias eacli year advanced in price for a larger sum than the whole amount of my savings. Will somebody tell me how -to buy a farm under such circumstances?" - That is the substance of a letter just to'hand. Tho last year for which reports nave been made available the unimproved land values increased over the previous year by £10,000,000 The increase in Savings Bank deposits for the saino year were, in round numbers, £1,000,000. As r.. s vn- , improved land values increase ten times as fast- as do the savings accounts will someone explain how the average man by the average saving can ever buy the :average farm ? Still Mr Massey stvs that lie stands for making every man his own landlord. That's a good idea, Mr Massey. j How are .you going to do it? So far ■ .the only answer has been to provide cheap money for those who have land to seii. l'h; t means it further''attack on rhc landless by increasing unimproved land values on the one hand and making s.wings more difficult on the other. ) Who will make answer to this question?' The national organiser of the United Labor Party will 'give a copy of "The Struggle for Existence" for the best answer, and he will publish -tho answer and recommend it to the. consideration of Mr Massey. V _■ Get the question clearly. As long as tho unimproved land values increase ten times faster than do the savings of tho workers, how can the average man with the average saving over buy the average farm? 1-hi R question is especially commended to tlio attention of farmers' h'ovf*. Iho editor lias ;m jinswor. Send him yours. -