THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1912. A SERIOUS OUTLOOK.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 2 December 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1912. A SERIOUS OUTLOOK.

Evidence is not wanting that the slaughtermen of the Dominion are determined upon enforcing their demands at the point of the strike bayonet. Notice has been given by tho virion-' Unions of tliein* intention to cancel their registration under the Arbitration Act. By so doing s the men cau refuse to work on tho expiry of the awards in January next, and the whole industry will be paralysed. Morally, a strike will have c. eHired, but legally the employers will have no redress. This only goes Ij show the lop-sided state of the law, and to emphasiso what ha.s been repeatedly urged in these columns, viz., /that the Arbitration Act, as a medium for holding the balances fairly between employer and employed; and of settling industrial disputos, is a snare and a delusion. In the presort ir.ttiince we find the men making demands which are simply impossible. They insist not only upon an imrcaKrnablo increase in wages, but upon | eoaditi'int in regard to learners that, if coieedul, would ruin the fat hveh tr'ide in the course of a few years. It must be remembered that this trade 4s fypntiding yearly, and that the r umber of slaughtermen require.] is ever increasing. It requires no stretch of imagination, and no arithmetical discussion, to perceive that with" only 5 per cent, of learners it would bo impossible to cope with a 10 per cent, increase in trade, more particularly when it is rem&mbered that the num. W of journeymen is annually diminishing. The companies cannot, under the circumstance, placo themselves as completely fl t tho mercy of present'dny workers as the demand would insist. They are, however, quite prepared to accept the decision of the tribunal set up to deal with such' questions, and haro expressed the desire that the case should go beforo the Arbitration. Court'. The men; h'owerer, will hare aoiliiiig to do with' the Com*. They are, apparently, nuito prepared to uso til© uiackJnerjr

of tho Court so long as it secures for them :i monopoly'of work'and a standard of wage ay high as they desire. So soon as it fails to reach tho maxi--mum of their demands, they .kick it aside, and say tlioy will have none of it. Thus wo find our system of Arbitration and Conciliation openly and flagrantly flouted. What is •a.bout fco happen in regard to tho slaughtering trade has already happened Hi other industries. Is it not time that the Legislature took a hand in tho matter and endeavoured to put things straight? If the Arbitration and Conciliation Act is to remain' upon the Statute Hook, it must bo made effective. The cancellations of registration that have been going on all over tho Dominion is proof positive that a large section of tho workers have no confidence in the Arbitration Court as at present constituted. As the process of cancellation is so simple, the employer is afforded practically no protection by tho Court. He is compelled under pains and penalities of law to rigidly observe the terms of an award, no matter how oppressive they may be. Ho cannot say, "I prefer to ho free, and employ whom I think fit." The worker, however, can. secure his freedom by a stroke of the pen, and can say. "I shall only work for the employer who pays me the wages 1 ask and concedes every demand T make." A law which permits such a thing is surely not based upon either , justice or reason. If employers are to bo compelled to observe awards ! and give employment only to Unionists, then every employee who is not | an Unionist and not under an award should he refused employment in any trade or occupation. What is sauce for the goose should be made sauce for the gander. The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, as it at pre-sent stands, affords no protection whatever to the employer. It is, in fact, only a clumsy alternative to the strike, and it has not the savintr virtue of being effective in that, respect. Tho Government has promised that it will review the whole subject, and bring down an amendment of the Act in the next session of Parliament. The nature of the proposed amendment should be indicated as speedily as possible. 'I bo. country is looking to -Mr Massey to straighten out the labour question and to encourage, as far as possible, the development of our primary industries. So long as tlvo Sword of Dani/icles, in the shape of coercion by labour, through the medium of the Arbitration Court and the strike, Jiangs over t'jie heads of employers, so long will our industries be stunted and our trades impoverished. The spoon-feeding and pandering that have blighted our legislation during the last couple of decades will have to give place to something more statesmanlike, and more in consonance with the requirements of an 'exporting country.