Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1895. THE WORKMEN'S LIEN ACT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5046, 8 June 1895, Page 2

Wairarapa Daily Times. [Established 1874.] SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1895. THE WORKMEN'S LIEN ACT.

Tun Contractors and Workmen's , Lien Act is defined in its preamble as a measuro to mako a better pro- : vision for securing the payment of j money due to contractors and workmen. Tlio tragedy in Queer, Street, I on Thursday last, arose out of a ; summons issued under this Act, and > with such an object lesson it is ' , impossible to avoid asking tbo ques- | tion as to how far this measure is a '. help to tlio working men for whose I benefit it was specially designed. In ' the present instance it appears that ' the late Mr Herbert took a contract ' 1 under the Akitco Road Hoard last 1 year, and employed Sommervillo , and two othermenassub-contractors. ( Neither the contractor nor the subcontractors seem to have been able . to make both ends meet out of their ] respective undertakings. There I were disappointments and delays ' which mado the work of settling up J a somewhat difficult one, The sub- , contractors did not complete their i < sub-contract, and there was appar- 1 ently some friction between them and the contractor. ' It was later on I 1 that the sub-contractors heard of the i " Contractors' and Workmen's Lien s Acfc,"obtaincd acopyof it,nnd served ' a notice under it upon thoAkiteo ° Board to attach a balance due to the j; contractor. It was necessary for a o sub-contractor to establish his claim s against the contractor in the S.M. ' Court in order to validate the notice ), served on the Road Board, p Sommorville therefore appeared in t( Court on Thursday last to prove his c claim against poor Herbert. A ques- jj tion arose as to whether the plaintiff n had not put himself out of Court on si a technical ground, and the case was B

adjourned to enable this point to be decided. The plaintiff seemed to ' think that the adjournment was fatal tohischanceofredress,although there is some reason to believe that it really would nothavo resulted in his being non-suited, and it was at this stage that he terminated the issue by a pistol shot which took the lifo of his opponout, It would be absurd to charge against our new labour legislation the awful crime of Thursday last, but it does seem to us that the working man gets but little satisfactionoutof an Act which was ostensibly passed in his interests. The Act itself is the law of the laud, and as such must be respected and obeyed, but when men fall out over work and wages it is in nine cases out of ten wiser to avoid drifting into a law-suit under its provisions. It is far better for such men to settle their differences by friendly arbitration, by a little give and take or even by a considerable amount of "give" and vory little" take," than to appeal to theglorious uncertainties of the law. The working-man has little money for litigation and often does not possess the patience and fortitude essential to mooting tlio law's delay. He will, no doubt, eventually get justice, but at a cost which cannot always be counted at the outset. If tlio terrible event of Thursday impresses upon men's mind the expediency of settling differences privately without resorting to Workmen's Lions and other Acts, it will he of some slight service to humanity. There is always a fairminded man about who could be relied upon to adjust a difference about work and wages on infinitely better terms than those which are obtainable in Courts of law. Still wo cannot help thinking that an Act to make a belter provision for securing the money of contractors and workmen, bears bitter fruit when it gives us a-murdered contractor and a workman with the brand of Cain upon him! Can it be that there is too much law and too littlo neighbourly sentimentnow in the Colony ?