The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-06-09
Employers Find Fault
With the Restrictions.

There is quite a difference of opinion here
as to the effect which the labor laws have
on the country i have met many employers
who tell me it is almost impossible To de-
business on the present basis. and that IN
hard times they will have T. shut down.
There ale others who say the eight-houT
law is all right. although a protective taria
is needed to keep the shops going. Some
people predict that the commonwealth Will
adopt such 4 tariff as will foster home
industries. and that the raw materials
which Australia sells in the shape Of wool
and grain will have to foot 1.-THE national
bills.
l recently had a chat with John Perry.
Minister Of Labor for New South Wales.
and a man who is noted as being at the
front of Austraiia's modern labor move
ment. We talked of the eight-hour day.
Said he:
1T is generally thought that We have an
eight-hour Law here in Australia. That Is
not so. although custom has made II prac-
ticaIly the fact. The eieht-hour law would
not suit us so well as the forty-eight-hour-
per-week law. Many OF our trades are
such that they cannot be restricted to a
fixed time. Some days a man must work
more than eight hours and sometimes less
Take the bakers. They set their sponge.
and If the dough rises they can get through
their work in less than eight hours: but II
not it takes them nine. or perhaps longer.
What We want is a fixed time per week,
and an extra rate for all overtime"
What rate would you charge for over
timeg" / asked.
I'VE have considered the matter very
carefully. and We believe that 80 per cent
extra is not too much. That IL. IL a man
Is getting q cents an hour. or = per day.
he should have 37h cents for overtime. At
tnat rate an eight-hour day would bring
him in 81 and a ten-hour day s2.15. We
think that the same proportion should be
awarded as to piecework where the en-
ployer wants extra work done"
But could you enforce laws Of that
kind. Mr.. Perry I asked.
Eve propose to try it," was the reply.
are going to fix ii 80 that employers
cannot overwork their men. We will make
such regulations that the laborer cannot
enter into any agreement which shall be
for the employers benefit IL contrary to
the law. We shall allow the men to sue
for their overtime. with the 80 per cent ad-
ditional- We will make the employers keep
records of all such time, and will see that
they make the payments under penalty"
Australia's Importance as a
Manufacturing Country.
but have you many factories in Aus
tralia ?.
yes" said the Labor Commissioner. I'VE
are doing a great deal of manufacturing.
and we shall do more when we adopt the
protective tariff Law. We have all sorts Of
work, especially In the colony Of Victoria.
where there are boot and shoe factories,
machine and iron works and all sorts Of
mills.
I'm Queensland there are sugar mills and
wooden mills. There Is some cloth made
in Queensland which will compare favor
ably with any In England. There are Ave
~oclen mills here in New South Wales.
We have shipbuilding yards. furniture es-
Establishments and machine works. We have
excellent coal from the mines of New Cas-
tie. not far from here. and easily reached
by water.
Australia has deposits of iron and there
is no reason why manufacturing industries
Ehould not grow up. So far the freights
from England have been so low that man.
! ufactured goods could be imported more
tcheaply than they could be made. Each
colony has had its own tariff laws, and 1t
been impossible to regulate matters 30
lthat the goods made in one colony might
ne sold at the same price throughout Aus
Stralta- Now that we have federation, we
i1ntend to wall Australia about with such q
protective tariff AZ will make il self-sup-
porting. That is what you Americans nave
1tone and what We propose to do"
How about your Government work."