The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-05-19
COMPULSORY ARBITRATION IN
NEW ZEALAND.
a Lucid Report on the working Of the
System.
From the London Times.

| WELLINGTON, MarCn 23.-ln al oIue'o
written about the middle OF February last
dealt with some recent phases of the labor
| troubles that continue to occur-even In New
| Zealand Since then we have had further
| evidences OF growing discomfort. amply PROV
Ing that neither the employers nor the EN-
ployees are altogether satisfied with the work
| ing OF our Cancellation and ArIhraton act
| The act has been amended from time TO time
! but evidently 1t Is yet far from perfect. The
| Arbitration Court. which was ORIGINALLY es-
tabllshed for the final and compulsory set
Element of disputes that could not be amicably
| adjusted BY the Cancellation boards, has
been exceedingly busy OF late. The con-
ciliation boards on the other hand, have
little to do. Indeed. Cancellation appears
to be rapidly becoming thing Of the past
: and as the industries OF the colony increase
in number and Importance the court is find
| Ing 1t more and more difficult to deal with
| the numerous cases coming before IT,
Hitherto, owing to the general prosperity
OF u country splendidly endowed by nature,
and to the excellent prices obtatnable Tor
| products and manufactures the employers In
| the colony have remained contentedly duies-
| cent. There must, however, be some finality
to the demands of labor. and the position
is now being seriously discussed by the en-
ployers In the various commercial centres.
| In one industry firm found that since the
| award was made they had had to dispense with
six hands who we're unable to earn the mini
| mum wage Of e. SIS. per week. Before the
award the men received s5s. to 36s week,
which the employers considered sufficient
| for the class OF work performed. The en-
ployers were willing to retain four or five OF
/ these hands provided they obtained q permit
to work for a lower wage than that pre-
J scribed by the court. The secretary OF the
union was applied to, but he refused TO grant
permits to enable the men to work at the
wages named 1t was stated as further
| fact that other firms engaged In the same
industry had discharged incompetent hands
since the award had been made. few OF
| these men applied to the union for permits
! to work at the WAGES they were receiving,
| but were refused them. No APPLICATION
! was made to the chairman OF the concllatlon
| board.
In connection with this industry it was also
cost OF production, several employers were
! giving up manufacturing, and were Import
ing the finished article, Ibis. they found,
| and worr". In another industry 1t was iound
that the wages Of boys as fixed by ne award ward
mum wa.c Cor a lad up to IL years OF nge was
lbs per week, with an Increase OF Ss' yer
T"SE lo 9ca y%T aeos t ampovers cone
| stiered that los. week Was too much to pay
a be inner who during his first year was
| One firm in this industry had in their employ
a, very small lad who had been with them
hen 6 SaS Hpd was sas Ge own s. his s
! his ware had to be increased to ~ q week
he firm could not continue TO pay him the
char ed The employers. considered that
the fixing of wares according to age was
very serious matter not only, for them. but
! In this industry having increased, the manu-
Iaoturers had to put up their prices ana some }ae
incompetent men were discharged when the
| award came into force.
of boys as fixed BY u" the court and the dis
chaT,e OF incompetent men-i. e.. men VINO
could not really earn the minimum wage
/ dustry, with this difference. that most Of the
permits refused by the union were granted
and that the workers to whom the chairman
! refused permits were those who would not
S SdmIs to him that they were incompetent
About the same time meeting OF the
wellington Employers Association was held
the estabiiskment Of a. coionla federation, to
guard the interests OF employers Az this
hss bss the he AZ shS
member Of the wellington Cancellation Board.
declared that the employers had come e the
not been beneficial but Injurious. il will thus
to the ' eject t that t the empovers Of the Colony
are satisfied with the working OF the act
Comins no now IL to the employees. think
there Is no doubt that, up to the present. the
majority Of the unonists in the colony are
be- for tines mes, have 'e been GOOD and the awards
given have been mostly in their favor. Never.
&c n,d to
content, even anon: the. unions, With its
working, The mere fact of an all;round rise
table result Of increasin1 the cost OF living.
SO that the laborer In many instances, finds
himself not 30 much better of than he was
before and consequently there Ia demand
for still hi her WAGES, A few days after
these meetin's Of employers there was held
in Wellington q meeting OF trades unionists
and Socialists, at which the arbitration act
was roundly copdemned by most Of the
discuss the present position, with a view
to obtaining information for the suidance
mission to the International Socialists Com
eresss.. The first sneaker at this meeting
must first. pass through a long period Of bad
, sIe h nnd dd f hos se b. aSe not 10 M
speakers, however r. laborers and trades
unionists-had no hesitation. even az this
VERY soon after this meeting there was an
as the result Of n award OF the Arbit ration
Court. there has taken place the cabinet
makers lockout. OF which ! have already
award of the Arbitration Court raised the min
inum waaes of the men from ia, Id. to Is. sd.
per hour. The employers found that the award
OF the court was not warranted in the present
state Of the trade, and. taking united action,
those whom they considered competent to earn
the minimum wac. An important factor
in the dispute is the depressed sta tie of the
furniture trade in Melbourne, which enables
importations to be made Mt cheaper rate than
that at which the articles can be manufact-
,lred In New Zealand even after a rs per cent
duty has been paid on the imported article
This brincs into view the fiscal aspect OF the
question. The Auckland manufacturers state
that 1t will nav then better to import than to
manufacture certain classes of furniture. and
one Of the shrewdest New Zealand boot manu-
facturers recently mentioned the fact that but
for the capital he had invested In machinery, 1t
would pay him better to import boots and
shoes from America not NithstandinG the 22h
per cent. nd valorem duty now imposed. In
anv case. 1t s evident that there must he limit
profitable for the employer to import than to
manufacture.
The question then arises as to whether Il will
be wise to raise this liTit bv the imposition of
increased duties on imported goods. some OF
the labor people nre be ginnin- to advocate this
plan: but. even II it were put Into operation 1t
could hardly be more than a temporary ex-
the community as whole. The alternative
appears to be classia cation OF skilled workers
ACCORDING TO their ability and energy: but this |
would attack tho very root of much Of our So
oialstc le' islation, such as the Government
cooperative system. in which the strong must
work for the weak. Moreover. there would be |
verv great difficulties In the INAUGURATION Of a
salts factory system of assfcaticn, and the
employer would no doubt. declare that he and |
nj Iona hf hn n tlHA