The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-07-08
THE ARBITRATION
 COURTS OF AUSTRALASIA


land are satisfied with the working of the arbitration law. The secretary of
 tho federation for the colony of ern.
 ployers unions said he knew of but
 few employers who would wish to have
 the act repealed On both sides there are few indictments. but all that is
 said or done by them Is mere froth
 on the surface Of things and does not affect the peaceful and steady flow of the industrial life of the colony. The labor unions have been tanned and turned Into reliable wheel horses for the arbitration coach. The just and upright employers are glad to have the
 talons of the greedy and interruptions
 ones. to be found everywhere. so
 sort to underhand methods of conpe-
 tition. Now and then an employ CT grumbles or a restless labor union is stirred up to violent resolutions by some Socialist agitator from Austra- iia. But 1t is nothing but words. and ] disturbs nobody
 That arbitration has not injured tho
 industries of the colony as showr | by the remarkable way In which it's | manufactures have increased during ! tne hst ten years There has also been a steady decrease in the numbers and | amounts of business failures. An ex- president of the arbitration court. dis- eussins this question, said to me: Tt is possible that. as the result of arbi- 1 tration legislation, New Zealand has produced less material wealth. but the individual atoms that make. up New zealand's population are in far better | condition. and we consider that a much more important and desirable result" New zeaiand and Australia. In Australia one gets very differ ent view of industrial arbitration and its results. The two colonies are sspa- | rated physically by some twelve nun drsd miles of ocean, while tempsra- mentally tEey are as far apart as the poles. SeverfI st the Australian l states passed art ration acts in the early tin eties. b / they were ignored by all parties. The frequency with whic'A oses comes upon thia method of treating .egal enactmerts in study of Australian Legislation throws q flood of light upon the character ox the people and the condition of civil af- fairs. The state of Western Australia has had in successful operation for the last four years an arbitrAsson act closely modelled after that of New Zealand. The Commonwealth of Aus- traiia estaunshed an arbitration court. approximatinE closely to the New zea- land model. little more than 6 year ago. to deal with lapor disputes not confined to a single state. IL has been in operation 80 short time ana 1.as Accomplished so little that it's sue-
 
 proved.
 But the situation in the state of New South Wales, which in 1901 passed an arbitration act differing but little from that of New Zealand. is full of interest. The early years of the act strife, harassment and persistent squabbling as could hardly be found outside of Australia. The first presi- dent of the court. appointed from the Supreme Court bench, apparently was not fitted by temperament for the task. Parliament heckled him, the lac bor unions worried him, the newspas pers hammered the court and every thing it did. and the employers did their best to evade and nulilfy its de- cisions. Finally he resigned. The seat had been made so thorny for him that no other member of the Supreme Court would accept the appointment. 4 judge of the District Court WAS appointed | to the position, and he, being q man better fitted for it, is bringing about much better disposition toward the court on the part of both capital and | labor. The congestion of cases under which the court formerly labored has been relieved by the appointment of a | deputy president to deal with cases l of breach of award The firat presi- dent Of the arbitration court in New Zealand has also to face a spirit of
 
 in his own ability to administer it fair ly and impartially. But his decisions showed such wisdom. understanding and judicial spirit that he won the con- hdence of all classes and started in. dustrial arbitration in that colony fair ly on its way to the conspicuous suc- cess 1t has since become. A compar- ision of the results of progressive and remedial legislaticn in New Zealand and Australia brings out startlingly two truths. One IS that the success or failure of a new measure depends more on the men who administer it than on the measure Itself And the other is that no matter how excellent may be the principle of ] law, nor how well it may be administered. it's chance of success will be small unlcss the people are accustomed to regard their legal enactments seriously and with respect.
 The arbitration act forbade the right of appeal. But appeal was made on the question of jurisdiction and sus- tained by the Supreme Court. ThIs opened the way for appeal on that question in all cases, and now the ar- bitration court has to make its way through cloud of writs of prohibition. mand anus and injunction. The same attempt was made in New Zealand, where also the a-fitration act forbfde the right of appeal, and there the Su- rreme Court declared that the law DIcdht that tHS AEDltTdtto1 court should be, and therefore it was, the final au- thority in its own province. New zea- land has industrial peace and a gen. erai willingness to obey the awards of the court. Australia has turmoil and elnmor and a determination on the part of both capital and labor not to obey the law if the can either get around it or defy 1t.
 In New South Wales.
 New South Wales attempted to make striking criminal offense, punishabie by imprisonment. That provision broke down with the first strike, because the court could not. or dared not, impriaon a whole miners union. The law sowed dragons teeth also by making sscretar- les of labor unions the inspectors of awards and prosecutors of breaches The tendency, even more than was the case in New Zealand before the change in the law, Is to harass employers and to keep the feeling between them and the workers In a constant state of in- flammation. The secretaries of the employers associations also are very capable and dillgent in the fonentinR of trouble They spend an amaxinR amount of energy and ingenuity in picking flaws in the awards of the court, and in devising ways by which the employers can avoid obeying it's de- cisions.
 But the educative power of peaceful methods. even In a community where there Is a marked tendency to evade or ignore a law that does not suit theg individual convenience Ia shnvvr hxr che '