LABOR NOTES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2550, 10 July 1909, Page 7

LABOR NOTES.

AUSTRALIAN POLITICS.

In all of the seven Assemblies Labor \ is in direct opposition, and in some of ( the States the position of parties is such as to make a dissolution of the. respective Parliaments possible at any time. Labor is represented numerically as follows in the • different State Houses: —Queensland, 23; New South Wales, 32; Victoria, 21; South Australia, 19 (with possibly 20 after the forthcoming by-election); West Australia, 21; Tasmania, 12. Even in the Federal House, according to the Labor press, the position of Mr JDeakin’s party is none too secure. Labor members have definitely refused to pair, and the coalition representatives will need to be in constant full attendance to escape an adverse vote. Then, again, Labor’s power of blocking business in the Senate has to be reckoned with. There ,are sixteen pledged Senators out of a total of thirty-six.

But it is in some of the State Assemblies that the situation is the most critical. In South Australia, for instance, a combination of all other parties only places La Bor in a minority of two, with the Torrens election (Mr Price’s late scat) still to be decided. A dissolution seems inevitable in the case of this State’s Parliament, and the Labor Party is making active preparations. Not much news reaches here. in reference to West Australian politics, but there, also, private advices intimate the precarious position of the present Government. Five votes added to Labour’s voting strength in the House would again place Labor on the Treasury benches in West Australia. There is a prospect of those additional votes developing at any time, especially . it the present Premier, Mr Moore, relinquishes office for the Agent-General-ship of the State. It is hard to predict the fate of the present Kidston Government in Queensland. Its fate hangs on the votes of throe or four recalcitrant members of the original Morgan-Kidston party. Labor is losing no chances, and is keen to oust Mr Kidston, if possible. He has already announced a dissolution if the vote is against him. Whatever happens is either State or Commonwealth politics, Australian Labor organs all predict a good time for tho cause of Labor. The. party was never better organised. The administration and tone of tlie Fisher Federal Government has also done incalculable good to the standing of tho party. As a result of Mr Fisher’s Ministerial tour, Sir William Lyne stated in the House that the Labor vote in New South Wales would be increased by 50 per cent, at any general election. The leaders of the party and the Labor press 'welcome dissolutions anywhere and everywhere. Crowded meetings are being addressed in the large cities by the members of the late Labor Government. In addition, the leagues and organisations of Labor throughout tire country are preparing and canvassing, ar-i are ready for all emergencies.

(By Unionist.) It has been definitely decided to postpone tlie annual conference of the New Zealand Trades and Labor Councils till some time in September. The conference this year is expected to be a record one so far as number of delegates is concerned. Every council in the Dominion will be represented. Canterbury and Wellington evidontlv are going" to make an attempt to dominate., the conference, for the first-named Council has appointed nine delegates and Wellington has appointed seven. When the conferences were first originated by the Hon. W. P. Reeves his idea was to obtain the views and assistance of the councils in framing the labor laws of the country, and the results attained during the first few years of their inception were in many instances given effect to by Parliament. But latterly the conferences appear to have drifted away from the original intentions, and the consequence is that the whole proceedings are not regarded seriously by the Government or by anyone else other than- the delegates attending. The approaching conference should make an endeavor to justify its

existence, and the number of delegates represented should be strictly limited; otherwise the. issuing of the free .passes for delegates attending will be jeopardised. The Auckland laborites have invited Mr. Hogg to visit Auckland and give, a political address. In answer to the invitation, a reply has been received, stating that Mr Hogg will be at liberty to accede to the request during this month. The Auckland bricklayers’ award expires on December 31st next, And the -union is taking steps to consider what improvements are necessary in the working conditions for a new award. The Auckland Labor Day Celebration' Committee of 1909 lias decided that the celebration should take the same form

as last year’s function, viz., a procession. in the forenoon to the Domain, •where sports will be held, in conjunction with an art union. In South Australia, by the death of the late Premier, the Liberal-Labor Government has ceased to exist, and Labor again takes its place- as a united fighting force on the Opposition benches. The Labor Party refused three seats in the re-constructed Cabinet under Mr Peake, and claimed the leadership. The Otago Labor Day Association have under consideration the. question of holding a demonstration and sports in Dunedin on Labor Day, instead of holding a picnic and sports in the country. Up to 1902, the Association celebrated the day in town, hut that year they suffered a loss of about £BO, and since then the day has been celebrated in the country. In the opinion of many Labor men in Dunedin, the

time is opportune for holding a successful gathering in the city. The number of unemployed in the Dominion is estimated' by Mr D. McLaren, M.P., at 4500. Clf this number 3000 are in the cities and larger towns, and 1500 in the smaller towns and country districts. The number of unemployed in cities and towns is set down as: Auckland 500, Wellington 1000, Christchurch 400, Dunedin 100, Invercargill 300, Timaru 100, West Coast 400, Wanganui 200. Says the Wellington “Weekly Herald” : —“lt will be. of .interest to those who were amused recently at the late Minister for Labor’s inability to pronounce the French names of 'certain dishes, to know that one. of them on the menu at the Public Trust Office £2OO luncheon, translated literally, read 'Biot cold fowl.’ ” Arrangements are being made at the instance of the , Christchurch Bakers’ Union for a conference to discuss and

make preliminary arrangements for the formation of a federation embracing all the; operative bakers’ unions in the Dominion. The movement initiated by the Auckland Waterside Workers’ Union towards the establishment of a co-opera-tive bakery seems to give promise of being brought to a successful issue. The co-operative movement -when properly carried out on thorough business lines ■ is likely 'to be of groat benefit to the ; . .. ;.. . \ A . '- ■ | :

workers. The history of the co-opera-tive movement in the Dominion, however, is not reassuring, businesses started by the workers, having as a rule been unsuccessful. In the “Labor Clarion” of May 14th, [the official organ of the San Francisco i Labor Council, edited by an erstwhile Aucklander, Mr W. J. French, appears an article on “Trade Unionism in Great Britain,” by our late visitor, Col. Harris Weinstock, in which he compares the lot of the workers in Great Britain with those of the,Continent. His conclusions are decidedly interesting. Another article in the “Labor Clarion” is headed “The Labor Movement in Europe,” and is written by that wellknown Socialistic Parson, the Rev. Charles Stelzle, of the United States of America. Mr Stelzle is a member of the American Typographical Union, a working member at that, and entitled to .wear the working badge of his union.

The Victorian, • Queensland, NewSouth Wales and South Australian Operative Plumbers’ Unions are in fayor of a federation, and a conference will be arranged in the near future to discuss the question. The New South Wales Industrial Court has agreed to appoint a wages board to create a standard of hours and wages for cabmen in Sydney. In making the application the secretary of the union stated that some of the men worked as many .as 140 hours per week. An application by the Clerks’ Union for a wages board was, however, refused by the president of the Court, Judge. Heydcn. It was in Hobart during the recent elections. The boss of a big factory .placed at the disposal of girl employees a number of motor cars to take them to the polling booth, and impressed on them the necessity of voting anti-Labor. When lie left the .workroom the forewoman in charge spoke ffiusly: “Look tifflfe, if you, girls ride to the poll in a motor car, and vote accordingly, you’ll walk to work all your lives. If you walk to the poll and vote Labor, you have a chance to earn tram fares.” Thev walked, and voted Labor to a girl. . The Victorian Fellmongers’ Union are moving to have Mr Justice Higgins’ definition of a “living wage” embodied in the Shops and Factories Act. A deputation will wait oil the Minister for Labor accordingly, and a petition is also being prepared for .presentation to Parliament. The interpretation is that a “living wage” shall mean provision for a married man with a. wife and three children.