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REPORT. Report on the Petitions (Nos. 637/10 and (ii)/ll) of the Amalgamated Society of Hah.w n Servants, praying for consideration with regard to conditions of employment, wages, and other matters. I ah directed to report that this Committee, having had the petition of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants before it, and having met the representatives of that society in conference and heard representations from them, recommends that the Government set up a Board or Commission to inquire into the petition of the Second Division of the Railway Service, with a view to recommending the best method of removing any grievances or anomalies that exist. 27th October, 1911. Jas. T. Hooan, Chairman.

MINUTES OF EVIDENCE.

Tuesday, 17th October, 1911. The Chairman: Well, the question is now whether we should deal with the petition from the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, and the question raises a point which should be considered by the Committee. You have all, no doubt, seen what appeared in the Press : a wire was sent down to the men at Addington, and evidently an improper or false construction was placed on that wire. Mr. Witty: Not by the men. The Chairman: Well, by the representative of the Press, who caused a Press Association wire to be sent up here, and it was made to appear that the Government could decide either to go on with this petition or leave it alone. Well, of course, this Committee knows as well as I do that it is for the Committee to regulate its own business and not for the Government, and consequently it is for this Committee to say whether that petition should be gone on with this session or not. While 1 was away in Wanganui it was thought advisable to call the Committee together, but whether that was done after consultation with the majority of the members of the Committee or not I am not in a position to say. Hon. Mr. Millar: No, it was called together owing to representations made in the House that we were deliberately trying to block the Second Division from licing heard before this Committee. My attention was drawn to the matter two or three times, and 1 said in the House that a meeting of the Committee had been called for the Tuesday, which I understood to be the case. I appealed to Mr. Witty, and he nodded his head to say that that was so. My recollection was that a meeting was called for 10.30 a.m. on the Tuesday, and 1 said the men would be jjiven an opportunity of stating their grievances when the Committee met, as their petition was before the Committee. 1 did not think we would have taken four weeks to deal with the petition from the First Division. After I stated that in the House Mr. Otterson informed me that the Committee had not been called together for the Tuesday, and 1 then asked Mr. Otterson to instruct the clerk to call the members of the Committee together. I never interfered with the work of the Committee at all. The Chairman: Well, the position was that when we adjourned last the next meeting of the Committee was to be called by the Chairman. Then the notice calling the meeting was handed to me just as it was to other members, and I did not know how the Committee had been called together. The result is tliat we are here, and some members who have presented petitions have been asked to hurriedly take charge of them and bring them before the Committee without having proper notice. However, regarding this petition from the Second Division, after the experience we have had with the First Division it is questionable whether we could do anything with the Second Division petition. In view of what has happened, and in view of the statements that have been made to the public, 1 think this Committee ought to come to a definite decision as to whether it will go on with this petition or not. If we have only a week to consider it, it is simply a farce to go on with the Second Division petition. Hon. Mr. Millar: It depends entirely on the men themselves. If they like to put one man up to deal with the petition and then for the Department to give its reply, the Committee will be able to deal with the whole thing. I know, and every member of the Committee knows, that it is impossible to go through the petition clause by clause. We are quite prepared to give th"em the same consideration as was given to the First Division, but they cannot expect to call evidence to deal with each clause and then for the Committee to report this year. The Chairman: Ihey have every right to take up all the time necessary for placing their views before this Committee, but it is ridiculous to think that they can exercise the rights which they possess in a week. They would not only be wasting our time but wasting their own time, and would it not be better to say definitely that it would be advisable not to consider this petition this year 1 Mr. Witty: I move, "That the Committee hear the petitioners, and that the petitioners be informed that the end of the session is near, and that if they can condense their evidence we shall be only too glad to hear them." We should also give them the opportunity of saying whether they think it advisable to go on or not. It should be explained to them that we expect the House