H.—35

certainly is of importance ; and it would be not only an injustice to this Conference, but a blunder from the point of view of the whole Dominion, if this" Conference were regarded as being merely a clash of the employees' interests as against those of the employers, or to place one side or section in a predominant position in the labour legislation of this country. The motion, " That the recommendations in respect of Immigration be adopted," was put to the Conference and carried unanimously. Workers' Compensation Act. Mr. Roberts : In moving, That the recommendations in respect of workers' compensation be adopted, I may say I have much pleasure in doing so, particularly because this report of the subcommittee is an expression 011 the humanitarian side of the Conference. It is also a joint expression of the sub-committees, and, I hope, of this Conference also, that workers who are engaged in industry and who meet with an accident during the course of their employment will be sure that their welfare will be catered for in future. I would call attention first to clause 1, where we recommend that insurance shall be compulsory unless an employer can satisfy a competent authority that either by a mutual insurance scheme or from his own resources the worker is adequately covered. We deem that recommendation to be a very benificent one, because we find that in many cases the worker who is injured during his employment finds himself in the position that the man who employs him is not in a position to pay him compensation, and therefore the worker has no provision made. There is every opportunity for employers in New Zealand at the present time to insure their workers ; but, on the other hand, there are some employers who cover their men by insurance themselves, and we think it is advisable that exemption should be given to those employers. One of the questions which undoubtedly will be asked will "be why we do not recommend in toto the Ontario system of workers' compensation. May I say that we gave that system every consideration, and examined it as closely as we were able. You will understand, however, that a sub-committee sitting for a fortnight and giving only one or two days to this particular question, and a committee that had not very much material at their disposal to make an investigation, could not under the circumstances go into that matter very fully. From our limited investigation we were of the opinion that the Ontario system is the very best system, but we also recognize this factor : that the industrial and climatic conditions in Ontario may be far different from those in New Zealand. The reason why we did not recommend that system wholly is that we require special investigation to be made before that system can be brought into operation in New Zealand. We therefore recommend that it is advisable that the Government should make inquiries into the Ontario system, and, indeed, into the question of workers' compensation generally. But our inquiry proved that the Ontario system was undoubtedly the best, and we hope it will be adopted in New Zealand. The main features of this system are, briefly —(1) The policy of safety : that is to say, the power to insist that there shall be every safeguard adopted to prevent accidents, which is a very necessary precaution in any country. That is done to-day under the Factories Act in New Zealand. (2) That the best medical and surgical attention, and also nursing and hospital attention needed be given to the worker while he is out of employment. (3) This is most important, and relates to the rehabilitation of the worker in his industry. We know that a worker may meet with an accident to-day, and he is incapable of following his particular industry, but becomes more or less a liability on the nation. Under the Ontario system, instead of such a worker becoming a liability on the State he becomes an asset in the cause of production by the training they give him. Your sub-committee gave every consideration to this proposal, and they have included it in their recommendation. (4) Should the worker meet with accident following his employment in an industry, under the Ontario system he is given all the necessaries of life for himself and his dependants. In the case of death his dependants receive a pension for life, or his wife would receive a pension for life and his children would receive one until they were able to work for themselves. Further, we believe that a system can be devised in this country on these lines, and that investigations will prove for the benefit of all concerned. We suggest that the basis on which provision should be made for the three continuous periods of the worker's life are : (1) The period he is unable to earn money through sickness ; (2) the period he is unable to earn money through injury received during his employment; (3) old age. These are the periods covering the worker's experience during the time he is capable of working until he goes to his long last home. We would like to see the present economic spectre removed from the life of the worker, and I think you all, and the whole Parliament, are of the same opinion, and are prepared to do all you possibly can to establish a scheme of workers' compensation which would bring about this very desirable state of things. You will note also that we have omitted from our recommendation the question of occupational diseases. That matter was not neglected, however, by your special sub-committee. We discussed it fully, and it was understood that whoever investigated the Ontario system should give consideration to that important measure. I want to draw the attention of the Conference to the fact that there are several occupational diseases which are not very well provided for under our present law. One is dermatitis, and there are several others. Dermatitis is a disease which has become prevalent in some occupations, and, indeed, amongst men who handle the very food we eat. Provision must be made for these men in whatever Workers' Compensation Act is put into force in New Zealand. If the recommendation of the sub-committee is put into operation by our Legislature —ancl I would appeal to members of Parliament to give it every possible consideration —it will relieve workers of a burden which they are unable to bear at the present time. It will create in industry more contentment, and if the subcommittee or this Conference did no more than pass this recommendation the Conference would have justified itself ; I am convinced of that. Now, we have also added a proviso that, should the committee find that the Ontario system would not be applicable to New Zealand industries, full

207