SETTLEMENT OF INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES, 501 



New Zealand. — The Act of 1894 provides a preliminary Con- 

 ciliation Court, somewhat on the Wages Board principle as to 

 personnel, backed up by the Arbitration Court. There seems, 

 however, to be some fatal canker in any Conciliation Court. For 

 practical purposes that of New Zealand has been a failure, as its 

 recommendations have been rarely adopted. These findings and 

 recommendations, unbacked by penalties, received about as much 

 attention as is given to the unsought advice of candid friends. As 

 Addison sagely put it : " There is nothing which we receive with 

 so much reluctance as advice." 



The Arbitration Court, the substantial Court, of decision, has 

 the usual features. It can make common rules for industrial 

 districts, and it often grants preference to unionists, provided the 

 relative unions are open to all who wish to enter. Also there are 

 penal provisions for non-acceptance of awards. 



The earlier experience of the Court was successful, in so far as 

 the mere absence of strikes was concerned. The Dominion was 

 enjoying an era of continuous expansion, and the awards were 

 almost invariably in favour of the men. On the other hand the 

 Court's work was marred by the inevitable features of delay and 

 congestion. Meantime relations between employers and employees 

 grew steadily worse. The Court, as in New South Wales, had the 

 effect in many cases of creating disputes, and the machinery of the 

 Act gave ample scope for the activity of the agitator. Premier 

 Seddon, who could not be accused of any special leaning towards 

 the employers, said in 1901 that " the unions were riding the Act to 

 death — industry was hampered, and employers kept in perpetual 

 turmoil. People were getting sick of the Act." 



The first shock, from the point of view of those who hoped that 

 the Act would at any rate prevent industrial stoppages, came with 

 the slaughtermen's strike, when the penal provisions proved unable 

 to clear the trouble. The dispute was finally settled hy conference 

 outside the Court ! Since then some awards have not been as 

 favourable as the men expected, and the Act is said to be breaking 

 down hopelessly. 



Summarising results not already mentioned : 



(1 ) It was too easy for the men to bring about a legal dispute. 



They were encouraged to invoke the Court on the off 

 chance of a favourable decision, rather than to seek 

 rectification of genuine grievances. 



(2) It substituted a hard, mechanical relationship, dictated 



by a Court, for the older and pleasanter direct relation- 

 ship. In a few cases, where the direct relations still 

 exist, all is pleasant as before. 



(3) It has not made for better work or fostered trade. It 



has greatly increased the cost of production. 



(4) The wage increases have been mainly for the average or 



poor workers ; there is little encouragement for the 

 skilled hand to rise above the average level. 



