Our Industrial Problems. 
and thie. secretary have no power td .con- 
codes anything.» They are empowered by 
their unions to receive everything, to con- 
cede nothing. The members of many 
unions seem as loth to trust their execu. 
tive. as -the employér. Negotiations fre- 
quently fail =~ ause- the “executive, to use 
in Americanism, is hogtied from the start: 
“Though ~ the: unions elect their  execu- 
tive, they seem; to wish "to ‘keep all the 
power” to: themselves. Instead. of -govera- 
ment being in a few hands, the only way 
that a successful government can work, 
we find "a ‘tentatively: and accepted new 
agrecment, -béing re-opened at a mass 
aeeting of unionists... This gives a fine. op- 
portunity to the leather-lunged budding lea: 
det fo air his half-l 1ked opinions, and he 
stoutly resists ‘anything being given away, 
‘hough what is Leing received in exchange 
nay be. worth considerably more. 
the. ‘voices, where & szeret ballot. would is 
have prevented a stoppages Raed. one E 
"The “Arbitration Court. ~~ 
-Uuder our present: conditions the Courts 
are of course open for hiusiness, and we 
will assume ‘that the union has decided 
to. obtain amelioration through constitu- 
tional channels. ... 
The plaint. js submitted. and after a 
lapse. of months, the parties. reach. the 
Court. 
Advocates for wees -have- been prepa: 
.hg their case, witnesses have ‘been coach- 
ed, and put. through “their preliminary 
canters. Evidence likely to conflict. is eli- 
minated, and the advocate brings along 
his string “of, witnesses "as letter “perfect 
ag they can be- made. This of course -ap- 
nlies to both sides. 
Ba 
The advocates as a rule, weary thé Court 
and everyone:connected ‘with it but them- 
selves with wordy openings lasting per- 
haps for days. [t.is questionable if these 
addresses ever-affect the Court; one iota. 
The advocates are flanked. by books and 
papers, and give every indication of hav- 
ing. combed : literature from “China to 
Peru’? for material that. might spit their 
side. The first four or five witnesses give 
avidence .at interminable length, endless 
repetition .is evidently considered neces- 
sary to hammer in statements as facts, to 
a {Court who sit and sutfer. 
The log. is generally drawn up. with a 
ghoil margin that. can be considerably re- 
ceded from. and. yet leave .a substantial 
net gain. The knowledge that agreements 
catinot ‘be finalised by an executive drives 
many employers ‘to the Court, and they 
ave consoled by the knowledge that a eon- 
siderable time may elapse before the case 
ig heard. 
Why do not the rank and file trust their 
feaders: ~ Kxperience shows that the lead- 
ers can much more shrewdly estimate the 
maximum concessions they can obtain. 
than can the average worker. A cry of 
course may rise from the disgruntled that 
the exccutive were “in the bag,” if they 
acéepted some terms that were unpopular. 
In some countries, where mixed nationali- 
ties form the bulk of the members of cer- 
tain unions, such..a cry might possibly not 
be ont of tune. It is generally I think ac- 
cepted “that whatever underground work 
for power may be carried on between lead- 
ers, and rival factions in Australian labour 
circles, ‘the welfare of the mass is never 
wilfully betrayed Lv either party.  Mis- 
takes and short sighfedness of course 
there are; but while the average executive 
may crr, the union 4s a Soviet are n- 
Jpoeble of forming -as wise decisions as 
thov 
As the case wears on, even the advocate 
feels the strain, and ‘towards the last his 
witnesses bob if and out of- the box, with 
the "rapidity of marionettes, Their evi- 
dence might be just. as vital in their par- 
tienlar section as that already miver at 
length, but everyone is getfing tired, A few 
oases of faets in a weary waste of words 
zharacterises - the bulk of the evidence 
alicited, and too much talk is the curse of 
the present system. 
The evidence as to the nature of work 
done, and condition, of employment, 
varies with each casc heard, and the Court 
is expected to g'v( fair and intellivent Je- 
sisiong. In doing so they must also bear 
in mind all their previous decisions. Two 
vears ago. in a certain case, a certain .de- 
cision was given. Precedents must be fol. 
lowed or ineonsistencies will be laid at the 
door of the Court. 
So far as the matter of wages and 
nonrs are ceunccerned, Courts can and do, 
from the evidence and from their own 
commonsense fix a scale that ean stand 
eriticism 
Perhaps the disinclination of the rank 
and file to give the executives broader 
power, is a lazy way of protecting their 
interests, which they neglect by not attend. 
ing the regular meetings. The members 
generally find when they do attend at 
some critical juncture, that the irrespon- 
sible ones wiio have been active in attend. 
ance, have committed them to actions of 
which they may not approve. If a strike is 
nnder discussion, these apathetic mem- 
bers ark generally dragooned by the mili. 
tant. and a decicton to strike is carried on 
The matier of conditions, which to an 
employee is often move vital than wages, 
is where the Court frequently. fail to give 
awards fair to both parties. One week the 
Court deals with conditions applying to 
horse drivers (fast becoming an extinet 
calling}, then brewerv employees, wharf 
“The West Australian” circulates throughout the State.