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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 68

Report of the Proceedings of the First Annual Conference of the Industrial Protection League of New Zealand, held on June 6th [to] ... 12th, 1889 in the Cafe de Paris, Christchurch, New Zealand

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Report of the Proceedings of the First Annual Conference of the

Industrial Protection League

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Christchurh Printed At The "Lyttblton Times" Office Christchurch. MDCCCLXXXIX

Industrial Protection League of New Zealand.

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The First Annual Conference of Delegates from the several Branches of the Industrial Protection League of New Zealand commenced in Christchurch on Thursday, June 6th, 1889, in the Cafe de Paris, Cashel Street, at 11 a.m.

The following Delegates were present:—
  • Mr. J. M. Douglas, representing the Invereargill Branch.
  • Mr. W. Swan Mr. B. S. Mantz representing the Dunedin Branch.
  • Mr. D. Shaw Mr. D. Bellhouse representing the Christchurch Branch.
  • Mr. T. N. Horsley representing the Auckland Branch.

The Wellington Branch was not represented.

The President of the Christchurch Branch, Mr. D. Shaw, took the chair, and Mr. D. Bellhouse, Secretary for the South Island Branches, acted as Secretary.

The Chairman opened the proceedings by welcoming the Delegates to Christchurch, and hoped their consultations would be the means of bringing about a better state of things.

The Secretary also welcomed them, and said he was particularly gratified to see them, as he had experienced a good deal of anxiety in bringing the Conference about. He also wished to state that the cause of delay in holding this Conference was owing to the apathy of the Executive in Wellington and the Wellington Branch, and not from any apathy of the other branches, and he hoped they would now by the foundation of the League in such a way that the delay could sever happen again.

The Secretary then read the minutes of the last Conference, held in Wellington last year, and it was moved by Mr. Mantz, seconded by Mr. Swan, and carried unanimously:—

"That the minutes of the last Conference be confirmed, and at the same time the Delegates present deeply regret that the late Executive in Wellington should, by its apathy and neglect, have rendered the proceedings of the Wellington Conference almost nugatory."

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It was then moved by Mr. Douglas, and seconded by Mr. Swan, and carried unanimously:—

"That the best thanks of this Conference be given to Mr. Bellhouse, the Secretary of the Industrial Protection League of New Zealand for South Island, for his ability and 1 excessive energy throughout, knowing as we do that it is mainly through his efforts that the League continues to exist."

It was moved by Mr. Mantz, seconded by Mr. Swan:—

"That the Delegates now proceed to revise the organisation and policy of the League."

Resolved:—"That each district represented should have two votes "

Resolved:—" That the hours of session shall he from 7.30 p.m. to 10 p.m., unless otherwise arranged."

The Conference then adjourned to 7.30 p.m.

The Conference resumed at 7.30 p.m.

The President of the Christchurch Branch, Mr. D. Shaw, took the chair, and all the Delegates were present.

The following is the constitution of the League, as finally passed:—

1—Name.

That this organisation shall be called the "Industrial Protection League of New Zealand," and that its operations shall extend over the whole colony.

2—Objects.

That the objects of the League shall be as follows:—
(a)To formulate a general policy for the colony based on the principles of Protection, and to promote the development of New Zealand industries, and protect them from the unfair competition of other countries.
(b)To impose restrictions upon foreign emigration so that our own labour market may not be Hooded with the surplus population of other countries.
(c)To reconstruct the Labour Bureau, with enlarged powers, to enable it to cope successfully with the disturbing influences affecting the relations of Capital and Labour.
(d)To assume a firm attitude at Municipal and Parliamentary Elections to secure the return of Candidates pledged to support the principles of the League.
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3—Membership.

That any person 18 years of age or upwards, may become a member of the League by paying the annual subscription of the Branch.

4—Government.

That the government of the League shall be worked by a President, two Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, Secretary, and two representatives of each Branch; and that all manifestoes issued by the League shall be signed by the President and Secretary. All the above officials (except the Branch representatives who shall be elected by their respective Branches), shall be elected at the annual Conference from the Branches in the district where the Executive holds its sittings.

5—Conferences.

That a Conference of Delegates from all Branches of the League shall be held annually, at such time and place as the Conference then sitting may decide upon. Special Conferences may, however, be convened upon the joint authority of the President and Secretary, whenever they may deem the business urgent.

6—Duties of Secretary.

That the duty of the Secretary shall be to keep himself in continual communication with the Branches, and advise them in all matters of general policy, to aid in organising public meetings, to interview the people's representatives, and at the end of every session to prepare a full digest and balance-sheet for presentation to the annual Conference.

7—Duties of Branch Secretaries.

That it shall be the duty of each Branch Secretary to attend all meetings, record the minutes thereof, conduct the correspondence, and at the end of every quarter transmit a summarised report of the proceedings of the Branch to the General Secretary.

8—Affiliation of Branches.

That all Branches shall affiliate themselves to the League as district sections of the organisation, and contribute a quota of 30s. each per year to defray the ordinary expenditure of the Executive.

9—Trades Unions.

That any Trades Union may affiliate itself to the League as a Branch by contributing the quota of 30s.

10—New Branches.

That it shall be within the province of each district to open new Branches in any locality whenever the conditions may be deemed favourable, to convene public meetings, to test the opinions of Parliamentary representatives upon the objects of the League, and to devote its attention to ascertain the strength of its supporters upon the electoral roll

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11—Alteration of Rules.

That no rule shall be altered, or new rule made, except at the annual Conference, and that twenty-eight days' notice shall be given to the General Secretary of any such alterations, in order that it may be brought under the consideration of the Branches previous to such Conference taking place. This rule shall also apply to special resolutions.

Election of Office Bearers.

The following office-bearers were elected;—
President Mr. D. Bellhouse.
Vice-Presidents Messrs. D. Shaw and J. M. Douglas
Treasurer Mr. W. V. Bloor.
Secretary Mr. J. W. Walker.
Moved by Mr. Douglas, seconded by Mr Swan, and carried:—

"That a public meeting be held under the auspices of the Industrial Protection League of New Zealand and that the City and Suburban Members of the House of Representatives be invited to attend."

The Conference adjourned to 7.30 p.m. next day.

Friday, June 7.

The Conference resumed its sitting at 7.30 p.m. The President of the Christchurch Branch, Mr. D. Shaw, took the chair, and all the Delegates were present.

A letter was read from the Invercargill Branch, and it was decided to deal with it later.

The Chairman then introduced the newly-elected President of the League.

The President on taking the chair, addressed the Conference, and hoped the League would become an institution of great importance He considered the Customs tariff more of a revenue than a protective tariff. He advocated a land and income tax in place of a property tax. He also advocated the establishment of a State paper currency, which he considered was the sovereign right of the State. This paper currency would be made a legal tender, and would be used for the purpose of paying the civil servants, &c.

Mr Douglas, Vice-President, also addressed the Delegates in support of the President's statements.

It was moved by Mr. Swan seconded by Mr. Douglas:—

"That a Special Conference of the League be held in the City of Duneain in the month of January, 1890, leaving the date to be fixed by the Executive.

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This Resolution was carried unanimously, as it was considered most necessary that a Conference should be held during the Exhibition reason.

The following resolutions, 1 2 4, were adopted and ordered to be forwarded to the Government:—
(1)"That as the existing Tariff abounds with the most absurd anomalies, it should undergo a thorough revision, and that in all future compilations the list of articles taxed for the purposes of revenue should be kept quite distinct from those which are taxed to protect the New Zealand producer."
(2)"That all articles absolutely essential for the manufacture of New Zealand goods, and which the Colony itself cannot produce, should be allowed to come in duty free as raw material; but all imported manufactured goods or fabrics which can be produced here should be taxed to that degree as would enable the New Zealand producers to hold their own against the foreigner."
(3)"That the contemplated changes by the Government, namely, the reduction of the members of the House of Representatives, and the introduction of Hare's modified system, is fraught with great danger to the Democratic Constitution of the Colony; as the former, by enlarging the area of the constituencies and increasing the canvassing expenses, will effectually debar any but rich men coming forward as candidates; and the latter will still further curtail the political power of the people by giving an undue influence to the voice of the minority. This Conference therefore asks the Government to refrain from legislation of this reactionary kind, and to fall back upon the one man one vote principle in all municipal and parliamentary elections."
The debate on this resolution was adjourned to the next sitting:—
(4)"That the development of the sweating system in New Zealand, especially with regard to several branches of female industry, calls loudly for parliamentary interference. This Conference therefore recommends that the Labour Bureau be reconstructed upon an enlarged basis and under a responsible head, so that it may take cognisance of all wage scales mutually agreed upon by employed and employers, adjust disputes by arbritation, obtain statistical information relative to the labour market, and also serve as an agceny for drafting the unemployed to districts where their services may be required without subjecting them to arbitrary conditions or unnecessary hardships."

The Conference adjourned to 7.30 p.m. next day.

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Saturday, June 8.

The Conference resumed its sittings at 7.30 p.m. The President of the League (Mr. D. Bellhouse) took the chair, and all the Delegates were present, also the Secretary Mr. J. W. Walker.

The debate on the following resolution was resumed, carried, and ordered to be forwarded to the Government, with the others:—
(3)"That the contemplated changes by the Government, namely, the reduction of the members of the House of Representatives, and the introduction of Hare's modified system,! fraught with great danger to the Democratic Constitution of the colony; as the former, by enlarging the area of the constituencies and increasing the canvassing expenses, will effectually debar any but rich men coming forward as candidates; and the latter will still further curtail the political power of the people by giving an undue influence to the voice of the minority. This Conference, therefore, asks the Government to refrain from legislation of this reactionary kind, and to fall back upon the one man one vote; principle in all municipal and parliamentary elections."
The following resolutions were adopted, to be moved at the Public Meeting on Tuesday next:—
(1)"That, it is the opinion of this meeting that a Protective policy is the only one that can conduce to the prosperity of the working classes, and promote the development of the natural resources of the Colony."
(2)"That, in the opinion of this meeting the Custom Tariff as it now stands is not sufficiently protective, it being evidently prepared with a view to revenue and not to protect our artisans and mechanics, and it considers every article absolutely essential for our own manufactures, and which we ourselves cannot produce should be allowed to come in duty free as raw material, while the duty on all goods and fabrics manufactured abroad which we can produce here should be greatly increased."

The Conference adjourned to 7.30 p.m. Monday night.

Monday, June 10.

The Conference resumed its sittings at 7.30 p.m. The President of the League (Mr. D. Bellhouse) took the chair, and all the Delegates were present, also the Secretary Mr. J. W. Walker.

A deputation from the Bootmakers' Union waited upon the Conference, and explained the cause of the present trouble, which is a threatened lock-out by Messrs. Toomer Brothers.

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The Conference expressed its sympathy with the workmen, and passed the following resolution:—
  • "That this Conference deeply regrets that Messrs. Toomer Brothers have assumed such a dictatorial attitude towards their employees as to threaten them with a lock-out unless they agree to their harsh terms, and should the threat be persisted in it will be the duty of this Conference to afford all the moral and material assistance in its power."

The Conference then commenced to go through the Customs Tariff for the purpose of making amendments, and after doing some good work adjourned until Wednesday, 12th inst.

Tuesday, June 11.

The Public Meeting did not take place as there was so small an attendance—Messrs. W. B. Perceval and W. P. Reeves M H.R.'s were pent, and a letter of apology for his unavoidable absence was received from Mr. F. Jones, M.H.R.

Wednesday, June 12.

The Conference resumed its sittings at 3 p.m. at 109, Cashel Street.

The President (Mr. D. Bellhouse) took the chair, and all the negates were present.

The consideration of the Customs Tariff was further continued, and after making considerable headway adjourned to 7.30 p m.

Evening Sitting.

The Conference resumed its sitting at 7.30 p.m. The President of the League took the chair, and all the Delegates were present with the Secretary.

I A letter of apology was read from Mr. W. B. Perceval, M.H.R., for his unavoidable absence.

The following resolution, proposed by Mr. Mantz, and seconded by Mr. Shaw, was unanimously passed:—

"That this Conference having carefully considered the various items of the present Customs Tariff by the side of the evidence furnished by our own manufacturers, is strengthened in its belief that the changes proposed by the Conference of March, 1888, are needed now more than ever, and it suggests that the Branches should interview their Parliamentary representatives, and prevail on them to insist upon a thorough revision of the Customs Tariff during the coming session, on the lines laid down at the last Conference with the various alterations made by this Conference."

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Moved by Mr. Swan, and seconded by Mr. Mantz:—

"That this Conference strongly disapproves of any subsidy being granted to the San Francisco Mail Service, as by so doing it is offering a premium to America to undersell our farmers and manufacturers."

This resolution was negatived.

Moved by Mr. Swan, seconded by Mr. Horsley:—

"That a full report of the proceedings of this Conference be printed in pamphlet form, and 100 copies forwarded to each Branch of the League for circulation among the members—Carried.

Moved by Mr. Mantz, seconded by Mr. Douglas:—

"That before closing its deliberations this Conference desires to call the attention of the Branches to three matters which must have a material influence upon the success or failure of the principles of a party. Perceiving that several seats were lost at the last election through two Protectionist Candidates standing against one Freetrader, it is hoped at the next election no candidate will come forward in the Protection interest until his candidature has been approved and endorsed by the Protection League, and when this has been secured, every member should sink all personal differences and strive his utmost to return the candidate of his party.

"Another subject of equal importance is the necessity of the Branches forming sub committees to ascertain the strength of our party on the electoral roll, and to provide at the time of the election a strong staff of election speakers to promote the candidature of those the League desire to return.

"A third matter is that the Secretary of each Branch should keep up a continual correspondence with the General Secretary of the League."—Carried.

The Conference then finished the consideration of the Customs Tariff.

Resolved:—"That a vote of thanks be tendered Mr. F. Arenas, of the Cafe de Paris, for having so kindly allowed the use of his Commercial Room in which the Conference has held its meetings.

A vote of thanks to the President brought the Conference to a close.