Accidents

Despite these obstacles Dr. Hare has succeeded in presenting a most creditable account of contemporary labour conditions in New Zealand. There was a section that proved to be of particular interest in Labour and New Zealand, namely, that dealing with "Accidents." The main thesis of two columes, part of a world survey of labour conditions from 1750 to the resent day, by Jurgen Kucynski, one-[unclear: me] statistician to the American Federation of Labour, is that as a result of the increasing intensity of work in industry, the standard of living of workers is progressively declining in, spite of shorter hours, etc. As one of the main measuring-rods for intensity of work, Kucynskl has taken the accident rate which he quotes in the chapter on New Zealand as having increased by 20% in the 1933-38 trade-cycle over the 1923-33 cycle. This is of importance in that the report reviewed also quotes an increase of 58% in the accident rate between 1934 and 1939, while the increase per 1.000 of factory workers has risen from 34 in 1938 to 68 in 1942, an increase of 70% in five years. Thin "rapid and brutal increase in the intensity of work" is a tendency that, from Kucynski's investigations, appears to be common to all capitalist countries and one which should cause no little concern to a Labour Government. The lack of any "Safety First" campaign is in consequence a serious deficiency in New Zealand.