Excerpt from Labour Laws of New Zealand The manufacturing population in New Zealand differs from that in some other of the Australasian Colonies by its wide dispersion. The capital city has hitherto been unable to draw to itself the industrial ability of the other provincial centres; and not only do Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin vie with Wellington as centres of population, but also as nuclei of commercial activity. In the second-class towns, such as Nelson, Napier, Invercargill, &c., many important works are being carried on, while even in the villages and rural districts the progress of new settlement necessitates the manufacture of articles which in older communities are produced in specialised localities. Men scattered widely at the numerous occupations of colonial country life, shearing, harvesting, bush-felling, road making, or sailing coastal vessels, &c., require legal protection against the dangers and disabilities to which their callingsexpose them. This general dispersion of industry necessitates not only a wide system of supervision, but legislative measures of a peculiar character, at once sufficiently elastic to comprehend many varieties of function, and yet rigid to crush any apparent abuse. The most important of these laws in its general significance is that dealing with compulsory arbitration in labour disputes. The Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, 1894 (with its amending Act of exists for the purpose of encouraging industrial association, and to facilitate the settlement of trade difficulties. Societies consisting of five or more employers, or of seven or more workers, 'may be registered and become subject to the jurisdiction of the Board and Court appointed by the Act. Any such society may bring a disputed case before the Board of Conciliation appointed for that district, and, if the Board fails to efi'ect a settlement, the dispute may be referred to the Court of Arbitration, whose award may be enforced in the same manner as an award of the Supreme Court. The amount, however, for which such an award may be enforced against an association is limited to GBP500. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.