the employers are more disposed to stand by the act, or to maintain a
neutral attitude, waiting to see what the workingmen will do."

It would seem, then, that the real gain from the law has been through
the abolition of strike losses, and since these had previously been
borne by employers and employees alike, this saving has been pretty
equally divided between the two classes, neither making any relative
gain over the other. But at the bottom this is a blow to the unions, for
the purpose of every union policy is not merely to leave things where
they were before, but to increase the workers' relative share. Any
policy that brings _mutual_ gain requires no organized struggle of any
kind. It is the workers who are the plaintiffs, and the employers the
defendants. When things are left _in statu quo_ it is a moral and actual
defeat for the employees.

This is why, in the last two or three years, the whole labor movement in
New Zealand has arisen against the law. In 1908 the coal miners' union
refused to pay a fine levied against it, alleging that it had no funds.
"In this position the union was generally condemned by public opinion,
but supported by a number of unions by resolutions of sympathy and gifts
of money. Finally, the Arbitration Court decided to proceed against the
men individually for their share of the fine. The whole of the fine,
together with the costs of collection, amounting to over 147 pounds, was
recovered by means of attachment orders under the Wages Attachment Act
of 1895. According to a recent decision of the Court of Appeals, the men
could have been imprisoned, if they had refused to pay, for a maximum
term of one year, but it was not necessary to do this, and public
opinion was not in favor of imprisonment for the offense."

This and other strikes in 1907 and 1908 "caused a widespread opinion
among _employers_ and the general public that the act should be amended
chiefly for the sake of preventing strikes. The laborers, as a class,
were not enthusiastic about the matter, since the proposed amendments
were designed to compel them to obey the law rather than to bring them
any additional benefit." After having been debated for a year, a new law
was passed, and went into effect January 1, 1909. This new law, though
still compulsory, repeals some of the features of the previous
legislation which were most obnoxious to the unions. Even this act,
however, they found entirely unsatisfactory, and "during th