several members of Parliament who practised as lawyers going through its provisions and comparing them with those in the English Act. The New Zealand Act gave workmen the right of claiming compensation for death or injuries received by the negligence of a fellow-servant, or sustained by accident in consequence of defective ways, machinery, and plant, or incurred in carrying out legitimate instructions. The workman lost his right to complaint, however, if he knew of any defect or negligence and concealed his knowledge, as it was held that such conduct was the action of a man who willingly incurred risk.
The Act was recognised as a completely new departure in the colony’s legislation, and several members of the House said that it was evidently a measure that would give bare justice to the workers and place them on a much better footing. The Bill had its opponents outside of Parliament. The worst they said of it, however, was that it was Utopian in character, and would not work well. There was not a word said against it in the House, and it was so well received that Mr. Green thanked the members who had spoken, and he accepted the assistance of several members who promised to act as members of a Select Committee to consider the Bill in detail.
The colony first dealt with the complex question of payment of wages in an Act passed in 1871. It is the Contractors’ Debts Act, and it allows a workman to obtain money due to a contractor who has failed to pay wages. It broke down owing to the sub-contracting that took place at that time. The Act, however, met with the general approval of the people as far as its principle was concerned.
In 1884 the Workmen’s Wages Act was passed. It repealed previous Acts, remedied their defects, and made the position quite clear. Under it, a workman whose wages are unpaid for 24 hours might summon an employer before a Resident Magistrate and obtain permission to serve a notice of attachment of moneys on the employer’s employer, and, on judgment being given in the workman’s favour, the money attached, after seven days, became payable to the workman. The machinery for recovery was cumbrous. The workman often put in his demand
