THE BEGINNING OF THE END.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1900, 7 November 1913, Page 6

THE BEGINNING OF THE END.

Yesterday cargo was worked on the wharves of Wellington, and the bluster and threats of tire Federation of- Labour held up to the ridicule of' the whole of New Zealand. The ocean liner Athenie was brought in from hef anchorage, and the Unionists registered under the Conciliation and Arbitration Act promptly got to work, transferring from the stores to her holds tho accumulated quantities of produce from the country districts which have been delayed in their transit to the markets of the world. It was an event of vital importance, for it marked the beginning of the end of aft unprovoked strike which has temporarily paralysed the trade of the country; threatened the producers of the Dominion and traders and business people generally with heavy losses and extreme- embarrassment; given rise to acts of riot and lawlessness in. this city Such as have never before been witnessed in this part of tho world. It was the beginning of the end of the effort of the Federation of Labour to win a bad cause by worse methods. The Federation challenged tho whole country; they used the wild and lawless element which responds most readily to their reckless and inflammatory language to endeavour to intimidate 'peaceful citizens and bludgeon, them'into submission to their dictates by means of that most dangerous and despicable of all weapons—mob violence. And they have got their answer. Organised ruffianism may succeed for a. time, but it is only colossal stupidity and ignorance, or what is worse, deliberate and callous disregard for tho interests of those they lead, that could permit its adoption as an engine of modern industrial : warfare. It was bound to fail because a section cannot fight the whole of the community, and the, bulk of the people in a civilised country will always prefer law and order to mob rule. Moreover, the industrial workers in tho towns cannot hope to fight the primary producers, for the more they injure the man on the land the more they hurt themselves and all other classes. The waterside workers who saw the cranes working and the slings laden with crates of cheese dipping into the holds of the Atheniq yesterday probably never gave a thought—and never have done so—to the fact that if this, and other produce which they in tho past have handled, was not garnered from the land by the country settler there would be no place for them in this country. That it is in other words the primary products i of the- Dominion' that bring the I great steamers here with their cargoes of goods and foodstuffs; that it is_ the products of the soil that : provide the great bulk of the money that pays the wages of the workers in the towns, and for years past has made this country one of the most prosperous on the faco of the globe. And so at- the dictates 1 of their irresponsible; ' strife-making leaders, tho watersiders have foolishly attempted to take from their own mouths and the mouths of their wives and children their daily means of subsistence, by preventing the products of the country proceeding on their way to the markets of the world. The folly of it! In connection with the commencement of work on the Athenie yesterday, . tho Mounted Special' Constables and tho regular police provided an impregnable guard for the protection ol tho Arbitration Unionists working the cargo. No attentat was made by the strikera ifco prevent the work praceodinft and

there was an absence of any active hostility from the- gangs of roughs who indulged in the stone-throwing of the previous day. It, is just n-s well,, perhaps, thai;, such was the case, for steps have been taken and instructions issued which wil/1 ensure that in any ease of further rioting there will he no half-mea-sures adopted in bringing the riote'is u% .k' Yesterday the Mounted Specials" had a, rousing reception as they proceeded to and from then - stations, at the wharves, and it was quite apparent to everyone that the cowardly and brutal stonethrowing of the previous day had thoroughly aroused the people of Wellington to a full sense of the. obligation they wove under to the men from tire country districts. It: is significant that from all parts of the country fresh offers of horses . and men continue to pour in. The Government has shown its determination to see that the working of the vessels in port shall proceed, and that _ adequate protection shall heprovided for Arbitration Unionists to carry on that work. It has been demonstrated that with the assistance of the public that protection can bo Riven. Each day will see an increasing volume of labour employed. Should the Federation of Labour still hope to extend tho strike to other unions, so much the worse for tho Federation, for it can only mean the complete and utter annihilation of the organisation and the lawless' spirits who control it. The. bigger the-.y_ attempt to make tho strike, the bigger the ultimate smash of the Federation will be.