A STRIKE ECHO.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 108, 12 June 1914, Page 9

A STRIKE ECHO.

TRADES COUNCIL AND SPECIAL

CONSTABLES.

(Sun Special.) s. WELLINGTON, June 11.

Some men have a knack of getting hold of the' : wrong end of their 11 facts.'' The Hon. F. M. B. Fisher is ■notoriously one of these. Answering a deputation of printers on a question of preference to. unionists he stated that the Wellington Trades Council had turned down a Government -employee because he was a special constable:

This revives an incident, of the; strike that caused some stir behind the scenes. Government employees, in the printing office and elsewhere, were called upon to pledge themselves to .protect public property. Most of them did so,- but not with any idea of going out on the" streets with batons or anything of that sort. They simply undertook to protect the contents of the buildings in which they earned their daily bread." A small school of Red Feds. in the Government Printing Office could not find it in their conscience to do this. Further, they tried to make it unpleasant for those who did.

Among the delegates to the Wellington Trades Council was an employee of the Government Printing Department. He was pledged to proteet the printing office' property. The Red Feds, invited the Wellington Trades Council to send representatives to a -conference of Labour organisations '' to diseuss the strike." The council sheld a special meeting to consider the invitation. A delegate stated that he had been requested by ail,employee of the Government Printing Office* to raise a preliminary objection to a delegate " who was a special constable. " The, chairman ruled that the_ delegate had been a member of the council for years, therefore no question as to his standing could be entertained. The chairman's ruling was challenged, but the council stood by its chairman. Later on the meeting decided to send two representatives to the conference called by the Red Feds. The '' special " whose presence was objected to was nominated as one of the council's delegates. So also was the man who raised the preliminary objection. SeVeral others were also nominated, and a ballot was necessary. The "special" headed the poll. The delegate who objected to his presence .was defeated.