THE WAIHI STRIKE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 250, 18 October 1912, Page 7

THE WAIHI STRIKE.

(To the Editor.) Xir > —Permit mc to reply to Mr Abbott in Tuesday's issue. He ha* the usual coaksureness of all Socialists—states '"he bas cleared the cobwebs off his brain." Then he -wall no doubt be able to answer mc the following questione, which I mrarber in case I have to refer to them again. Commenting on the Waihi enginedrivers, he says: "Atase of the minority wanting to rule tire majority; is that ilrinocratic?" He is much aggrieved at the enginedrivers leaving the Miners' Union and the Red Socialist Federation of Labour. lx>t u« go back a little, and first review the position. We find that tho Wailii Miners' Union were the first to sever from the Trades and Labour Council and the Conciliation and Arbitration Act, and took the first step to thus try and break up the work of t'hc Trades and Labour Council in orga-nising all fhe unions and workers of New Zealand in a solid, united iiody. The Miners-" Union wanted to .put their (Socialistic ideas on war footing, and lost no time in doing ao. Tho Bed (Sociatfet) Federation of Labour wae formed later, and in doing so most of tho voters were hoodwinked into voting for it and ite ptrike-mamrfacturing tactics. The enginedrivers soon saw their position, and decided to return to the Conciliation and Arbitration Act They did so quite legally, and were equally as justified in doing so as the Miners* Union were in leasing it. (1) Why then should the Waihi Socialist Kederationiste strike against! ; them doing so? (2) Do the Waihi | strikers and Socialist doctrinaires con- i aider that no one has any right to liberty! but thoniselves? (3) Why do the Red , , Socialist federationist minority try toj overrule the arbitrationist majority of I New Zealands? (4) Why do the Wafhi strikers now claim that the strike was and is a fight between capital and lab- I our? (5) If it Ls a fight 'between capital' and la'hour, wdry, then, did the Waihi i Rtrikers start the fight by "downing! J tools" to fight their fellow-workers, the! jciiSinedrivors? (G) Why did the Waihi! ; Strike Committee urge some of the i picketing strikers to go to gaol sooner than allow sureties to be given for their good behaviour, and the.n stop their strike pay, instead of giving it to the families otf the gaoled miners? (7) And, having done this, -why did they call a' 24-hour strike in sympathy with tie gaoled strikers? (8) Since the Red (Socialist) Federation is co strongly opposed to arbitration, why do they ever arbitrate? (9) How do they expect a settlement, if they won't arbitrate? (10) Why do they ever employ the principle if it is so pernicious? (IT) Rime they are so virulently opposed to all arbitrationists, why did they go to tne. arWtrationists begging for funds and misrepresenting labour and the true position all over Australia, and New ZealandT (12) Did their hands trenmblc -while taking the wheedled arbifcTationiKts' funds to fight with against arbitrationists? (13) No, no, as Mr. Abbott says, they are "fighting to end the present system," "and usher in Socialism." That certainly is the truth, and that is the ground of the ftgfci, in .plain unvarnished language, is it not? (14) That the Socialist element were spoiling for a fight with somehMdy is clearly shown by the fact that they first 'had a go at the Catholics, and tried to start a figh+, with their Anarchistic fomings aibout Francisco Ferrer? (15) Next they attacked the euginedrivers, and now they claim the help of all workers to defeat the enginedrivens for the 'heinous fault of 'believing in the merits of the Arbitration Court, and refusing to remain in the Waihi Miners' Union, and hence Red (Socialist) Federation of Labour. Lsn't that correct? (16) Why do they claim that they are now fighting capitalists? (17) They haw? stated that the strike is just what the capitalist wanted. Knowing this, then. <why on earth did they strike ? Was it so as to squander the funds o*f all -the arbitrafcionist unions, and tlrus effectually paralyse them in the efforts for higher wages? (18) Anyhow, have not the red federationists done more damage in six months to the war chest of the arbitration iste than all the capitalists have done to it in the last ten years? . (19) What 'brand of sympathy is it t» get men on "strike" into gaol, then cut off their strike-pay from their wives and familiesT Will Mr. Ajftbotit be good enough to answer all of *hes»e questions stra.ig-.ht-forwardly without and adhering to facts, unpolished and untrimmed, letwing "assertions" and "stock phrases" aside, and if I find he does so I may enlighten him at a future date on the aryth of Socialism.!—l am, etc., sacs*