Topics of the Day.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 28, 1 February 1913, Page 13

Topics of the Day.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, December 20. TWO MIIXIONS WASTED. The strike on the Xorth-Eastern Railway came to an end last Monday, and, so far as can ibe seen, the fears that were expressed of further Christmastide troubles in the English railway world need no longer be entertained. The cause of the strike was the "degradation" of an express driver named Knox, whom the company reduced to pilot engine service on tbe strength of a conviction for drunkenness whilst off duty. The conviction was not made on entirely satisfactory evidence, and Knox's fellowj workers took exception to it partly on that ground, partly because they held the opinion that what a man did out of business hours was no business of the company, and ■ partly because they saw in Knox's affair a further example of the system of petty tyranny to which, they alleged, the company's workmen were being continually subjected. The men struck without giving the company any notice and without consulting their unions, an entirely indefensible proceeding on their part, and the company retaliated by taking out summonses against .1,000 of their employees for breach of contract, etc. At the same time, the company adopted a very conciliatory attitude towards its rebellious employees, and, though refusing point-blank to reinstate Knox whilst his conviction stood, readily agreed to do so if it could be shown that his conviction was based upon insufficient evidence. Knox had not appealed against the local magistrate's fiat, and the time limit for such an appeal had expired, but in view 1 of all the circumstances, the Home Secretary saw fit to reopen the case, and sent down a metropolitai. stipendiary magistrate (Mr Chester Jones) to conduct an inquiry into it. In result Mr Jones came to the conclusion that though Knox had had a couple of twopenny tots of rum on a comparatively empty stomach on the occasion of his arrest, be was not drunk at all "in the Police Court sen6e of the term." i So Knox was given a free pardon, and i the company promised to reinstate him

at the earliest possible dale after the strikers had resumed work. "There were, of course, questions raised as to the conditions upon which the men were to go back. These were discussed between the company and the men's union representatives, and in the end it was agreed that the strikers should return to work, each in his old position, but that each was to pay a penalty in the shape of forfeiting a week's wages to the company. So on Monday all the men returned to work.

It is, of course, impossible to estimate with any exactitude the cost of this illadvised and short-lived strike. The dispute, occurred at a time when trade was experiencing an extraordinary rush, and the compulsory closing-down of so many mines and factories dependent on the railway has been an extremely serious matter. Mr Butterworth, the General Manager of the company, has estimated that the cost to the Railway Company will amount to £;>O.OOO, but business people of all descriptions will have been very badly hit. A leading Newcastle merchant estimates the loss at about two millions sterling, more than half of which he puts down to the coal and shipping trades. There must, as he points out, be taken into account the profit on the coal which ought to have been produced: the men's wages, a considerable item, for at one Northumberland colliery they amount to over £7,000; the dead rent 6, the officials' wages, the idle steamers, some of which were on half demurrage of £10 a day, and all of which might, under ordinary circumstances have been earaig anything from £20 to £50 a day; the wages of the seamen, straithsmen, and river hands; the profit of trade diverted, and the losses of merchants who were unable to secure by rail the produce wlich for over a week was lying on Newcastle quayside. There was a decrease of nearly 120,000 tons in the coal and coke shipments la.st week at Tyne Dock, as compared with the corresponding week of last year.

Beyond these things several blast furnaces and rolling mills in the neighbourhood were idle for a week, so the two million estimate of the cost of the strike does not strike one as exaggerated.

A rather interesting question has arisen regarding the fine included in the settlement agreement. The company are advised that unless the agreement is signed by every striker individually on presenting himself for reinstatement, they have no power to deduct the fines from the men's wages. The company will not therefore attempt to deduct the fines, but will expect the men to pay their liabilities in the manner prescribed —namely, by fortnightly instalments of one day's pay, varying from 3/2 to 8/, according to the rank of the employees. In the case of men who do not comply with the arrangement, summonses will be proceeded with in the ordinary way for breach of contract.

THE SMASHER" CREED. 'We must be prepared for destruction. The smashing of windows in West London last March was a symbol of deep significance. It was like the breaking o.f reality into a dream. We must be prepared for destruction because the run of destiny began when the walls and palaces crumbled aud the -.tones of temples fell. "We must be prepared to smash and be smashed. We must be prepared, if necessary, to break and destroy the material substance of life, and iv our turn we must be acquiescent if the material s>_~" stance of our own life is destroyed, ye?, even if our own body is broken up" Thus Mrs Petbick Lawrence at a reception given in honour of herself aud her husband the other evening. The inspiring words of the High Priestess of Militant Suffragism were not wasted on the desert air, if one matjudge by the deeds of her admirers during the past few days. The letter-box campaign has broken out agaiu, and is being conducted with great cunning and vigioux, tlbe f_flsefiraial_.TTn.movement continues to harass the fire brigades in'various parts of the country, and to mark, the season of Peace and Goodwill the public is apparenttly to be treated to soma new forms of incendiarism. It seems impossible bo set any limit to the wicked follies of the Suffragettes, and siad to say. some of their male supporters are apparently prepared to go to any lengths with them, and even to set them examples in the perf-oirmance of wickedly wanton acts of destruction. What can orrc think of a man who deliberately sets fire to a railway carriage as a means of furthering "the Cause?" This was what a man named Franklin did a short time ugo on the Great Central Railway. At first his actions were not connected with suffragism. but whtsi summoned for his act he .failed to appear, and sent instead the following effusion to the magi- trates: — "As suffragette rebels, we consider that under present circumstances certain " definite forms of action must be taken in order that the Government may be forced to give votes for women, one of them being to cause the authorities as much trouble as we possibly can. It is not, therefore, my intention, voluntarily to attend your .Court, and if the Government wish the prosecution to persist in this charge against mc. the only means by which they can secure my presence is to issue a wan-ant for my arrest, and so force mc to appear." Of course the magistrates issued a warrant for Franklin's arrest, but up to the present he has managed to evade the officers charged to execute it. Meanwhile, the post-box campaign is in full swing, and though the Suffragettes have not yet made use of the secret substance which we were told was to take the place of tine filthy mixtures they have used hitherto, they are contriving to do a great deal of damage with tar, gum, hectograph ink, and acids. In the Lewisham amd Cat ford district of London the content-- of no less than eight office and street post-boxes were smothered in tar, and from almost every other part of London reports of similar outrages are being received daily. In the provinces the post-box campaign appears to be carried on by peripatetic gangs of experts in letter spoiling game, who travel from town to town and "make a thorough job ot it" in each place. At Tunbridge Wells, on Tuesday evening, for instance, every single post-box in the town was tampered with, a mixture of varnish, ink, and acid, being introduced into the receptacles at a time when in the ordinary event, the majority of letters for the evening mail would be in them. The result was than hundreds of postal packets had their addresses wholly, oc partially obliterated- The raid was cleverly organised and carried out, and net "a single person was caught in the act, nor, so far, has any arrest been made in connection with it. In London the poet-tax raiders have been bass fomttmaite, for several women have been caught more oless "red-handed," as also, have one o: two of the false -alarm givers. One who was caught at Govent Garden had the "satisfaction" of knowing that he senseless act caused no leas than five steamers, three fire escapes, and a salvage eo;-,-3 team to turn out. The question is bow long will the public tolerate these exasperating and dangerous suffragette antics without making reprisals in axjexwdance with Mrs Pethiefc i Lawrence's "ftm ashing" creed?