THE STRIKE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 278, 21 November 1913, Page 2

THE STRIKE.

VOICES OF THE PEOPLE.

We have been obliged to condense the i large mas 9of correspondence on the subject of the strike which has been sent in, and a good many letters are still in hand for which it is impossible to find space. RED TAPE. "J." asks: "Is it a fact that after an East Coaster hud unloaded its cargo jof maize on to lorries, the railway au- ! thorities refuaed to take delivery because the sacks were over regulation weight? During normal times the fourbushel sack of 2401b5. is heavy enough ' for easy handling, but, surely, under present peculiar circumstances, exception might be made." [On inquiry at the railway station, a i "Star" reporter was informed that the I above correspondent must have been mistaken. Maize would not be refused because of overweight, so long as the regulations were observed. When any agricultural produce exceeds in weight SJOOlbs. to the bag, an extra 10/ per ton is charged. The East Coast ship- ■ ment referred to would not be refused, so long as the penalty was paid.—Ed.J THE PUBLIC VERSUS TIIE STRIKERS " Mens Conscia Recti," replying to "Just a Man," says:—"First he says the 1 'game ' in progress is one between employers and strikers. It strikes mc this figlit is n fight in which the sane-minded public of New Zealand are lighting against a band of men controlled 'by a j few high-paid (comparatively) agitators, I or, as "they are pleased to'style them-

I selves, leaders: and although most of ] them are not New Zenlandcrs, they want ! to run the place. Your belated eorrcI spondent takes exception to the action : of the Mayor. 1 think any reasonable ' person will admit that the Mayor holds . an unenviable position, and cannot please everyone, but is certainly pleasing j most .people. As for the ' fairy talcs,' 1 think a man would have to be a very ! good illusionist to beat the strikers at : spinning 'yarns,' etc., as shown by their ! persistent assertions, in the face of obvious facts, that none of the strikers have returned to work. Your correspondent's peaceful mind is perturbed by the use of the words 'cowardly disturb- ] anees.' What of the two youths who, because they opposed a motion, were . mobbed and severely handled? Isn't : that cowardly? The strikers are brave I when they are present in overwhelming numbers." He says the strikers are at ! other times considered just as honourI able and reputable, etc. Let mc tell him that it is not the men themselves; most of them didn't want to strike: it I is these leaders who are always creating I ill-feeling and strife, and who have the '• men completely under their control, i Once more I thank those brave country ; fellows who saved us from a state of affairs too ghastly to contemplate." ARBITRATION UNION OF CARPENTERS AND JOINERS. Mr Win. Watson, Russell Street, 'writes: —"In consequence of my en- ! deavour to form an Arbitration Union of carpenters and joiners in Auckland. I have received so many inquiries from tradesmen that I find it is impossible to ; answer all of them. My endeavour is / to get those in favour of arbitration, j unionists and non-unionists, to join to- | gether and apply for a new award. I i have been informed by Mr Beldon that ' the employers are willing to give us 1/6 per hour as soon as we apply for i a new award, but in no case will they i agree to any request except by arbitration." RE THE FARMER'S VIEWPOINT. Mr W. S. Moxsom, commenting upon the letter of "Agricola," says:—"Your correspondent, in dealing with the present position from tho fanner's viewpoint, shows a deplorable lack of knowledge of tho true state of affairs from the town worker's point of view; he asks why have the unions turned dog on their br. t friends? Let mc say, that if the small farmers arc the unions best friends, they, the. farmers, have taken a very loft-handed way of showing their friendship. The unions have no I quarrel with the small farmer; the town j worker's fight is with the exploiter of the • town worker and small farmer ulike. I That appears to be recognised by your I correspondent, and if this position is generally recognised by the small farmer, for whom your correspondent speaks, . then their place_ in this struggle is be- | side the town' worker; then would friendship have been strongly cemented between two sections at least. The presence of the farmer in town is only prolonging the trouble, making a rapi prochement of the parties more difficult, and assisting to defeat the ends of jusI tice from the worker's standpoint. Re : your correspondent's comment on | Labour organising on 'sane' linos and having its representatives through the Parliament of New Zealand; do not let him worry about that. Labour is organising upon very 'sane' lines, and not only means to have its representatives in Parliament, but it is determined to dominate the position." A CLASS WHICH IS NOT CONSULTED. "A City Clerk" writes:—"There is an- ! other class the Labour people have overlooked as they did the fanners, and that ; is the class between the muscle workers ; and the capitalists—the class to which I i belong—we'll call it the 'middle' class I for short—clerks, counter hands, and other employees. Now tho Labourites have prevented mc from making a living with my brain, as I've got the sack, and what must follow? I have a wife and children to support. Am I to let them starve as well as myself? Of course not. I have perforce to use my muscle as the only thing left, and I become a labourer —forced to do so by tbe labourers themselves against their own interests. Bettor men than 1 have done this sort of thing, and it is lietter paid, and wo don't lose so very much sweat from our miwlv brows after all. But do you see the point, mister? The watersiders say we shan't work, and compel us to take their billets, and if I become a 'scab.' who has made mo such? Another thing, too, that is overlooked is that if the workers don't go back to work soon there will be no work for anyone, and the Bankruptcy Court will bo pretty busy. Do « little sum: Six thousand men at sixpence a dny equals £150 a day, or £1,(150 a week: Where is this money coming from? Don't you sec. mister? It's dead easy to know tbe result. What blooming nfTcct will this strike have on the men tho

workers want to get at? Less effect, mister, than water on n duck's back. Don't you see, mister, we are the sufferers, the unwilling, unasked, unreferred to sufferers—the middle class, as I call them. Is this strike going to make mc give my vote to any intending representative of labour for Parliament? What oh, mister, not mc! SOCIALISM V. ANARCHY. C.F.H. writes:—"After a careful study of .Mr Aggers' last letter I gather that he believes in arbitration as a theory, but in practice prefers the methods of the Red 'Feds. According to him, Socialism is utterly opposed to Anarchy, and yet, strangely enough, a paper called 'The Maoriland .Yorker' professes to be the organ of both the Federation of Lnlbour and the Social Democratic party. Surely, then, these must be an ill-matched pair to run in double harness, since the Federation of Labour both preaches and practises what Mr Aggers so neatly terms "disorder and utter lawlessness." With regard to the mounted specials, 'beneficent fairies from rustic glades' seems a somewhat high-flown expression to apply to honest farmers, but with the underlying meaning 1 am heartily in accord. What I cannot understand is that when these beneficent fairies proceed to stamp out this same 'disorder and utter lawlessness' Mr Aggers resents it. "BLACKLEG" OR FREE LABOUR. Mr. John A. Deale writes:—"lt seems to mc that N. Shorter, in his letter in the 'Star,' of 14th inst., has missed the mark, and is arguing on false premises, lie says: 'No man with any selfrespect, whether he be Arbitrations! or Fedcrationist, etc., will for a moment tolerate blackleg labour.' If the workers will only seek redress for real or imaginary grievances in a proper and lawful manner, by means of an Act passed especially for their protection and benefit, there would be no necessity for 'blackleg labour.' If, however, they prefer to resort to violent measures to gain their ends, which N. Shorter apparently does not approve of, then the community in self-defence naturally calls in any labour, free or union, to prevent a public catastrophe, entailing anarchy and ruin. The object of a general strike, or even a strike of men handling the necessaries of life, is a mean advantage taken to bring employers, per the public, to their knees, whether the demand of the strikers he just or not, and not- ' withstanding that the opinion of an impartial tribunal may not have been taken or given as to tho merits of the demand for the information of the public. Let X. Sliurt.er and his eo-arbitralionists keep out of bad company, and they will never lie required to -tolerate blackleg labour.' They know very well that a great effort was made hy Federationists to starve and leave in darkness the masses of this Dominion, for some paltry disputes which arose in Huntly and Wellinaton, and that tho-e masses had no voice in bringing about or redressing such alleged grievances. If workers cannot get all they want under the Arbitration Act, now in force, let them act in a sensible and moderate manner by getting another Act passed which will provide for such redress, and not be in such a tempestuous hurry. They had a chance at the last election. In every country there is always a lot of free labour on hand, which is just ns much entitled to an innings .is those now batting. Why should these men he compelled to join

a union whose constitution they do not approve of? Have they no right to form a separate union under the alternate system, without being deemed 'blacklegs'?" A PROTEST AGAINST OFFICE _L TACTICS. Mr. John Guiniven, ns a colonial of over forty years' standing, writes: —"I

wish to protest against this industrial upheaval, which means ruin and want to thousands of industrious persons, and also the useless methods adopted in resisting it. I will admit at the outset that the workers in this colony have many grievances which demand redress; but have they not gone half-way seeking this trouble for the last few years?

They say the Arbitration Court is of little value to them now. but admit that it worked fairly well in Premier Seddon's time; and, if so, why did they allow the Liberal Government to be turned out of ollice last election? Although Mr. Massey is member for my district. I never think for a moment that he is of special interest to tho small farmer. And lime say right here, those who are the recognised enemies of labour in the towns, fix the prices that the farmers

must buy and sell at. Well, the workers struck at Huntly, and, instead of the Government giving both sides twentyfour hours' notice to settlo their dispute, failing which it would be settled for them I those in the wronp; to pay the penalty), they allowed the matter to drift on until tlie. position became serious. The Premier then gathers up and dispatches to the city hundreds of mounted men at an enormous cost. The farmers were taking their milk to the creameries as usual; there was plenty of fuel; they were selling their cattle as usual at the sales; the freezing works were going in Auckland, and there was absolutely no reason for bringinsr in the "specials" to disorganise the trade of the city. The ordinary police could have maintained order, and one-third of tbe unions would not have come out. Add to this that the farmers were only asked to load their butter, instead of doing the work that has been allotted to them, and is it a wonder that so many have returned disgusted? The strike has hit the small business people in tho town hardest of all. and. if ihey wish to end this trouble, they ought to band them-

selves together, and inform Mr. Massey that they are not satisfied with the way he hns 'been conducting the show, and a settlement could bo forced immediately. This should carry them on to the elections next year, when no doubt there will be a great change." PAssio hysterica". "Febrifuge" writes: — " Quern dens vult perderc priiis dr-snentat. 1 do not suggest that this is quite our condition just now. nn 1 verily hope it is not. but for an rthsorver looking at us from tlie heights 1 am quite sure such will bo the expression of his soliloquy. Anyway, if we arc not to be lost, we are losing, and are going to lose homily by yielding ourselves willing victims of the disease passio hysterica. The whole community has 10-t control of itself —an evidence of which is tho exaltation of a dispute between mutually dependent parties into nn occasion for civil war- -

tho setting of class against class, the determination to tight to the end. the refusal of peaceful methods of conciliation nnd arbitration, disposition to believe any wild canard t" the disparagement of one party, ihe absolute refusal to see any possibility of right on their part notwithstanding the spectacle of much Bcli-i-opri'ssion nnd -.elf denial under much provocation. I am led to this

rumination 'by the remarks of two usually level-headed men, as in the recent Press —others taking up the parrot cry. These gentlemen are full of indigation because, along with much vicarious suffering, one public insttitution in particular has to accept, its share. I allude to the temporary stoppage of the Mental . Hospital enlargement works. And 1 I thought of how long the public authoriI ties—Government —looked callously on 1 whilst the needs of that institution were so pressing. We had not reached the hysteria stage. (Sow a short-sighted Government lends itself to the epidemicpa s=io hysterica, and at enormous cost endeavours to suppress, by mercenary forces, what is after all but a natural ( efTort of the body politic to right wrong. llt is high time we pulled ourselves to- • gether and returned to a saner mood, or verily we shall be treated with medicine suited to our mentally diseased condition—but nauseous." THE MOUNTED FORCE. "Peaceful Citizen" thinks the mounted jpeci.d constables should assume a more martial bearing when on duty. 'He objects to them carrying batons when galloping up a peaceful street like Queen I Street, and says the uniformed constables 'avoid such aggressive displays. He 'believes that the incident in the vicinity of the Trades Hall would not have occurred with the uniformed constables. Our correspondent concludes: "I quite understand that the bringing of these 'specials' to the city helps, perhaps, in more ways than one, but for things as I have stated to go on won't help to keep our reputation of the 'Queen City of the South'; so if they are to show us a thing or two, our 'Country Cousins' must shape up a 'bit better than this, seeing I learn a number have been in tho South African forces. OTHER LETTERS SUMMARISED. "An Elector" thinks it time that the general public petitioned Parliament to take effective action to end the strike. "Farmer" writes to congratulate Mr Tern 810-odworth upon his temperate statement of the case for the striken*, and nlso to congratulate the "Star" upon giving space to ihe workers to state their side of the argument.

"A. Looker-on." commenting upon Major Lusk's action in thanking the strike agitators for succeeding in uniting tho country folk, considers it remarkable "that in all these years no motive of righteous brotherhood could draw those folks together: but when the Holy of Holies, the breeches pocket, was threatened, they rise like one man."

L.W.A.M. looks upon the strike us "a blessing in disguise," because of its demonstration that the morning and afternoon "nips" are not essential. He says:—"Now that the hotels have been strictly closed for over a fortnight, the conscientious toper, who really considered a morning nnd afternoon stimulation an absolute necessity to recuperate the system, finds that this 'nipping* is. after all. only a self-indulgent habit, and that his work proceeds just as well without the stimulation."