VOICES OF THE PEOPLE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 279, 22 November 1913, Page 8

VOICES OF THE PEOPLE.

. 1 THE AUCKLAND EXHIBITION. (To the Editor.i air.—l think tint, it 1? limn public attention is naJW to -t.lv* following f.Mia re the Auckland Exhibition: —Th« l>in»i ness mm of this city are responsible fur | hfenming guarantor.- —have given largely, bouh in cash »nd pood?, aJso valuable i time in busineiw hours. ill for one purj p."*-.r —viz., the advancement, of Aucki land through vbe Exhibition. The workI in,? -man Iris done, little—no voluntary !labour has been offered. Work 'ins lwen i provided, and neaie iliou-an 1- " r pounds !*pent In wage*, and the- arlu-aii Iran bre!i | J fully paid fur his labour—rouphly speakjinir thirty thousand pound.- i C3H.000) i his,- l,rrn .spcnil, Jirinus. tin , 00-t oi' , i materials: the balance is chiefly labour. i Now. considering all the .surplus flunk; i lof the Exhibition are to be devoted to j ' improving the people's property—vi 7.., I ' the Domain—ner-ni* in mr that tha ■ iturif is folly ripe to fiink sil! difference", ! and .not. let our Exhibition suffer. I hope that this appeal will touch .ill interested. f>o that everyone will pull together and 'make the Exhibition the nii>st succ««sfu] ! of its kind hold ,in Australasia.-—I am, I Mc, WILLIAM H. ATK.IW I ___ • -scab. -, I "Clot"' suggests thai •;:.-; the "scab" i* ; one of Nature's method.-- of lioaiinsf a j ; wound alter being struck by a stroke, ' s.i it is now the natural method of heal-! ! ing the results, of being struck by v I i strike. Our "specials' should not object, i , to being called 'scab' any mate than the, I released liunger-strikr-rs should to being j ; culled 'returned emptier."" i A HAi-TV SUMMON:-. j Mr. K. Wright, of Maiingakararnea,! I writes thanking one of our correspondent." v. ho asked the people to help the I mounted.-, with a few old overcoats. lie' j says; "My son is. one of them who had Itogo at a moment's notice. He was ! working five miles from heme, the track : Lo which is vile, and would not be. J travelled by a -striker on any account. j My son came out the day the call came ' Ito do some business in Whangarei. and so had to pro minus liis swap, and he is not the only one who had to do the .-a mc from hero." PICKETING. "A Victim" protests ag.iinst picketing lin any form being allowed. 11.- say,-: "In i i nln ot "very instance except wli'tp our ' i mounted ' specials ' are prewnt. the privi- i . icge i.-. grossly abused. It is quite safe to : nay no man at work wishes to b- even i I civilly spoken to by picket, much less i [bullied and abused; and as for the in-i i formation a pick.H may legally give, well. I I that is only tin: merest pr-lence. for every ' ; item is published in the daily paper?, and ' 1 if. as sonic of the strikers aver, the truth ' I cannot. In- got there, why. the Trades Hall ; I i.- available to anyone who mar wish to j I hear the true stale of affairs." I THE CAUSE OK THE STRIKE. I , Mr VV. A. Bell writes: "I wonder if i ;he general public realise what the cause and principles are for which we] are lighting? From the tone of the cor- 1 I respoddenei-. r e strike matter?, the j I majority of your correspondents reckon' j they are up ajrainst the -Red Fed.-."! ! which is really no; the case. Of course, j I ilic-e d.iyr, one h\i> only to be a. striker !Ut be a 'Red Fed." I know: but do you I think, that all the unions now on ! strike., a pood SO per cent. of which are 'Arbitration Unions with no uncertain I convictions, have been influenced by I : those terrible wild foreign agitators? J No: what really is the case, these unions. i realising what, important principles are at .-take, have taken it upon themselves' 'to show what their idea i- in a practical I ! way. Not one of the.-c union., was ap- ■ i proaclied by (-he original strikers to join I ! them, therefore their action i- one of! ! spontaneous sympathy with the aims l I and objects of the principals. To sum up j ii!ii» position, it really amounts to thus: J Are we unionists to "be allowed to form land ran o'.ir union.-, as we. the men j J they are to benefit, want them run; or! 'are we to allow the boMes to -ay we. | —hall only form and register unions in I ! the tray Lhnt will benefit*them, when the. j ! country's laws allow two or more, ways of resist?rinp!" I

■ I I THE TRAMWAY SERVICE. I I Convenience writes:— I. along with others, have no idea of departing from ! our first intention, and that is that we ! will, as soon as power is supplied, -tart ' the ears, no matter how coal is obtained. \ We. recognise that we are no parly tii ' this strike, and don't intend to have* any ] hand in it. We. as a union, are r.oY ; affiliated with the Federation of , T,obonr, and have nothing to do with the I strike, although some of our members j would hare, us believe that wo are really I out on strike, inasmuch as they, at a. I previous meeting, wanted m compel j members u> appear at every meeting held I during the strike, or give ail aceonrrt of ! what ne was doing a.nd why he did Tint j attend. 1. along with others, recognise : that, we are working under a pood agree--1 ment, and that we have no quarrel with our employers-. We also have a duty to the public, and. as such, we will, as soon as notified by our officials, turn to work. We have had enough of this, through no fault of our own. and the sooner the cars are running again the better. .1 hope, our officials will not be influenced by these would-be Red Federationists, and, as soon as coal is available, that we will have a chance, to earn our Irving without having to resort to working in the capacity of a free labourer, which some of us will certainly have to do if we are shut down for an indefinite period. !

'An Invalid" writes: "I do not think the tramway mm have given it a thought that there arc numerous people., both men and women, who are unable to pet about now that the trams are not running, because they are invalids and can only walk a short distance. If it is a case of shortage of r-oal. of course they are not responsible for the suffering and cruelty imposed upon the weak ones, who now eannnt jret about : but if it is a case of •we will <it«y out on strike in sympathy with other -trikrr-." nell. then, they will have In answer for ilicir wrongs if noi I in (hi* World, then in I ho next". Hut ]' think that. most, of the tr&mwaymen are I kind-hearted fellow*, therefore.' I would suggest, to them that, if necessary, they should offer "their -services to the Tramway Company to procure sufficient coal, even if they haw to unload, and cart it tberasehxa. This would be a. humanitarian piece of •wotfc on the part of the,

delicate. Let those with good consciences make a bold stand and approach the company to that effect, olid I feel sure they will be rewarded. Make it a point of having all trams running, say, on Wednesday- next, 20th inst. You will be happy to see the numerous smiling faces of both sexes while working.' , WHAT SHOULD THE SMALL FARMERS DO': Mr. J. E. Chamberlain writes: —"It ie up to the nmail farmers to consider where it will be best for them tcr throw in their kit. considering ho-»- the pro.-peot of settlement appears to-day. -Judging by what we have read concerning -Sir ■Joseph \Vard and the Labour members' proposals re the strike, one would naturally incline towards Labour being the best for the small farmers to fall into line with, and thus force the Government lo bring about a speedy settlement. las it must now he very evident to the j unbiassed mind that the small 'business men and ?rua.ll faimexa arc no longer thought of, but the interests of lar<ro squatters and large employers instead. By the land proprietors ranging themselves up alongside of Labour, thpy ■have everything 'to gain and nothing to l-.toe. as far as the future land policy !is <-or.ccrneu and the future generation. I Otherwise, their progeny would tsuiTer jby an alliance with the present GovernI iiicni, on ju-c-ount of Uhe working man, , pf.ru4i.ps. being bi-ati'D, and putting the I retrograde hind policy back another fifty j years to the fifty it has already been I put back. By an alliance with Labour lit would be possible for dear rentes and 1 exorbitant prices of land to disappear. !on account of both parties making common ciii.-c against large estates.'' AN APPEAL FOR REASON". Mr -Joltn ('. K&rl writes: "The "ship of State" in the Dominion has met with angry seas, may be said to be rounding the. "Cape, of Storms," and those on board arc beginning to feel raal de mer. What miller Providence will bring us out? I What is going to restore equilibrium in I the industrial department of our comniunity? The answer is—enlightened I reason triumphing over passions. Jf em- ! plover-* or workers think they can v in a i cause by suffocating principles of justice, they arc blind. The Devil is no respecter of persons! His passions of greet! and seltisliness are not confined to possessors of wealth. To all the word from Heaven i comes "Having food and raiment, let us Ibe therewith content." "What shall it profit a man if in , shall gain the whole 'world and lose his own soul';" It is quite obvious, then, that, what tends to bring- ' ing on and establishing "liberty, irater- j 1 nitv, and equality" among men is the i proof of dispassionate reason. Indij viduals of both contending sections 1 should make more of reason than they , have done, and refuse to be led by "Tiery j spirits.' " WHY STRIKES FAIL. "A-Y.R." writes: —"Perhaps .At this juncture it would not be amiss to state why the strike policy is a failure. First, i when a worker goes on strike, his first ; How hits his wife and children: in other ! words, his earning power ceases, and his ■ wife and children must go without. The ■ second blow hiu, his friend and neigh- ' boar; in other words, other kindred trades or occupations rrrust suffer, be- : cause of his. I the worker's) inactivity. ; The third blow he strikes, he misses, and . that, i- the fellow he is after; in other ' words, the captains of industry are immune from his efforts, because of their wealth. Another reason why strikes fail i* the f;ix-t that any worker in any industry worthy of the name is rendering ser- ! vice to the rest of the community, or' society in general. Society in general j pays top prices for tho>e services, and I naturally roent- ;i cessation of work i simply because the worker and captains i of industry arc lighting over the division :of the spoil. Another reason why ; strikes fail is that the side always wins ; that has the greatest staying power, and ; Cod knows Unit the staying power of the worker is very limited. Another phase: jof a strike is that it is a declaration of ! war against society, and society ha* just I a.- much or little right to declare ' v.ar again.-;, the workers in an j [industry as those workers have to de- j I clare war against it (society), My i fellow-workers, a strike is war. and i 1 Society will not tolerate war being de- I j flared upon it with impunity, and lor 'no just cause. You have a very much I simpler way of attaining your wishes, ;if they are just. You have a. voting i - power oi 7.) per cent of the population. | i ill you have to do is to organise 50 per I j cent into a political machine. One week's ; [ strike pay would give your party fundi" . I enough to kwp your agitators in the : I field, only they must agitate for some- j j thing more reasonable than bringing i ! other people to their knees. Britishers I ! arc not built that way.' , I i ' I

I ARBITRATION AND StKlALl*.\f. j Mr \V. «-ii..-: in re-ply to I •f.T'".'B. - I i,houjr!rt i r>. , ;.■ i; i-!c,.r'tha.-. ! 1 beiie\f:ii in arbitratioi'. ":.- >; h in tliport , and i-i j,t't'ii:'\ liPii ;•*..> roniendinjr \ partio are at vajijiKv e<u;h should In- j prepare;] in give -j,nti take a li':l<-. It! i.ne j.!(ii> iss;m.- .i,:i ultima-tunj n'bii-ii i lhi> i..lhiT v.r.:j..t (xeeibiy agree to. jirbk.ra;tioH cannot go on until that Ultimatum l« wibbdranra. The Emf>!overf^ r ]'>Jer;i.Tioii ieeoed rui-Ji an ultimatum. And the "Red Feds.' have marlp several overtnrG> txrwarde a peaceful pcttlement, .but -still the irtthnatum remnins. Both sides must be r.--adona.ble to make ration efferrtive. Re ! Socialism xn:l Anarchr. 1 think if ! '"C.F.H." wp.rc to .""tody fhe coneHitnUon I and rnJfs of tlie United Federation an.-l | Social Demoera,l;<- party -he would find i nothing: •>'* "disorder and uiirpr la«-lf¥s- | nn=.~." 'C.F.H.' also ebjpets to the | term 'benetk-eru fairies. , ' Very well, to I please -hrm. I will substitute ma-Woloni for bp.nfifiorat. .And I am not io sure of i.he.Di out disorders a~ 1 am of their stamping a gTej; deal on the footpaths, to the danger of lite and limb of peacetui citizens, and the nttrr disregard of the city by-laws.' .