The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED. The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1914. THE SOUTH AFRICAN STRIKE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 16, 19 January 1914, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED. The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 1914. THE SOUTH AFRICAN STRIKE.

For the eww that lacks aatistanoe. For th* wrong that need* ratitttamtm. For the fvture in the dutwnee, And the good that urn «■» do.

So far as can be judged at this distance, the Btrike in South Africa has been practically broken down already; and this result is generally attributed to the vigorous action of the Government in calling out the defence forces and proclaiming martial law. Under the circumstances it is difficult to see what other coTTiBe Botha and his coiteagnee oould! have taken* Naturally, they have expeeed themselves to a good deal of oritacJßm, not only dn South Africa, but from the Oberol Prese at Home. But we befieve that even those liberate who regret most eincerely the necewity ifor the application of force in eucli a conflict will agree with the "Westminster Gazette" that a "geaexal" strike ie different from every other sort of industrial diepnte, and tha»t /when the interests of the community are thus assailed toy a body of men who proclaim 'themselves enemies' of <tlhe wbole existing social and industrial eyetem, •*fche community ie entitled l to protect iteelf." Of counse, it .will be highly ad'vjeatlo for .the Soiil/h (African Government to nee Hβ powera with moderation and discretion , ; but in an emergency each as tJhe threaitof a "genera-l" ertrrike creates, half measures are futile. At all eoete the authority of the State must he upheld, and law and; order must be maintained; and 1 if 'tlhe Government is compelled to iiee, force to secure these ends, the responeibility retete n»ith the etrikere. Our Teaders will observe that several hundreds of strikere have been placed under arrest at Benoni on a charge of using dynamite. Benoni, it may be explained, is the village where the Kleinfontein mine is situated, and it was the dispute between , the ■workers and cm-, ploycre at this mure, that caused the strike last year. . Moreover, it wae at. Benoni that the woret - outbreaks ol violence occurred dn June and July last; and the Commission appointed to investigate the immediate causes of the last strike reported to the effect that •the weakness and irresolution displayed by the authorities at Benoni led to all the eufheequant trouble. "The strikers at Benoni," we are told, "were able to acquire euch power throughout the town and neighbourhood that they could commit acts of violence unchecked by the police and establish a reign of terror." The spread of terrorism, we are further informed, was due to insufficiency of police; to the fact that minatory and inflammatory language, and -open incitement to violence on tie part of etriKeis and their leaders were allowed to pass unpunished; and to the fact that the Industrial Disputes Act which renders it an offence to strike or incite to etrike till a dispute has been investigated 'by a Board, and the report of the Board published, was treated as a dead letter; with the result that "pickets of strikers could assault men impunity," while the strike leaders -were allowed to roam, about from mine to mine, inducing men to strike, and even "pulling them oat" when the majority had decided by ballot against striking. Apart from all this, the permkflion given by Government to hold a public meeting of strikens at Benoni after it had heen prohibited by the local authorities, gave the strikers the impression that " they could terrorise the Government just as they had terrorised the inhabitants of Benoni." The whole report, in fact, is a stringent ceneure on the Government for the weakness it displayed in dealing with last year's crisis, and Botha and his advisers have evidently determined that they shall not be found answeraibie to tie some charge again. But we are far from suggesting that the workers at Johannesburg and eteewiere dn South Africa, have m> genuine grievances. Aβ a. matter of fact, not only have they many just causes of complaint, but «iere 5e MtUe doubt that the great ebrike laeb year was precipi,'tatedi, .if it w.ie .not caused l , by tihe «m----reoeatiable attitude taken up by the employe™. According to. the report of tihe Comtniftknt to iwduch: we have already Teferredy it is* quite clear that refusal of the mine management to meet the representatives of the men" that i≤, to give full rocogni-

•tion to ihe principle of traide unionjem really rendered ail attempts at a settlement impracticable; and if euch dangerous industrial crises are to be avoided in future, the employers will, need to take a more liberal and reasonable view of the relations between themselves and the wage-earners. , At present "the non-recognition of trade unions" is specified by many competent observers as the chief cause of friction between, the mine workers and the mining companies on the Band. However, when once this grave emergency has been dtealt -with satisfactorily, there is some hope of better times for South Africa. For the Government has set up two Commissions to deal with the demands put forward by the Federation of Trade Unions last year, one to consider the raihvay men's grievances, the other to disucss the economic aspect of the situation. As the Economic Commission is to deal with wages, working hours, and cost of living on the Rand and in comparison with other centres, cost of production, overtime, and the practieabilit.y of a minimum wage, its report should throw a great deal of light on industrial conditions -in South. Africa, and may qnite conceivably point the way out of the "impasse" in which ■workers and employers throughout the Union now seem to be involved.