THE ALLIANCE OF LABOUR.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 208, 2 September 1919, Page 8

THE ALLIANCE OF LABOUR.

(To rh» Editor.) Sir, —Mr. J. W. Tizard, secretary of the Auckland branch of the Amalgamaited Society of Railway Servants, in the interview published in your columns of the 28th inst., reveals that, along with a great many other tramway and railway men, he does not appreciate the meaning of the Alliance of Labour. Mr. Tizard thinks that I have been misinformed as to the true position in regard to the Alliance, and suggests that 'tihe object of the Alliance is the prevention of strikes, "more particularly local ones." Mr. Tizard, 'however, incidentally, tells the whole story of the 'history ol the Alliance and the reasons for its formation when he says "tihe Transport Workers' Board -was restricted to those unions actually employed in transport work. The miners wanted -to come in, but, not being engaged in transport •work, they could not be admitted, therefore the Alliance of Labour was set up." Why did the minems want to come in with the Transport Workers' Board? They were not, as was pointed out, engaged in transport work. The interests of the transport workers and the -miners •were not indentified in any way whatever. The reason for the miners' desire to be associated -with the transport workers is to be found in a booklet written by William E. Trautmann, entitled "One Big Union," in which tihe I.W.W. plan of organisation for industrial revolution is outlined. This booklet ihas a circulation amongst tihe most violent Red Feds in the United States, many of whom have been rounded up and deported by the citizens as a menace to the community. My copy of the booklet was obtained on the West Coast, and was prei=en-ted to mc by a miner. The doctrines and plans advocated by this 'revolutionary, Trautmann, are preached amongst the extreme section of the -miners on tihe 'West Coast, and probably at Huntly too, -where one of the West Coast extremiste is now in a leading place. Trautmann's plan is tihe organisation of the allied industries into one big union, so that in a dispute in one trade or industry, the matter would be taken up by all tihe associated unions of membere of tlie Labour Alliance, thus, instead, of local strikes, we would ihave a national strike on every occasion, and. that at the behest of the most unreasonable and revolutionary member of the Alliance, which in this case is either -the Coal Miners' Union or the "Wharf Labourers' Unions. Mr. Tizard was correct, therefore, -when he said that tlie Alliance was designed to prevent local strikes, but he did not say that tlhey were to be replaced with national strikes. The coal miners sought to get in with tihe transport "markers in order 'thait they might have the assistance of all transport workers' in any one of their innumerable disputes. The craft which 'liais been exercised in this arrangement is evidenced by the fact that wtheo. the coal miners* unions approached tihe Prime Minister recently on the subject of their dispute with the aiiine owners, they selected as their spokesman Mr. R. Hampton, the president of the A.S.R.S. Now, what has Mr. Hampton to do with the coal miners, and what does he know about their work? When the conference between the owners and miners -was in process, tihe chief spokesman for tihe miners was Mr. Roberts, the secretary ol the waterside workers in Wellington. Again, what has Mr. Roberts to do with the coal miners, and whaifc docs Qic know about their work? The trick is, however, that when the miners -who refuse arbitration and the Conciliation Court in favour of direct action cannot get what they want from the owners and the Government, then they will call upon the railway and traimiwav men, tihe wharf labourers and seamen, "as well as the drivers, to join .them in bringin"- the whole transport of the Dominion 'to a standstill until their demands are met, no matter how extravagant or how impossible from 'the point of view of the people who have to pay the increased price for coal. The railway and tramway men of Xew Zealand are not red revolutionaries, they are not Bolshevists. They have, been drawn without their knowledge and consent into this arrangement to 6erve the purposes of the worst Labour elements in the land. A very large number of the railway and tramway men throughout tihe country are members of the P.P.A. They stand, for its platform of loyal and constitutional government. They will not willingly join hands with German-inspired revolutionaries like Tnaufcrnamn, and as •the spokesman for the P.P.A. I them to withdraw themselves combination that has within it all the mischief and misery tlhat have come upon Europe to-day. I know that the Tanks of both, services aire profoundly dissatisfied by the formation of the Alliance, and it remains for them to take the necessary action in tJhicir unions and branches to break the Alliance. Let them beware lest the extreme section, and. there is that in every branch and union, take time by the forelock and rush a resolution through approving tihe combination. The sane men know that the sympathy of the public without which they cannot hope to succeed, will be entirely alienated from . them if they remain, in such an association.—l am, etc.,

iHQBfARD: iELMOTT^