GOLDEN JUBILEE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 64, 16 March 1936, Page 9

GOLDEN JUBILEE.

RAILWAY SERVANTS.

BANQUET AT TOWN HALL

CABINET MINISTERS ATTEND.

' There was a typical railway atmosphere at the jubilee banquet organised by the Newmarket branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of New Zealand, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the society. The function was field in the concert chamber of the Town Hall on Saturday evening. When an announcement was necessary the assemblage of 500 railwaymen was called to order by the shrill blavts of a guard's whistle. Among the guests were two Cabinet Ministers, the Hon. F. Jones, PostmasterGeneral, and the Hon. P. Fraser, Minister of Education. The Minister of Railways, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, was not able to attend, owing to important official business, but he sent a telegram from Wellington expressing his sincere regret, and extending liis felicitations and good wishes for the success of the function. Minister's Message. Mr. Sullivan referred in his telegram to the congratulations and promise of co-operation conveyed to him on behalf of the society when he assumed Ministerial rank, and gave his assurance that no effort would be spared on the part of the Government to bring about the most cordial and harmonious relations in their consideration of matters concerning the welfare of railwaymen. "It must be a source of pleasure to your members, as it is indeed to me, to know that the ideal which, the founders had in view has materialised, arid the splendid. structure standing solidly to-day bears eloquent testimony to their wisdom and foresight," wrote Mr. Sullivan in his telegram. "The society has performed faithfully and well all that it set out to do, and this is confirmed not only in the records of the society itself, but also by the history of the industrial relations of the Railway Department with its staff, which is undoubtedly an outstanding examle of the successful application of union principles." Congratulatory telegrams were also received from Mr. Ernest Davis, Mayor of Auckland, Mr. J. C. Martin, workshops manager of the New Zealand Railways, and Mr. Stewart, of the head office of the Railways Department. In proposing the toast of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, Mr. S. Richards, M.P. for Roskill, paid a tribute to the society as a Dominion organisation and complimented the executive on a memorable gathering. He emphasised" the importance of the railway service in the business community of the Dominion. "Every man, woman and child must be grateful to the society, and wherever I go you will have a stalwart defender of its rights," he concluded. History of the Society. Mr. J. Williams, chairman of the Newmarket branch, in replying to the toast, traced the formation and subsequent history of the society, which from an original complement of five men was now qualified to boast of an active membership of 11,000. "Add to these 11,000 wives, and possibly 20,000 children, and the railway servants of New Zealand are maintaining nearly 25 per cent of the population," he said. The Hon. F. Jones expressed the great pleasure it gave him to be privileged to join in the rejoicings. "I cau visualise the early struggle and the persecution the founders had to endure, for all the improvements to-day are due to the progressive policy r oi the society over the past 50 years," he said. He referred to the lack of co-ordination in the past, and said that the aim of the present Government was to link the services of railway and transport. He spoke of the inauguration of the Dominion air mail, expressing the hope that within the next twelve months a trans-Tasman service would be more than a possibility.

"I attended the national dinner in Wellington and that was a very great occasion," said the Hon. P. Fraser, in extending his congratulations to the society. "As I listened to the story of the victimisation and the *arlv struggles of the enterprising msn who formed this organisation, then I realised th,at the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants of New Zealand has a history of which it may well be proud. Without trade unionism there would be no Labour party and in this country Labour has a unique opportunity. In particular I congratulate the society here, because it was in this city that it wa» founded. I trust that it will widen its activities and bring greater happiness and prosperity into the homes of its memb( rs," concluded the Ministen