THE AUCKLAND STRIKE.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 14188, 31 October 1911, Page 6

THE AUCKLAND STRIKE.

New Zealand, tho so-called "country without strikes," is at present the sceuo of a strike on a considerable scale, which was begun wantonly and has been extended without the semblance of reason. Tho whole trouble in Auckland, to which is due tho sudden cessation from work of some 500 or 6CO members of the General Labourers' Union, arose out of the action of ono of tho contractors for tho new drainage system, who let a sub-contract to six of his men to do a certain amount of tunnelling. Tho Union opposes subcontracting on the ground that it involves the cutting of the rates of pay, and ono of its rules forbids any of its members to take a sub-contract. It accordingly informed tlie contractor that tho contract must be terminated, the alternative being that the men would bo called out on strike. The contractor declined to break a contract which was not objected to by those engaged on it, and the Union thereupon callod out all the men employed on the city drainage works, with the result that contracts amounting to somo £200,000 havo been suspended for some days. A numbor of the men, it may be added, are not at all gratified by the courseof ovoiits. Many of them had no grievance against the contractors by whom i they wero employed, and though they do not believe in sub-contracting, they appear to grudge losing 8s or 10s a day for tho sako of enforcing a principle whi'.-li might havo been conoeded without trouble if more diplomatic measure-, had been taken.

Tho trouble has not been confined to the men engaged on tho drainage works. A day or two after they had been called out, tho Union put pressure on a large number of men employed by tho City Council and tho suburban boroughs, with the result that thoso employed at tho Mount Eden quarry, certain street improvement works, and the destructor, "came out." It is noteworthy that the destructor employees have, within the past throe months, had their wages raised by a shilling a day, and received concessions in the matter of holidays. They had no personal complaint, but. willingly or otherwise, they brought the whole system of collecting tlio city refuse to a standstill and endangered the health of tho community, because six men had taken a sub-contract.

This action brings tho city of Auckland and the whole Dominion face to faco with the possibilities of the present attitude of a section of tho workers in New Zealand. Tho Auckland

General Labourers' Union recently gave notico of tho .cancellation of its registration under the Arbitration Act, but that cancellation does not tako effect until to-morrow, so that by striking List week the Union brought itself under the punitive provisions of the Act. What action may be taken by the Labour Department in this matter re- ! mains to bo seen. But after to-morrow I its members will be free to strike as j they please, and to call on other' bodies j affiliated, as it is, to the Federation of j Labour, to help it in its fight. The j following quotation from a report of jan interview between Mr R. Scmple, the organiser of the Federation, and the Mayor of Auckland, is significant :-- Mr Scrapie: We have no desire to dislocate tho city, but if need be we will paralyse tho who_o of New Zealand. Wo have a j v.'iii. fide grievance. Tho Mayor: That would be like blackmail of the whole con__nunity. Mr Semij'e: Ii wo can do nothing elee wo must do the extreme thirg. We havo never dono tho ext.-emo thing yet, but we have not dono one-third oi what can be done. No threat is intended. Tho Mayor: Is tnat a threat? Mr Scrapie: No, it is not a threat. Wo don't want to do it. If wo had taken tbe extreme step wo wnuld have rfaggcied a lot iof people. We don't wart to do it, because wo k::ow it will, hurt tire community. The Mayor: It will hurt the men, too. Mr Seaiple: I know that in tb:sc cases the men get pinched hardest. Tho idea that tf-ere is anything wronn; in paralysing tho work of a city, or the social and industrial life of the Dominion, on account of a trivial difference of opinion, never seems to enter tho heads of agitators of Mr Somplc's class. Tho contractor whoso action was the original cau?o of the present situation, offered to put his men on day work nest day, but his offer liad no effect and tho strike that was based on his sub-contnicting still goes on. The prosj poets of an amicable settlement at today's conference seem remote, and beforo the trouble is ended t-i_o whole of ! New Zealand may have become involved :in it. Wo shall then have a practical i example of the effect of tho " class- | " consciousness" that is so diligently j preached by a section —and only a socj tion. wo are glad to think—of the leaders of labour in New Zealand.

Present circumstances suggest that . tho recent successful agitation at j Homo against tho projected fight be- ; twoen Johnson, tho negro, and Wells, ! the Englishman, has lulled, at least for ! tho present, all public prize-fights l thinly disguised as boxing matches Many people objected on principlo to the fight taking place, because they opposed such contests, but a great many others condemned it becauso of the colour question involved in it, whilo some wero quite willing that it should bo stepped because they bolioved Wells to bo no match for his opponent. Tho strength of the feeling against raising the colour question was remarkable, and it received the powerful support of "the Times," which wrote: —"To thoso who understand tho conditions of tho British Empire as a whole no consideration, can oxoeed in gravity that of preventing tho aggravation of 'colour, feelingwhore it already exists, and discouraging its growth where at present it is absent." It was pointed out that what wa3 done at Earl's Court, whore the fight was to be held, would not in any ca3o ho don© at Earl's Court alone. "It will inevitably be spread by the Press, and will havo its effect on every community in which black and white livo side by side—an effect which in somo ways may only b© aggravated by tho refusal of permission for tho public display of the übiquitous film. We believe th.it in the public interest of tho Empire tho fight should bo stopped."

When tho London County Council showed signs of threatening not to renew the license of Earl's Court if tho fight took piace, when the law was invoked against tho principals, and when tho latter were publicly prayed for— an incident which is said to have mado both Johnson and Wells very cross—the only thing left for tho promoter to do was to cancel the fight, oven at tho cost of several thousand pounds. Since then the agitation has developed, and now this morning we are told that tho contest between Wells and Moir has been abandoned, the proprietors of the largo halls declining to take the risk after tho recent agitation over the Johnson-Wells fight. There ar© wors.e things happening daily, as Mr White, tho promoter of tho Johnson-Wells contest, contended, "than a boxing contest under stringent English conditions," but tho fact remains that public opinion in England was opposed to that fight on what must be admitted to be thoroughly sound grounds. The objection has apparently extended from tho particular to tho general, and tho last has probably been seen of such contests for somo time. Tho announcement in our cable news this morning that tho British Government are establishing a naval base at Lamlash Bay, in the Mc of Arran, off the west coast of Scotland, is an interesting development of naval strategy. A chain of bases round Great Britain is being slowly completed. Portsmouth commands the lower part of the Channel ; Dover and Shcorneas tho upper part. A start has been made with the great base at Rosyth, on the east coast of Scotland, which is a reply to Germany's ambitions as a naval Power. .•_ base is also to bo established in tho Orkneys. When theso aro completed, England's hold on tho North Sea will be very strong. The Channel can ho blocked, and a close watch kept on the waters to the north. The new base in Arran will guard the trado route to nnd from Glasgow, on which it lies. It will deal with any hostile vessels that may evado the cordons in the north of the North Sea and steam round Scotland, or with warship s in tho Atlantio which, despairing of getting up the Channel, may elect to make a dash at commerco in the Irish Sea. Times -have changed sinco tho Admiralty could be satisfied with concentrating all their strength on tho south coast of England.

Tlio frequent appearances of the late •Mr Justice Hawkins at race-meetings when he might have been presiding over his Court used to cause a good deal of comment, but we feel sure that that eminent judge and lover of horse-flesh would never have sanctioned such a violation of good taste as is reported from Melbourne. On Saturday week the jury in tho Peacock murder trial were actually taken out to the Caulfield races under escort! The jurymen were kept from contact with tho public during the trial, and every evening were |

taken for a drive. On this Saturday

they wero given permission to attend a sports gathering, and they chose the Caulfield Cup Meeting. It is not explained why th© Court was adjourned; one would think that in a trial where tho lifo of a man w.is at stake everybody would bo anxious to get it over as soon as possible. But even assuming that an adjournment was necessary, it was surely improper that tho jury should attend a race meeting. As the Sydney "Daily Telegraph" says, the least they might havo done was "to abstain from putting in an appearance at any place of public amusement whilo still burdened with tho tremendous responsibility of a fellow-creature's life." It they had gone individually it would not have been so bad; the most repellent fact was that they went "as part of the process of the administration of justice, and in charge of officers of the Crurt.*' The Australian passion for racing is proverbial, but one docs not expect it to take such forms as this.