DISMISSED.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 20, 18 October 1907, Page 7

DISMISSED.

MR. J. A. McCULLOUGH AND THB J ' GOVERNMENT. j INTERESTING CORRESPONDENCE* ■ i ■ [BY TELEGRAPH.' —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] \ r< Chrlstchurch, October 17., i Mr. J. A. M'pullough l received tho follow* I ing official notico of dismissal to-dayi o. " Sir.—ln connection with your sus- vj r _ pension, tho general manager instructs ; as follows: —' Plcaso notify Mr. M'Cul- \ lough that, as he has repeated his refusal. ts com P'y with the regulations of tho Da- i jj partment, it is regretted . there is no 1 j 0 alternative but to dispense with his seiv j |. g vices as from 16th inst. Please arrange to pay him up to. that date inclusive.'' , | Pay-sheet for £9 10a. is enclosed. "J. M'CARTHY, • 1 10 " Workshop Manager."of ; 30 THE CORRESPONDENCE. i £6 r> M'Cullough has handed to the press < copy of the correspondence that has passejt, ■ between him and the Department. ' Tho notice of suspension.is dated '-J , ber 25, and calls upon. him. to show caustW why his services should not be dispensed witlfl ; for contumaciously taking an active and pro-" ] i minent part in politics, contrary to tlio'r®-| >: gulations of the Department. Tho conduct I r. complained of was that Mr. M'Cullough wa* j tho mover of a motion hostile to tho Ward* ; Government, which ,was carried at a recent meeting of the Independent Political Labour J Df League. ':}' | 2s Mr. M'Cullough's reply, dated SeptemboP i to. 27, was as follows:— . '.-j ! ih : "Sir, —Your momo. of September 25, aitdj .{ ;o headed. Political Labour League, and giving? j iy mo notico of suspension by the general matw ' i- ager for something which appeared m the'M t ' Lyttelton Times' of September 6, and fur—"j ther calling upon mo to show cause why,'J • 3 - my ' services should not be dispensed with loir contumaciously taking an activo and pro' ] le jninpnt part in politics, contrary to tho rev"' . | 10 gulations of tho Department,' was duly 1( i 'f. handed to mo, and put into operation by.my,' ,~j foreman at 4 p.m. of that day. I requested* 1 him to show mo tho regulation which I had 1 J violated, and ho searched through tho ! . gulations! governing workshop employees >1 other regulations he had, and was unable to' . find anything bearing on the subject. How-i i ever, I havo since learned that there is such ' . a regulation, , but not among thoso govern-1 j r> ing tho employment of "workshop hands. ' j to your question why, I should not bo dis«, ; d. missed, I desire to-put before you tho foK ! le lowing: I havo been in the service for twentyw j |y five and a half years, and have been a faith-i ' 10 ful, conscientious servant. I havo/given 'to I j the Department twenty-five,and a half of the? 1 best years of my lifo. lam now nearing thai y ago when, under our existing industrial sys- • n ten, I can hardly hope to find an ompldyer.i' ■■ who is' producing for profit that will employ J ■ is me. This applies especially to work at my].- * trade, because of the peculiar, nature of rai]~» j ; r way work, it being entirely dissimilar to thati ] d done in outside workshops.. I make no afc- i, j ,® : tempt to disguise tho,fact that I Jiavo talceij / j ' ! an!active interest in' x tlio politics of tho Dn-J j o minion- for tlio'last twenty years, and/ ia- j ' doing so believed I was acting within mjf ! rights as a free citizen of a free country* j - and that my attitude was not distasteful t»'. r the Department or they would havp inti-] •; 0 mated to mo in some intelligible way that if.-- ; was so. I have purposely refrained froml acting antagonistically to my own ; Depart- ■ 0 ment, but have upon many occasions spoken: I - and written my views upon publio questions; J * with which I considered tho wage-earners of': j 5 tho Dominion were concerned, because I h.>H^ ' strongly the opinion that as a class they, j ' are being unnecessarily exploited by tho ~ , governing classes of the country. I have-) . > realised that our laws operate inequitably, uu»'. t justly, arid tyrannically, and have said so-.'-I have not realised that it was wrong to do ■■ this; thorefore trust that you will not dismiss ] me from my employment for doing what I ! conceived to be right and my duty. In dis- < missing mo you will deprive my wife and < children froni the benefits of the superannuation allowance, which I have paid for, j \ and whi; l i I anticipated would froo mo from' ;l tho working man's bogey—fear of lyant'in j my old ago! If you dccido to dismiss'mo j this fear will doubtless bo an over-prosont i one. If you dismisß. roe you may prevent . j mo and my fariiily from obtaining many ! ■ comforts we now enjoy as the result of my i < steady employment, [but dismissal can hardly. J bo expected to improvo my opinions, of tho j promises mado by tho Liberal party, or tend -i to weaken my allogianco to tho Labour j who stand for the repeal of "any laws or' j regulations which prevont the full exercise j of tho political and civil rights of State and ; j municipal employees.' j WRITTEN UNDERTAKING ASKED FOR. ; j OnjOctober 3 Mr. M'Cullough was advised ; that on giving a written undertaking to. cornf'! !j ply with the regulations ho would bo al-.' 1 lowed to resume duty, and would bo paid I! for tho time ho was under suspension. /In ' J the course of his reply Mr. M'Cullough said: 1 "I carnot consent to givo the written . guarantee askod for by the Department that . \ I will not take an active part in politics, . ] and will stato some of my reasons. I havo . i been permitted to do so for so many years -1 unmolested., and unwarned by tho Depart- I mont, that an intorcst in tho/political life ; of the country has bccoine almost a part of my nature, and I look upon tho exercise of < my political rights as a sacred duty I owe to my children, and my country. If com- ; pliance with your request to sign away my ! political rights meant tho closing of my own mouth only I might bo inclined to do it, : j but it means much more than this. It means that the men I-havo worked with for yoara " in, tho Labour movement, and who are as- . , > sociated with mo in tbo ( political Labour ! league, will also have their liberty curtailed. ' 1 It moans that thousands of.mon who havo taken employment from tho Department un- '( aware of any such undemocratic restriction i of their citizen rights, will either havo to resign their positions or givo up those rights '■ > which they hold to be. sacred. This restrio- - i tion is, in my opinion, besides being undo- ■ ! mocratic and illiberal, entirely unnecessary ' and uncalled for. If enforced it will tend to i make tho public servants of the country a ! crawlsome and opinionloss body of moil and | women, who will lose tho courage to express their viows on what are momentous quos- ' tions, because of tliis restriction." ; ■ ! On October 7 Mr. M'Cullough was advised ■ ■ that a verbal undertaking was all that was ~ .] required by tho Cabinet, but ho replied that. ' ; ho could not'discover any real difference . J betwoen a written and a-, verbal undertaking, 1 and his reasons for refusing to'' sign a writ- ! ton undertaking would apply to his giving « ! verbal premise, . . 5