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A REGRETTABLE INCIDENT.

■ —!—❖ Tlie attitude of the people of Blackball in connection 'with the arrest of Mr. Hickey' at that mining township on Tuesday morning is cause' for regret and reprobation. ! It seems' that the fact of a warrant, having been issued against Mr. Hickey for failure to pay a fine and costs imposed upon him by the Court as far back as February; last, for disobeying 1 the lawful commands'of the,mine manager, whose employee he was at the time, was known to tlie'.inhabitants on Monday evening. Mr. Hickey, who has gained a certain notoriety in connection with the miners' strike at Blackball by acting as .the, principal mouthpiece of the strikers, and also as their delegate to the outside Unions, became at once, in the minds,of these people, elevated to the position of a martyr and a hero. It was arranged, therefore, that when the expected arrest should take place, Mr. Hickey's departure with the,constable, to the place of his'detention should be the occasion of a great sendoff, with music and cheering and enthusiastic sympathisers lining the route. This .programme was actually carried out' in full on tlie following morning when the officer the warrant, and arrested his man. The relieving feature of this incident is that there was not the slightest attempt at violence, or any indication of ■a desire to resist the process, of the law, and it would be laughable enough in its utter . wild absurdity 'were it not for the shadow of the graver' portent which lies behind it, namely, the suggestion 1 of a growing contempt on the part of certain sections of the people of this Dominion for the law. itself when it conflicts with their, predilections, and sympathy with the breakers of that law. To the Blackball people this man whom they delighted to honour was an object of admiration, because of his . neglect to comply with the laws of the country in which they live — laws to which they owe their social comfort, personal safety, and the protection of their propcrty. _ The incident might have been passed over as unimportant, and as a mere local ebullition, during a strike, of exuberant animal spirits lacking some'thing better and more worthy to do, did it not follow upon the open flouting of the law _ by the Blackball strikers themselves in the matter of the recent finding of the Arbitration Court, and .in the matter of the strike itself. The defiance of the ; law by these men with impunity has bred, of course, just that measure of contempt for the law generally that was its logical outcome. When it is found, also, that these men's defiance of. the law meets the approval of a section of the labour Unions of the Dominion, it follows, of er»u:se, .that the members of these

Unions sharp also in a contempt'for law and order, and in the extending of sympathy to law-breakers. This is a parlous state of things to exist in a young and prosperous and progressive country such as this is, and a knowledge of it outside our territories will not enhance the Dominion's, reputation for either good sense or good government. In fact, it is the failure of the Government to compel respect of the law of the land by instant and firm repression of the .law-breakers at Blackball which is directly responsible for the lamentable exhibition which has just occurred in that township. A little more similar dalliance with the dignity and effectiveness of the law by those whose duty it is to enforce it without fear or favour, and the ugly head of anarchy will begin to rise in our midst. The Hon. the Premier has announced he will have no part with revolutionary vSocialism. The Blackball strike and the Hickey incident should be sufficient to impress upon him that unless he checks, its growth, now visible and tangible, at its birth, by backing up the existing laws with all the power at his command, the only conclusion 1 of all sensible men will be that he is quiescent simply because he .is not opposed to lawless conduct by extremists and their sympathisers.

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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19080430.2.30

Bibliographic details

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 185, 30 April 1908, Page 6

Word Count
690

A REGRETTABLE INCIDENT. Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 185, 30 April 1908, Page 6

A REGRETTABLE INCIDENT. Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 185, 30 April 1908, Page 6

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