OUT ON STRIKE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 263, 30 July 1908, Page 9

OUT ON STRIKE.

THE SYDNEY TRAMWAY DEADLOCK. SCENES OF VIOLENCE. CARS ABANDONED IN THE STREETS. (Fitoit ouit si-eciat, conr.EsroNDENT.) Sydney, July 25. The striko of tramway mou, of which you have already been fully informed by cable, has paralysed "one of the finest traipwny services in tho world," as that of Sydney has been justly described, and unless it is speedily eiic(ed must inflict suffering aud misery upon thousands of people. Unexpectedly the men abandoned the cars about tc)i o'clock yesterday morning, t-hpugh at thejr bjg meeting of the night before, at ypjiiqji tlip vptc was taken, they had decided upon tifolvc o'clock noon as the hour. Tlijs meeting was not open . to. tho Press, hut t|}c reporters managed somehow to got a fairly long account of what tpok place, and next morning the papers canie out with tho announcement in bold headlines, of tho double-column variety, tlnit a striko had been resolved upon, and that it would begin at twelve o'clock. Fortified with 'this knowledge, the tramway authorities issued tho order early in the morning that the cars were to bo brought into tho sheds by eleven o'clock. This would have got-tho, lines clear, and the old steam trams wpuld then have been crowded on. Such was tho intention at least. Tho officers of tho Union accordingly ordered a counter-move, and the striko took place at once. ' • The-first car was stopped ill Georgo Street, near Anthony Hordern and Son's big store (at that section of the city -known as tho Hayniarkot). ' Ono of the officers of tlio Unjori came across from the Trades' Hal) in Qoulburn Street, and hailed it. ■' Put 'yoiir hand-brake on, lad," ho said to the driver. ■ « "Wjiat, now?" queried tho motor-man. ; " Yos, now!-"' ' ' This was tho strikes began. A twominutes' sprvjeo has been maintained for ypars,. in Georgo Street, anil car after car was stopped as'it canio along, so tjiat 'pretliero was a long line of standing cars, sweeping down tho street in the' distauco. The men, after 'haying suspended work, did not leave, the cars. Tliey hauled down the poles, and sat' smoking ouietly, whilst ad- , Piji'ing small bpys gathered round and gazed .with delight at tho unwopted spectacle. RIOT AT THE HAYMARKET. Serious troublo took place at that section ot\ George Street known as the Hay-market--frljejl the strike' began.- An pnorpious crowd had assembled there, Watching Hie stopping •of tlie cars, aud struggling sub-inspectors, ticket examiners, and clerks iyhp attempted to fill tiio places of the strikers, and jjjijig tlie cfjrs back. to the sheds were grpoted with all kiuds of ii'ooti|ig and offensive epithets, aiuj . threats. Two officers of tho department had taken their places on the loading car facing towards tho railway station. It stopd near Anthony. Hordcrn's. Immediately j;ho'pack or" rabid sympathisers put tljpir threats into action. Ono of tho' officers was seized, pummelled, spat upon, and thrown o/f'tl)o cijr, Then tho crowd bccamc a ir.ob, and disorderly persons became riotors. Cries, of " Sniasli him, kick him," resounded in a chorusj intermingled with oaths and cries that ipado a pandemonium. Tho rioters assaulting ono man secured a bucket of water and threw it over him. Thoy overran the cars and pulled tho' trolleys off tho cable.' '' ' '

Another departmental "jpfiicpr, supported time by a policeman, jrjaflp lljs appearance'. Then tho .prpwd gave tonguo igaip'. Every conceivable insula wijs Jiurled at tho man'. He stopd qt the levers! stern and palefaced-, but rcspjufc. Am] whjle somebody refixed tho trolley connection ho stood there facing'a hundred infuriated men, who surged around the car, blasphemed.at him, and'spat. His face was white now, but no less resolute. Unablp to iptimidato him, tlie pack lot loose the missiles with which they had provided t|ierpsclvps. Smash! and several, eggs broke op tjie enrrfront and walls aiicl on his body,' over which their nauseous contents fell. And still he held his post., ■ • '

PLANT TAMPERED WITH. It was late ill the afternoon before George Stre'ct'was. clparpd of pars. Tho plant hsd been tampered witji —parts of tlio machinery having been removed," and cords cut. Wjicii' ,t)ip first of the idle cars In Pitt. Street near Anjilioriy Hnrdcn's (on tljo )ppp-line runiiiijg to tho raj)w;iy "stafipji) was' startpd |}y!'p officer from tlie department, a metallic ci'asli was heard. Tjio cart ivas stopped immcdiaiiely fpr it was feared that a breakdoiyp had occurred. An inspection revealed nothing, and the car was. started again. Then it was noticed that tlio trailing car was dragging with locked _wheels. ■ Aiipthcr inspection was niado, and it was found that a heavy iron rail, about 3ft. long, had been placed in tho spokes of tl}e y/hpel," and had jampied it. Tho crash had been oauscd by the impact of tjiis rail on coming int-b "a locking position when the, car started. The other cars were similarly examined, and no fewer than five had'thpsd iron lengths inserted in the wheels. " It is only fight to say that the president and other officers >pf tho Union altogether condemn theso tactics, or tho iiso of violence in any form'. ' : ' "" . THE CAUSE OF THE STRIKE. Tho men hayo .struck work because of Crpuchor. Who or what is Croucher? you will' ask. Nobody hero; ex'ccpt tho dozen or hundred people of his own circle, could have told ypu that a.' week or fortnight ago. Ho was then an obscure individual, living unknown to fame with his wifp and children in a humble cottage' at" Enniprp. Now his name is in everybody's jnoutjij all because of the fact that one afternoon on the'Dulwich Hill " ]ine, where Croucher was employed as a conductor, twp>secret' special constables, employed with tlie. pbject pf checkjpg fratid) purchased,, as ofdipary ppssengors (according to the casoj for the two tickets' from him which wero afterwards found to have been used the day before. Croucher vehemently declares his innocence; tlio Department, .after hearing his two appeals—tho last one haying been decided by the Commissioner?—declare - the offence proved, but agree: to! allow him to apply for' reinstatement! in six'month?.. The whole question of the employment of the secret service .officers is involved iri this trouble. The Department declares that fraud pn the part' of the men wjio handle the money in fares can be. checked iu no 'oilier way, and refuses to abolish the system, but the Chiff Commissioner "has auinitted that it is wt?ak, and has agreed to consider, the best means of modifying it, at' least in tho direction of providing that a conductor supposed tp l)ave jssiied a ticket wrprigfujly wjll be charged with the offenco as soon 'as possible, ingtead of (as frequently happens flow)' a,'.week afterwards,, when tho circumstances wjjj, probably' have entirely gone from his mcmpry, if lie.be innocent. Tlio Union, on the o|.hpr haiid, demands the abolition of the secret service system, and the reinstatement of\ Croucher. Incidentally, now that they have gone out on strike,' thoy liavp rev ived two other grievances about which they had sonic trouble not lorig ago— tljo claims that tluj sight test should bo altered, and that they should rcecivo increased wages. But Crpucher remaps in the eyes of the men, tho he,id front of the offcncealleged against tho Department. Yesterday, Mr. Wade, tlio. State Premier, was asked by a to reinstate Croucher. lie refused- to agiee to this request, and in doing so : reviewed tlio eyideucp in Crouchcr's case, saying that it appeared only tpo con'clusivc. ~ Mr. Wnde has thus admirably summed lip tho facts:— From the evidence' before tho appeal tribunals the. two constables obtained two tickets from Croucher oil July 8 aboard a tram gping ' to Dulwich. Iljll, _ of whipl) Croucher was in charge. departmental records, not phallcnged, showed tliat those two tickets belonged to a book issued to a tram conductor who was on that line of route the previous day, and that'those tibkets wero disposed of in the ordinary cdurso of duty by that tram. conductor on tlio previous day—that was July 8. The records also showed that op Jiily 8 Croucher was on tho same route—Dulwich Hilltravelling on a tram which reached tho terminus witliiu twenty jainutes of the timo L

the other man finished his journey on which lie had sold those two tickets. These were two facts established which had not been challenged. Tho further fact was established tluit Crouchcr had an opportunity of coining into contact with and getting possession of those two ■ tickets on that day. Tho tickets might havo been left in tho tram, brushed out of the tram, swept out of the tram, or thrown down by tho recipient at the end of tho journey. And it was possible for Crouchcr-.to get possession that day. With regard, to the two constables who bought the tickets on July 9, it was also proved by the records, which could not be questioned, thatj 'oiV tlie afternoon of July 8--tho day t)ie twd tickets were sold properly—they were engaged on the Abbotsford line, and could not have been on the Dulwich Hill line when it happened. ' Moreover, they came into Sydney from Ajihots-, ford, and werit out to Paddington to spend the afternoon there. There was an oppprtu-' nity for .Crouchcr to get -'those tickets on" the first day, and no opportunity for the two constables. to get them pp that day. Over and above those things there was the fact that those two moil swore.that-they,.bought those- two tickets—the improper ones —from a person they described by his and whoso car they described ,by iiumbcr also.' lIOW WILL IT GO? , Will the strike extend? That is.the ques?' tion, for everyone is anxiously. awaiting ah answer, and this can bnly.be decided by time: Yesterday it was rumoured that the railway, men were coming out,, but fortunately'-.this has so far proved incorrect. The grave necessity, for taet in tho management of: affairs at this crisis is'shown by one little'incident.' During the afternoon, it. is said, six of-the men'employed in the locomotive shops,-who were formerly drivers of' steam trams, were ordered to take" up'duty on tho plate of the steam tram motor as drivers,-and-these men'refused such duty. '-They-'werp-immediately suspended,.-hut later in the day orders canie along that the men. were- to-be reinstated. It was only by such reinstatement, according to tho • story, that serious trouble was averted. ' • - ■ ; - .• .•••.

The theatres will suffer, seriously should the strike continue,' and already, thorp is talk of the reduction of hands'in' the big drapery stores."' V !