The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1909. STATE STRIKERS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 672, 24 November 1909, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1909. STATE STRIKERS.

, It must be some relief to the Government to know that it will not be called ;upon to enforce the penal clauses of the Arbitration Act against the men" who have thrown down .their picks;in the State,coal-mines. There is .'.more than/one set-off, of course.. The miners' at Blackball,, according to a message printed today,, are willing to strike in sympathy with the State employees, • and we know that Ministers find it difficult to; muster up courage to give offence to any body'bf workers ; by ■ refusing '. their demands. Moreover, the Government is confronted with the possibility that; the public may see in tho striko a disproof of the theory that ."sweetness and light" are the certain, results of nationalising industry. Owing to the policy of secrecy.which has been adopted by both sidesi the .;■ public knows veryi little'about the merits of thd dispute excepting that, the men want something.lwhich the Department will hot concede. In the numerous strikes in. the past.the merits of the case.have been of minor' interest, the main issue on each qccasion being the power of the State, to protect Jtsr laws against violation. .] In the'present casethe. strike,, so .far. as can be gathered, is perfcotlyjawfulj and the publio'-. can therefore; attend' to • the; substance of the quarrel.•;: But,.as we havq; saidj' the Government has/' dono, nothing to enable tho public to know which; side has 'the advantage of reason in ;the' 'disput«. , Tho v weight\6fi evidence, so far as can be 'judged;from ; .what; can v be,learned without the.'Government's assistancej/'apipearsjto.favour the: action of the-Departa, mehiK-'..u,>o; 1,. :., ; ;:i-V..,:;;■;■.:,:', : ;.; ; It will bo obvious that nothing would have been easier than for the Dcpart--ment to accede to' the men's demands, however ■; unreasonable they ■ ;might ; ! be: This is the great' danger of Stato enterprises under the conditions prevailing in New Zealand: the public interest can- so easily bo sacrificed sub rosa in: order, to avoid i trouble [, between organised labour and the Government of/ the day. Probably we must thank Mr. R. M'Kenzie's obstinacy for the refusal of the' Department to give way, : and if this is the fact,' and if ..the Department's ■:> attitude has been : fair,: then Me.; M'Kenzie's doggedness has at last one result to' set against its many undesirable effects. Until the whole position is placed before the pub-, lie,'however; wo can;'.only"'.make;'! prpgisional comment on this aspect 'of 'the matter. Of much greater.generai interest is the light which; the' strike throws upon',':■"' the theory of State .-'Socialism. Everybody /knows by heart the platitud.es, that have for years been in the mouths of those" who recommend the, tipn' of industries as ''-. the only cure for theVdiseases : of the social and. economic body. But never, we think, '. can the hoi' Ipwness have had a more poignantly humorous' exposure than > in >a .debate which took place in the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales on Tuesday of; last week—-just eight; days ago! 1 i Mr. Edden, an ardent State Socialist of lcug standing, moved the adjournment of the House "to- discuss the; question of the nationalisation of coal-mines to.,' supply public requirements."; Mr. Wade nad asked during tho afternoon, "What guarantee.have we got.that if we nationalise all. the mines of New South 'Wales we will givo, to the i public any more' security than-they,have now ?" This heretl caL suggestion greatly vexed Mr. Edden, and he said:' " ;■ "<■' , : The answer was supplied by the experience Of •New-Zealand, /where the system of Stateowned coal-mines was a success. The men there felt that they were not .working for the. .sake of: making dividends for other people. .Another Socialist member of the Assembly was equally positive:,/,'.'.,- ;.: '! The argument (he said) that trouble 'might arise by Government-owned mines could not carry much weight when it was remembered that.tho railways, the water-works,.arid other, great-public services went on without any great industrial upheaval. '~,;:. ;.i '■'■' /'. ; r • Mr. M'GoWEN, the Socialist leader of, the Opposition/ quoted the manager: c;f; the New/Zealand coal-mine as saying that "the new working agreoment entered into m December between the management and the workmen is giving every satisfaction." "That paragraph," M'Gowen, "spoke, volumes for the success of the venture." } ;;' ' Tho plight of Mr. Edden, and his'brother. Socialists, makes ■'■■■'■ the Socialist platitudes a matter rather for tears than; smiles. The pathetic belief, so .■■ rudely shattered yesterday, that the workers in' a State-owned industry will purge themselves . of all human weaknesses, and sing merrily as they toil, owing /to, their knowledge tliaj;'they are "not working, for the sake of making dividends : for other'people," is at the back of the whole Socialistic ' movoment,. , It inspires the activities of Dr. Ftndmy, Mb. Hoaa, Mn, Taylor, and Comrade DowdaHj; it supplies courage to the, land natiorialis- ■ ers;// 'it' urges men to clamour for ."the. State regulation, of .prices; it makcs/mcn ';- like.'Mr. Lacrenson declare,'/'in /effect, ; that'-'water will run uphill";' it enables the Radical to look, yltb t&isi . &wi £a

upon the law of gravitation and the law of. BUpply and demand; .., Yesterday's" striko will not cure all these. wild theorists, but it: will bring home to many thousands of peoplo who aro rather sympathetic . towards the, doctrines of the State Socialists the fundamental truth that human nature cannot be altered by Socialistic lawß, As Mr. Edden implied, Socialism is in practical working in our State coal-mines. . According to the Socialist theory thominers should bo nappy altruists, clean of passions, scornful of money, content simply, to 'toil for the State.. \Hany, perhaps most, of .the'se: miners are, Socialists, but they behave just like ordinary, sinful mortals; and so men will alwaya behave, whatever '; tho State Socialist and : tho land nationaliser may like to fancy. The. strike is the most practical and crushing. exposure of tho fundamental fallacy, of the different kinds of Socialist that could be imag-ine'd;-V'j;;,/;- -.'-.. ~;.. ■~.■..'•■'■.-.'••;'".>;,.