AT THE G.P.O.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1356, 6 February 1912, Page 5

AT THE G.P.O.

MORE ABUSIVE LANGUAGE, A SUBDOED HEARING. Expectancy was rife at the General Post Oflioe at noon yesterday, and a crowd of a coiiplo of t.'hc'iiaaml walled about the footpaths and lwid, and perched on fitationiuy voliicl™ anxions to lw:ir of the reBult of the uopotiatione known to lie proPoediiiK at the Town Hall. At 12.20 p.m. the crowd, now mnnbsriiiff between 2000 mid :!000. closed tip round a lorry anchored in tho conlw of the. wood-blocked space bi'i'oro the (loueral Post Office. On to this vehicle jumped Messrs. 0. Rirhnd (Sec-retnry of the Waterside Workers' Union), R. 'Homple (orpailiser of the Fedointion of Labour), and R. S. Ross (editor of the "Jlaoriland Worker"). Mr. Eiu'knd oixined tho proooedinn? by WlJnB the crowd that BcgofißJioui in eon-

n'jctron vrith, tho tramways strike ireri • rtill proceeding at llio Town iliill. and the prospects of a eelllomcnt, . williout finy furthor (sproiwl of tliu strike. ivn« Booil. (Cries i>l , "Jlcar, Jn-nrl") Air. J-'.n----land then became discunriro on the mil>jpot of tlic rise, of "militant Lalxiur" all ovor tlio world. Tho tramways ftrike. \rua an instance of wlmt ft united body of mimi could do ogniiißt one man—a thing that wmiUl have Itocn im|K>ssiblc five year* ago. Five years ngo, declared Mr. Farlnml, :i \v«iterside.r could bo hounded out «r his job, iiindd lo IMUi' n 'CT, «nd driven (« niiothei class of work altogether, but that was now out of tile question. Tli* whom lx)dy of men would now rise (o protect that man from "nets of capitalistic despotism." 'J'hc shaker's remarks created no burst of enthusiasm, and there was no applause on their conclusion. Mr. HoF-s «pol;o vehemently on the solidnrity of Lalxnir, declaring lli.it Labour, "if it would only take n tumble," was more powerful lluili tho City Council, tho city itself, or I'arliumeiit. By linking together they could ninltp New Zealand a land of peace and plenty, whovo , Iliorn would bs no trouble arising from want, unemployment, or anything else. NATURE'S GENTLEMAN. In reply lo tho laughing shouts of "Wβ Want Se'mple," Mr. Somplo thrust himself forward lo the of tlm lorry, hunched his shoulders for mi effort, frowned kird, and pave voice to a Btrenm of abuse and insult of an extraordinary character. lie said that they could expect lo hear something about the strike settlement at nuy moment, and honed that it would bo honourably settled. Jinny him thought that they intended to stop the wheels of industry at 12 o'clock—notliiiiff of the .sort. While Ihero was a fuir chniico of settling tho trouble Hint would be liigli (rouson to the. community, but they were not. going to I>Uck down-if nnvboilv wa= it would l>o those old fossils up at Hie Town Hall. Those were tho fellows that would have to back down. J'os«ils—they ought to bo in till museum. A voice: "Roll" Jfr. h'p.iTiplo: "Von there, cr.nvl into that puddle of water, consider yourseij a Sitfillil'K powder and fizzle outl (Laugliler.) Such gtittcmilpes as yofl should be off the earth 1" Afler this choice outburst Mr. temple, evidently pleased with the effect of liil sally, lii'sau to deal with the press, and Tin! Dominion , in particulnr, with respect lo the report of the mass mvctiiif held in the Basin Upsm'vo on Snndnv, In nnrliculnr he would call attention to the remiU'lts'of the mental prostituh-e who controlled the paper. Tiik Dominion hud squealed about th: language used bv himself—there had been no bad Inn. BUsiBO. What hail been f-;ild had been piulorsed by the live thousand pi-osenr. This fi-om 'Tub Dominion—the poor old fossilised, rag. ATTACK ON THE PRESS. The speaker (hen quoted irom the "Svdney Morning Herald," which, he sai'd, had urged the (lovcrnmcnt nHw South Wales to (|Uell tho strike at the point of the bayonet and the muzzle ol the revolver. That was whut tin capitalistic press would cto-u.-e arms against unarmed Vraao slaves who were confronting capital only to keep hunger from their doors. Ijint was what the "Sydney Morning Herald had done, 'and that was what this mon. ster would do here, to-day if need be, if there, was a profession for lying it wnj the ono followed by "titfsc jouriralistio tiends." He. hud no quarrel with the reporters, thov were wage-slaves hire themselves, but the men, who used the blue pencil and sat in the editorial chair wcie the bloodhounds of capital, hi times of peace tltest> fellows would call the worker a good fliiip, Mill at the last elections told him to vote for Xissoy. nlw» were they wiying. to-day ? They were asking what principle was at stakcr-when men were being pimped nnd spied on week after week end month after month. The pimp was in his. opinion tho lowest creature which crawled on the face of the earth,, and when lie died hfl would need a ladder' to climb into hell. He'd got a lot of tinio for the pimp, and for the capitalistic press. What was going on (o-day, so far nit the press was concerned, continued _ Mr. femple, was the working class voicing their feelings against the oppressor, These little strikes were caused by th» wealth of the world that was earned hr millions of active workers soing to a lazy few. Wlmt they had first to do_ was lo got rid of tho sysl-ein that bred pimps, A voice: "Are you going (o prosecute him ?" Mr. Seitlple: "Not W<''ll keep him here, but we'll gag him. i Wo don't want him to cause trouble in other countries!" The Tramways- Union was doing the right thing in holdine out for a satisfactory settlement. Failing that, if there was not a neutral strike, tliey could dump him Over the end of the wlmrf.

'Tm not Labour—l'm the message boy," said Mr. Semplo, "and my message is to make common cause with Labour and stop the wheels of industry!" ■• After Mr. Srmplo spoke there was a little mild applause, and most of tut crowd drifted off to work.