THE RAILWAY EMPLOYES.

Evening Post, Volume XL, Issue 63, 13 September 1890, Page 4

THE RAILWAY EMPLOYES.

ANOTHER DISCUSSION IN THE HOUSE. Again was the labour question raised in the Hoaao of Koprosentativea last night and discussed at length. Mr. W. P. Reevos oponed the ball by asking the Govornmont whether they had fixed a time for diioasting the dismissal of the members of the Railway Servants' Exeoutivo. The Aoting-Premier said the Government had carefully considered the memorandum of the Railway Commissioners, and thoy did not see that any good would arise from setting apart a time for the disonssion of their action, (Cheers). Mr. Beeves moved the adjournment of the House, and stigmatised the conduct of tho Government in endeavouring to stop the debato as injndioions. If the Government wanted to cause a tense of injury among the thousands of people who sympathised with the railway servants, they could not. do botter than try to gag those members of the House who wished to spoak in their interests. Deprecating inflammatory or oxoited disuuasion, Mr. Beeves wont on to deny that members of the House had muen influence over the Unions, who, he considered, would just take their own course. The railway men thought they had been harshly treated, and there was something to bo said for them. The Commissioners had aoted imprudently, and in suoh a way as no private employer would have aoted. He traced the history of the movement which led to the suspension of the Westport and Ohristohuroh men, and described the speeob.es of the Christohuroh men as " a harmless blazing away of powder," and denied that they incited their fellow employe's to aots of insubordination aa tho Commissioners had stated. Mr. Owen, in particular, was singularly moderate in his utterances. Yet, for his mild speeoh he was summarily dismissed and mined for life. It was evident that the Commissioners had punished the men for something else than their speoohos— in faot it seemed to be not for any of their notions, but because they refused to give a oertoin undertaking. The Commissioners hod previously vindicated their authority, and though there was no exouee for terrorising the men, they proceeded to demand from the members of the Executive an undertaking which the men could not reasonably be expected to give. Thus they were shut up to the alternatives of resignation or dismissal. This was to be regretted, beoause the railway men had deserved well of the oountry. The calling out of tho platalayeri was only what was to bo ezpeotsd in the ezoited state of the labour bodies at the time. In dismissing those men who refused duty the Commissioners amply punished them, and the Union leaders did not resent the blow, but merely prooeodod to peaceful negotiation. That being so, Mr. Maxwell's 1 aotion was not justified. (Hon. membors -Why Mr. Maxwell, and not the whole of the Commissioners?) Beoause Mr. Maxwell ruled the railways and his brother Commissioners as well — at any rate he believed suoh was the oase. The Chrißtohnreh men had done no more than make nse of the right of free speech to wbiob every man in the country was entitled. Tho Commissioners might well meet their men half way, and he hoped some means would yet be found to reinstate them, and that those who had influence with the Commissioners would exert it to that end. Sir George Grey thought the Commissioners should reoolleot that they had in their hands tho welfare and happiness of large numbers of servants of all ages, and it wns their duty to guide by mildness rather than to strike terror. Was not tho world full of Unionism? Did not the lawyers in the House band together and nse the forms of the Honse to prevont largo numbers of industrious men from join* ing the profession ? There was also the Union of Civil servants, far more dangerous and defiant to the House. But the Honse rightly allowed them to take their own oourso. Were not tho Government and the Opposition parties Unions P (Hon. members — The Government are not a Union ; they are in disunion.) Unions were now world-wide, and it w*s the part of wise statesmen to uso and regnlat* them for good, bnt stop them tbry could not. Mr. Fisher said it had been known for some timo'that it was the aim of tho Commissioners to precipitate a strike if possible. Twioo had those members who were aeons* d of pandering to the working olassos restrained the men from striking. But the Commissioners had now driven their servants to tho very verge of a strike. Mr. Winter's resolution at tne Christobnroh meeting had been framed in a most judioial tone, and it evidently contemplated 'a settlement of the difficulty by themselves. Mr Owen, in asking time for consideration, doubtless contemplated oonsultation with people at a distance, but they were only allowed ten minutes' graoe. The undertaking which they were then asked to sign was so untruthful that Mr. Gaw and his confrere* were obliged to withdraw part of it at once. The preiant situation, so far as the railway men were oonoerned, meant a reign of terror, because ths four man punished were their leaders. The Commissioners had simply asked them to snrrendor every right wmoh a Brilinh oitizon ough,t to possess. Every aot of the Commissioners was sneh as oallod upon the men to assert thnir freedom. Tho mon hid not gone beyond their legitimate right, and this made the aotion of tho Board the more unwarrantable arid unjust. The picking out of these four leaders had exoited amongst the railway servants of the colony at feeling of rancour which it would Uko ■ome days to allay. Concluding, 1 Mr. Fisher aaid he had no doubt spoken with some warmth, but h« folt that to punish mon for aots of fidelity to thoir comtades was the wont form of terrorism, and he yet hoped they would not be irretrievably out off from the publio servioe. Mr. Marohant rejoiced in the progress of Unionism, but thought tho very worst friends of labour were those who encouraged tho men in exoesses.' He admired the splendid self-oontrol and the olear heads and strong baoks shown by the direotors of the Union S.B. Company and the Railway Commissioners, for taking the stand they bad the Commissioners were deserving the thanks of the community at large. He was not sn admirer of the Union B.S. Company, which while possmwing a monopoly of tho colonial trade, impoaod enormous oharges for freight and passenger tramo, but the firm and kindly manner in whioh they had met the men who had gone out on strike had won the Admiration of tho whole country. He thought

Iho Railway Commissioners had aoted properly in taking tho "bull by the noso (laughter), and telling the directorn of this railway movement what wonld be tho result of their conduct in inviting others to refuse the performance of thoir duty. Thoy were offered their ohoice, either to do tbeir duty or to l«>avo tho cervice of the Commissioners, md thoy umdo it. Though the conduct of many of tho mon on strike had been idmirablo, ho regretted that this could not iio citid generally, acd ho clmtacteriaed the ••xhibition that had taken place on tho last two evenings on the wharf as a diograco to my niviliotid country. Ho thought the free lahourcrs wore deserving of tlio thanks of i ho whole community for coming forward to the a-aifetauce ><f the trado and cominorno of tho cou try, and if employers woro guilty of diirnisFing theHe men at tho diotatinn of tho Unions tboy wonld not be worthy to be regarded a» honest or honourable men. They would all like to havo pi'aoe and prosperity brought about, but these results could be bought too dearly. (Applause.) Mr. Moeb took the previous speaker to task for having saddled Unionists directly with having created that day's disturbances with whioh ho (Mr. Mo«s) was able to state, on the authority of Inspector Thomson, that vory few Unionists had anythingto do It was openly stated that the Commissioners wore not acting independent y but, in concert with the Govornmont and the Union Steam Ship Company, were trying to make the striko as wide as posaiblo, so that in might break down with its own weight. Two or three years ago the railway men were fierfeot slaves —thoy were being persecuted n his district for the dirootion in which they had given their votes. Their Unions had consequently been formed purely for purposoH of solf- defence. Speaking of Unionists a« tho cream of tho population, ho described tho present struggle as purely one botweon capital and labour, and predicted that oven if tho capitalists gained a temporary triumph now, tho fight wonld havo to bo fought over and over again, till their combinations would ultimately break down. Tho Hon. Mr. Ballanco naid appeals to tho Government for help in tho striko were vain, for Ministers had neither the power nor the inclination. Nor had the House any powor, for it had transferred its functions to tho Railway Commissioners. Still the Houso hid the right of oriticism. While evory right-thinking man must deplore tho loss and tho bitterness connected with the striko, it must be admitted that the strikers showed an admirable spirit of self-sacrifice for the benefit of their follow-workers. On the other hand, the capitalists were banded together with a bitterness oxoeeding that of tho Unionists, and were determined to crush the Unions. The aotive oauie of tho trouble amongst the railway men was an underlying feeling that the Commissioners were assisting tho capitalists. The beginning at Westport seomod to arise from the faot that the Commissioners pnt their men into a degrading position. Then at Christchuroh the dooument whioh the four men were asked to sign conveyed tho impression that they bad done somothing wrong, whioh they did not admit. 1 hey rofused. to sign it, and were at onoe dismissed. He objected to tho arbitrary and autooratio way in which thd men were troatod, whioh he eaid was utterly inconsistent with froe institutions. There was an impression, whioh he had reason to beliove was qnite correct, that the Commissioners had been preparing for the strike in order to bring about oertain ohanges — viz., to reduce the train services of the colony, to get rid of ODe-third of their men, and to take baok the remaining twothirds on their own terms, which would be a kind of modified Unionism. Unionists bid always ahown readiness for arbitration, and in his opinion the proper thing to bo done immediately the next Parliament met was to pass a Bill to ereot Boards of Conciliation, whioh oould settle suoh difficulties immediately they arose. The great diaadvantage now was that there was no disinterested third party to interyeno. There was an impression that Unionism had brokan down, bnt he hoped that it had not, acd it wnnld not if the Unionists aoted with prndence. So far as he oould learn thoy had not associated themselves with disorder of any kind, and he believed they wonld assist in preserving the peaoe. At any rate they had the power to do mnoh good to the working man. Sir John Hall agreed with much that had fallen from the leader of the Opposition, but ho oould not help regretting some rather misohtcvous speeches whioh had been made in the House on this subject. He conld not endorse the statement that the railway employes had no wish to strike. Their telegrams to the Commissioners showed that they were determined to strike if they did not got tbeir own way. No ono had any right to cay that tho Commissioners wished to bring about a strike, and Mr. Ballance in making snch a teriiblo oharge ought to havo given bis authority. Until there was was some evidonco before the House members were not called upon to believe it. Whon the engagements of the mon to their Unions conflicted with those to tho Commissioners, the men had no right to saorifiae their employers. If tho men conld not nndor their ruins do the work assigned to them then they ought to either ameud the rules .or resign. He agreed that Parliament oonld not put down Unions, and ooght not to try. Indoed thoy ought to encourage an extension of Unionism to union of the men with employers. Those who disapproved of tho present proceedings must not bo put down as opponents of Unionism. Thero was no attempt to oruah Unions, but there was an attempt to abolish snob, rules as made it impossible to go on peaceably. Unions were good and were very_ powerfnl, but they must not bo omnipotent. The railway servants wore the servants of the oolony, and it was intolerable that they should be allowed to say that the servioes of the oolon r should not go on. While he acknowledged the excellent character of the railway men, he mu-t oondemn any snch ideas, bnt he yet hoped for an amicable and generally satisfactory solution of the diffionlty, and would do all in his powor to that end Mr. Fish argued that the wharf lnmpers' work was beyond the duties of railway labourers, and so the mon had the right to resent being pnt to it. At Westport they also objeoted to being used for the purpose of crushing thtic friends. He would bo sorry to see a strike ooour, but feared it was inevitable. Mr. John M'Eenzio considered it was a fatal mistake that the Railway Servants' Union was ever allowed to be formed, Large numbers of the men had only joined it under compulsion, and on seeing that the Commissioners had recognised the Union by giving way to it. He blamed the Commissioners for having givon way so largely to the demands of the Exeoutive, and though he would not say the Board had courted a strike they had certainly prepared for ope ever since the Whitoombo and Tombs' affair. There was no doubt the railway servants would have thoir revenge unless the present difficulty was settled. They wonld wait until next harvest when all the railway sidings would bo full of grain, and then all the farmers wonld be ruined. Until this trouble was settled the 107 dismissed men wonld be agitators. (Mr. Fisher— Well, put them baok to work Again.) He would quite approve of that, bnt it should be on condition that the Union was disbanded, and he believed that if tho railway servants throughout the oolony wero polled two-thirds of them would favonr disbandment. If it were carried out tho Honse wonld be ready to protect the man from any attempt at tyranny. Mr. Tanner held that the Honse should oritioise only the Commissioners' general policy, and leave to themselves all things oonneoted with their employ ds. Mr. Withy thought the Commissioners should have given the Christohuroh men more timo to consider. As an ex-employer, he strongly believed in Unionism, for his experionoo showed that when tho men were organised there was much less difficulty in dealing with them than before that was the case Mr. Bruce was strongly impressed with the necoasity for maintaining dieciplino, and while he strongly approved of the Commissioners' aotion during this orisis he thought they might have allowed the Christohuroh men to "sleep on" the snbjeot before ooming to a deoision. Several other members having spoken, The Houso rose at 1 a.m.