THREATENED TRAMWAY MEN'S STRIKE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 23, 27 January 1912, Page 8

THREATENED TRAMWAY MEN'S STRIKE.

TO TH* ZOIXOB. Sir,— The threatened strike of. the men employed on the municipal tramways, .reported in tho press, > induced me to copy from tho Argonaut, San Francisco, its article on "Municipalities and Strikes," and the action thereon Dy the Mayor of New York (Mr. Gaynor) lately. It puts a fresh aspect on such things, which may be of interest both . to tho city fathers, who at last meeting of the council by 10 to 4 determined not to have the tramway service mado a plaything of, and also should be of interest to the would-be players.1 — I am, etc., B. WIGHTMAN. Wellington, 26th January. [Extract from The Argonaut, San Francisco, 16th December, 1911.] "MUNICIPALITIES AND STEIKES." _ "Mayor Gaynor, of New York, continues^ to be the interesting figure in tho municipal government of the country. Entirely blind to any other interests than those of the city, he meets every problem with a combination of sagacity and benevolence as rare as it is effective. These qualities wore never shown to better advantage than in his settlement of the recent strike of the men of the street-clean-ing department. The strike was caused by an order that domestic garbago xnusc henceforth be removed at night time, i Tho order was reasonable enough. It is enforced in all large European cities, and it , is imperatively needed wherever tho population is dense and congested. But tho inßn objected, and after a series of protests they struck. Other mon wero oagaged at once to do a work so essential to health, and it need hardly be said that several of these men were brutally murdered. Being 'scabs,' they were outside the pale of humanity, and were, therefore, sentenced and executed in tho usual way. Nevertheless, the city authorities stood firm, the strike collapsed, and the men sent a deputation to tho Mayor to ask upon what terms they could be reinstated. But Mr. Gaynor was not disposed to dis.jUss tho matter at all. Ho explained to his astonished auditors that the law upon the point was clear enough. The streetcleaners were civil servants, and the rule* of the service provided that any employeo leaving his position must be considered to have resigned, and his place must be filled forthwith in the inannor prescribed. H» had no power to reinstate thorn. In tact, the applicants were in exactly tho eamo position as any one else desiring employment by tho city. They must go to th& department, register their names, answei the conditions, and await their turn. They themselves hud agreed to tho civil service, rules when *hey 'were first employed. Those same ruies^must govorn their roemployment. "This ruling by Mayor Gaynor is an important one. It means that any municipal civil servant who strikes has - thereby rosigned from his position, and has become a member of the public, and subject to all the laws that govern applicants for employment. But it was naturally a surprise to tho street-cleaners. It was contrary to all the rules of the game as played elsewhere. According to established precedents, they had a right to i abandon their work, murder whoever proceeded to do that work, and then demand terms as honourable belligerents who had been worsted in fair fight. Private employof* may concede such 'a position if they wish, but municipalities governed by civil service rules have no option in the matter, and Mayor Gaynor is to_ bo con- I gratulated upon having made this clear." I

Mr. J. H. B. Coates, general manager of the National Bank of New Zealand, left for Dunedin yesterday evening. The patents issued by the College ot Heralds, London, for the' new coat of arms and supporters for the City of Auckland came to hand on Tuesday, saye the Herald. They were forwarded by the High Commissioner for New Zealand (Sir William Hall-Jones), and were enclosed in separate red morocco cases, bearing the Royal initials and crown. Generally described, the arms comprise a shield surmounted by a crest consisting of an iron helmet and flowing heraldic drapery, such as is seen in pictures of knights of old. The helmet bears a golden crown, from which issues a New Zealand Haxbush in flower. Upon the lower portion of the shield appears a brig in full 6ail, and the upper portion is divided into two. To the right, upon a blue ground, there is a golden cornucopia, or horn of plenty, filled with the fruits of the earth, and to the left a shovel and pick on a red -ground. The word " Advance," the city's motto, is on a scroll beneath the shield. The supporters for the city compromise an apteryx, or kiwi, on each side of the sshield described. M«srs. Eawson (chairman), Frank Eeed (inspecting engineer, Mines Department), and P. G. Morgan (Director of Geological Survey) recently , sat as a board constituted under the Alining Act, 1911, t© consider the application of the Matakitaki Water Eace Company, Central Bulkr, for £5000 for extension of the Mammoth water race. The board investigated the claim, and will report to the Minister of Mines, in accordance with the Act. In the annual address of the president of the New Zealand Institute (Mr. T. F. Cheeseman), delivered at Canterbury College, h© stated that the British Association was to meet in Australia towards the close of 1914, and the New Zealand Government had very liberally voted the sum of £2000 to cover the cost of bringing over a party of members ifrom Australia after the close of the meeting, together with another party of well-known scientists from the United States and Canada. A supplementary meeting would then be held in New Zealand. In the meantime a Eeception Committee had been formed on which there was a full representation of the New Zealand Institute. A writ was issued on Saturday, 13th inst., by the Australian agents of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company against the Huddart-Parkei- Proprietary, Ltd., and the Australasian Wireless, Ltcf., claiming that they had infringed the Marconi patents on ships in Victorian waters by using the Tclefunkeu wireless system. Mr. X IV Fisk, agent for the Marconi Company, stated last week that instructions to issue the writ had been received from Groat Britain.. Similar action would bo taken in Now Zealand against Lhe Huddart-Parkw Company and the New Zealand Govemmeut. Mias M^cdonald's School of Shorthand will rp-open on 29th January, wlt«n she tviil b% re§djr tg ruceivi iattading new