THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1,1912. THE STRIKE,

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 27, 1 February 1912, Page 6

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1912. THE STRIKE,

The tramways dispnte developed yes* terday in the way that haa .been generally feared. Pursuant to a decision at .which, the Tramways Union was understood to have arrived on the previous day, but of -which the City Council appears -to have had little more than an hour's formal notice, the cars ceased running at two o'clock yesterday afternoon. The avowed object of this stoppage was that the employee* should be free to attend a mass meeting at which the previously declared policy of the union and its executive was to be finally considered. The result of the meeting, which was distinguished by great enthusiasm, was that the decree for the •temporary, stoppage of the cars during the afternoon was extended indefinitely. Work is not to be resumed until the union has accomplished ite object, viz., the removal of the officer who has exited Jhe enmity of the men. The opportunity for reflectjon which ha* been given by the interval between the secret .decision, of the union to strike if the case was not 'satisfactorily settled, and the final • resolution yesterday, has only made matters worse. Even the temporary stoppage of the cars in the afternoon was a. violation of the men's legal obligation, and it was* conducted in a manner that was calculated to cause a maximum of inconvenience. An hour or two's notice in a matter of this kind ia no notice at all. Even at twenty-four hours' notice the Tramways Department could doubtless have made some arrangement for minimising the public incon> venienco, but in the circumstances it was helpless. This high-handed performance on the part of the union is, however, a trifle in, comparison with what followed. As the pxess was not admitted to yesterday's mass meeting full reports of the proceedings are not available, but from such information as has been allowed to leak out it appears that the only serious difference of opinion was as to whether or not in declaring the strike the requirements of the law should be observed. By an overwhelming majority the decision was in the negative. The strike was to begin at once. A strike is always an ugly and un pleasant thing. If it is on a large Bcalo, it involves a serious social up1 taavft}, a dtywMau uud puxUiimioi si

trade from which employers, employees, and all sorts of innocent third patties puffer alike. It brings the pinch of j hunger and the shadow of despair into many a home; it offers a wide and easy scope to the anarchical passions of cupidity, hatred, and revenge ; it provides the law}ess with a golden opportunity; and it incites even law-abiding citizens to attempt en masse a defiance of the law which individually and in cold blood they -would never dream of countenancing. Thus it ia that a widespread and prolonged strike threatens a community at any time with a dissolution into its primitive elements of lawlessness and savagery. Such aTe the dangers of the terrible * weapon which' the Tramways Union, has now taken up. Happy indeed is the land without strikes! For years this country was accustomed to boast that it had attained to this pinnacle of felicity; but when the rapid pace of ite expanding prosperity received a check, and the Arbitration" Court and Conciliation Boards could no longer look with favour upon every application for increased wages and improved conditions, those tribunals were suddenly discovered to be without the magic potency ' with which they had previously been credited. Labour began to fret at the inadequacy of the machinery which had been devised for its protection, and to assert a freedom to resort to the old methods which was incompatible with the restraints of the law. By some rash advisers Labour was urged to break right away from the machinery ol which it had once been so proud, but wiser counsels prevailed. The result was a thorough overhauling of the machinery, which effected a great improvement in ite working^ largely on the lines desired by the workers themselves, and, while retaining the old benefits, " recognised the right to strike under conditions imperatively required in the wider interests of the public. NoWj one of these conditions was that in various industries intimately affecting the public welfare, among which those concerned with "the public carriage of goods or passengers" are included, no strike or lock-out should take place without a notice of not less, than fourteen days to the other party. It is this necessary safeguard of the public interest that the tramway employees of the City Council have, after full deliberation, determined to flout. We have spoken of the inducements to lawlessness which almost inevitably arise in | the course of any prolonged strike. But what is 1 to be said of a strike which opens with a deliberate violation of the law, expressly and defiantly perpetrated with a view to increasing the terrors of the powerful but two-edged weapon that the workers are able to" wield? The people of New Zealand will surely realise r what a large section of the militant workers of this city are at present prepared to ignore, viz., that there are two alternative methods foy tk« settlement of disputes — law and anarchy. A» long as they kept within the law, the workers might hay« won or lost their case without absolutely disastrous results. But the issue has now far transcended the narrow limit* of the original dispute. The removal of Inspector Fuller would, according to the report submitted to the City Council by its Electrical Engineer shortly before Christmas, be fatal to tKe discipline and efficiency of the service. The manner in which th« men have since decided to urg« their demand would make compliance with it now a grievous blow at the supremacy of law. If lawlessness is to be allowed to override the decision of the elected trustees of the city's property, acting without a pennyworth of pecuniary interest, direct or indirect, in the result, and acting, so far as the publio can judge-, in the only way that was possible upon the evidence! submitted, what chance will remain, for any body or individual, public ot private, ever again to resist any other decree from the same eource, just or unjust, that ia urged in the same way? That is the real issue with which the citizens of Wellington are face to face, and if they are wise they will see that its gravity is such as to make the inconveniences; of having to walk instead of riding, for a week or a month, appear absolutely trivial in comparison.