Evening Post THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1914. -POLITICS-AND THE STRIKE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 78, 2 April 1914, Page 6

Evening Post THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1914. - POLITICS-AND THE STRIKE

All political parties are hoping to score well by the late strike during the election campaign. The Government expects that the methods adopted to prevent that "paralysis" threatened by leaders of the Red Federation, will have the plain approval of the public, and this is not an unreasonable expectation. The Minister of Justice, the Hon. A. L. Herdman, was undoubtedly an active, courageous head of the Department, and he had the hearty support of his colleagues in the measures necessary to bring to an end the lawless assumption of despotic power by strike committees. The Opposition's electioneering line is an attempt (without respectable, accurate argument) to convince the people that the strike could have been settled by Sir Joseph "Ward in "two days"— a preposterous, claim, which the leader himself has made, to the amusement of those who know well the history of the Strike. The Opposition wishes to insinuate that all the loss and inconvenience traceable to the "social revolution " are due to bungling by the Government ; that is not the truth, but it is party politics ; the Outs ever allege thus against the Ins, whatever may bo the names, weights, and colours of the Ins or Outs. The Social Democrats (the political wing of the Red Federation) have a notion that they will create a solidarity of Laboui against the Government by a continuous roar of wild charges. During the strike the Socialists' imaginations had no " stopwork meetings " j they were busy ceaselessly, and were pleased to work overtime. Since the strike there has been no slack period for the fiction and invention industry The man in the street is regarded as a credulous, easily impressionable creature, and the Reds pursue him with lurid tales, by day and night. Mr. P. Webb, a former president of the Red Federation, is pushing Mr. Hickey hard for first place as the chief bloodcurdler. The audacity of these "historians" is limitless. They seem to believe that they can gain something by a few hours' start of a contradiction, but in this case, with the election so remote, the allegation scheme is puorile and. futile. They build up flimsy fabrications which the strong breezes of truth will eweep away. A Press Association message from Greymouth to-day chows that Mr. Webb has repeated his offence — monstrous nonsense — in regard to the riots, by night, near the 1 Mount Cook Barracks. "Mr. Massey must have a very bad memory when he said no workers were shot down," declared Mr. Webb. Note the phrase: "Shot down," and the word "workers" as distinct from rioters. These words set the seal of gross mis-statement, on the speech of one whose position as a member of Parliament should induce him to have a greater 'regard for accuracy in such an. important matter. Perhaps it is too much to expect such aai innovation from any of the R«d Federal leaders. The absurd fabrication about "shooting down," ac well as the slandeT on the special constables, would hardly be worfcn notice except for the reason that the falsehoods are being circulated, in luridly' exaggerated form, throughout New' Zealand, and they are being assiduously spread, abroad. Some extreme mendacity has been inflicted by Red Federals on Labour journals of other countries. The mail from Sydney brings confir- J mation of the language used at Sydney | last week by Mr. D. J. Nathan, who has evidently ranged himselt definitely now against the Government. Mr. I Nathan purports to believe that the out- j break of "direct actionism," the inevitable sequel to years of incitement by j propagandists of "revolutionary social- | ism," could have been settled without difficulty early in the struggle. On. what terms? For how long? Those who profess, to have any such belief can be forced to admit that their knowledge of the Red Federation's past and of its aspirations is very meagre. Only superficial observers of this country' 6 industrial aftd.fiocia! ni2veuieat&-cag seriuiwjy^ pug.

gest that the trouble could have been finished soon after it began. Ifc had to be a try-out, by the very wish of the Syndicalists themselves, till they saw that defeat was certain. They did not make- oven a pretence of reasonableness during the first days of the test.