GO-SLOW AND STRIKES

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 150, 25 June 1921, Page 4

GO-SLOW AND STRIKES

SOME PLAIN TALK FROM MR. K. SEMPLE

PACTS WORTH CONSIDERING.

(Contributed by the Welfare League.)

The Welfare League has, on several occasions condemned the general practices of industrial "go-slow" and strikes, v but nothing that it has ever published can surpass the plain outspokenness of Mr. Robert Semple in his recent~speech in the Empress Theatre, Wellington. In opening, Mr. Semple made it clear that although he was speaking under the auspices of the New Zealand Labour Party, the views he might express were not necessarily the views of that party.; His subject—"Would Industrial Co-op-, eration Minimise the Strike Problem?" —is a question we would have no hesitation in answering in the affirmative, but we would give the term '"co-opera-tion" a much wider meaning than appears to satisfy Mr. Semple. In the cooperative work at OrongorongoJ in which Mr. Semple and his party are engaged, he has had our support- from the first, and we believe the workers on the job would say that it is rather from unthinking, extremists in the Labour ranks that their' chief oppositipn has been met with. The,, speaker said "he would not stand for any sacrifice of true Labour principles." Our opinion is that in affirming the principle of "service for service" and emphasising that "workers must have some sort of social conscience" he was propounding two of the soundest Labour principles it is possible to affirm. . . We appreciate the plainness of this speech and hope that gome equally plain spoken advocate will arise amongst the employers who will fearlessly proclaim that capitalists must have some sort of social conscience. It is the men without conscience, both amongst capitalists and workers, who are playing the deuce with the world to-day. It would give us the greatest pleasure to find those •- who Vant an honest deal to come together, without consideration of elate, and: co-operate for the general welfare. There has been far too much the employers dwelling upon the shortcomings of employees, and of the workers charging the employers with every unjust motive. It would effect better results were each side to pay attention to t.heir own faults and failings. Credit is due to Mr. Semple for liis courage , in putting very plain truths to the men of his own class. These words of'his should have the earnest attention of every citizen: "I think that every practical working man who has had anything to do with strikes will not only desire to minimise them, but will wipe them out altogether. No intelligent man who has been through a strike waists to go through another. . I have seen v the wretchedness and the misery they cause. To me the strike is a nightmare, and I want to see the day when the strike in New Zealand is as extinct as the tnoa." These are the words of1 a,man who has been through many strikes, and who still affirms that for a good cause ho would still uphold a strike. No stronger condemnation of striking could be uttered. Every w^ird of it applies also to lock-outs; yet we are faced with frequent instances, of first stopping the work and then discussing . differences— a blind, stupid, vicious reversion of all rational proceeding/ • Mr. Sepple said "he knew- that a plentiful supply ..of water in summer spelt the. very life, the 'health, the happiness of the whole community." Had he been dealing with economics generally he could have added that a plentiful supply of all commodities .gives the masses a better chance to have their wants met than where supply is shortened. However, he affirmed that on their contract "every man would do his job as rapidly as possible. There would be no malingering, no go-slow, and no strike." His statement that there are some of the Labour people who say that we tiave surrendered tho "strike weapon" is but another evidence that there are people so blinded by passion that they would ' have the workers -strike against themselves just to keep ; their hands in. We have met these individuals who, if placed in Heaven, would want to borow coals from the other place to start a conflagration. It is useless trying to reason with the insane. It is not in a spirit of unreason that the hard problems of to-day can be solved, but only by tolerance and- partnership in working, which is the essence of co-operation.'• In facing the problem in a practical-minded way, Mr. Semple and his colleagues are doing good service to the whole community.