HOW THE WORKER IS MISLED.

Evening Star, Issue 11892, 21 May 1903, Page 8

HOW THE WORKER IS MISLED.

Mr Tom Mann made a great many speeches prior to and during the Victorian railway strike. His language was always vigorous and picturesque. Here are samples from a speech delivered to an' audience of 3,500 after the strike had begun:—The L-vine Government were piling up the agony against the railway men in a way that would only be tolerated in Russia. The men were suffering under abuses of a staggering kind. They could not place reliance on any utterances of Mr Bent, who used such unbecoming language, and was unable to control himself. He appeared in the character of a bullying braggart, and used terms that would only be employed by a gutter boy. This language had been used to those admitted to be the most respectable of men.' The men had been insulted, befooled, belied, and tricked by Mr Bent. The Government had taken up an illegal position in ordering the men to withdraw from the Trades Hall and in calling a. compliant Parliament together. It was intended to make legal that which was illegal. The men had been subjected to humiliation that could not be tolerated. They were in duty bound to take the action they had taken, and he congratulated them. He admired them for the thorough and effectual organisation they had displayed. There would be an abundance of support for the men. The Amalgamated Society of the United Kingdom would soon show their sympathy with golden sovereisns. The Amalgamated Society of Engineers, who had £500,000 in their exchequer, would also be to the fore, whilst the International Society of Workers at Brussels had already been in communication with their various societies, advising them to hold themselves in readiness to help. The men had a good cause, and they should stand shoulder to shoulder.