FULLY JUSTIFIED

Evening Star, Issue 23564, 1 May 1940, Page 6

FULLY JUSTIFIED

HAAST PASS “SACKING" UNION OFFICIALS BACK MINISTER AMAZED AT HIS DISCLOSURES [Special to the ‘ Stae.’J WELLINGTON, May 1. Justifying the dismissal or the Haast Pass worker, the Hon. R. Semple promised to submit to the New Zealand Workers’ Union documents which, be considered, fully warranted his drastio action. . ~ Mr R. Eddy (president) and Mp Arthur Cook (secretary) saw this evidence and have sent the following statement to Mr Semple:— “ Having previously received an assurance from the Minister of Public Works that no workman would be sacked on account of holding different political opinions ftorti those -of the Minister, we - readily availed ourselves of the invitation issued by the; Minister to peruse documentary evidence held by him which, he alleged, justified him taking the action he did' at the Haast Pass. “To say the least, we were somewhat amazed by the contents of the documents held-by the Minister, and must admit, that Mr Semple had sufficient evidence of a very damaging nature, justifying him in taking the action he did. The evidence in Mr Semple’s possession discloses the disagreeable fact beyond any shadow of doubt that more time was spent by certain individuals on propaganda of a disruptive kind than on work, “Under these circumstances, and with a full knowledge of what waa going on at the Haast, no self-respectr ing Minister of the Crown could justify a continuation of conditions that must ultimately lead to a waste of public money that would amount to a public scandal. The fact that the Minister’s action received the endorsement of practically all the men on the job shows that they were heartily sick of th® whole affair and welcomed a clean-up.”