THE VAG'S COLUMN

Grey River Argus, 18 December 1920, Page 5

THE VAG'S COLUMN

Dear Henry ,«-The jyofcltVon of Labour in New &»aM' at the present lime w fiuini>Tr^t peculiar. I attenclod ft M'efeHtag the other evening when titt question of the apathy of Labour Wjs largely under discussion. As v politician, I am not permitted to join in. these discussions, so I held Wy peace and shut -up; but^he dteeifesioh ' \rftfc ' £ood, as showing tlmt aye \verc liko <ne gentfe'Dim tmm Italy who d'VlnH.know wh«{ he wanted aid -viidu't intoart to be happy VHitSS he go t it The mooting lasted tv tt hours, and was a representative meeting. The first diswsfsittft was about the W.E.A. It was *V» good, never had been any ' Jjolul "ever would be any gon^ i\\\d \ va s just the capitalist h^inil to Viapture ! the working qlmmm tv <-!UoVo£otw iheiii? I whispercxJ to \ H y -"idjrHfaMv thaf. I Hojj Uty VJui fcri.d acquired « *ood wwfettjt **Wtedgo of Karl Ma°rx'. hl ° S '1110I 110 did 110t ntidorstaml W f '? I>d "economics" meant before the W.E.A. came wm heiiic Ihen the Aibitration Court t-tmi«> o\i i>o r i discussion, and, of eoiiivn, by boll- book and candle the I.C. « m j ,\ Att wis «cut to, the pinto Where sulphur ft SU n. posed to be the prlm'jplo i^ttVC Wor ?»?"»? n^ j01 '" h V lMlt r h S ai » nudged »V> n^.^W.r mivl suggested that theSi ! ; \" ., tH liash fo »»dry and sowing g"« mul received some benefit, but pc said something about renctloriury "md on the job, and thko mul hold, sV 1 shut up. Then politicians came un tier discussion, and I blu«bcl. t> o litie.nns ought not b e allowed to b<delegates on any Industflttl Council, and ought not be allbwed to attend an* conference, ana— well, well, Hcnrv, w. are in the doldrums all right. When i was a. sailor in a Windjabthier w< had three mates, & Q d U, skipper. Th, "kipper iicvcr IcftiH a regular wntel: V , "«, J^"^ l^ ««»c on the bridgi H-'uit the ssulors called the second do. watch, and he would send the mate iivvay for an hour's spell. The same ■ining in the mornings. H e wouI( . come iip at about six or thereabouts and take the bridge. At certain time. ° th fj? lr > hl th « Pacific especially. 3 on tall into some Vfcry big.calm K - t•wind, up move. At the anme time, you could a CC awuy ou tho hoi . ixo)i ;) Wne blade cloud meing like mat! ZH th ° f 1 ? 1 ?rllose " c the tim^ w»en cvcQ-b^Uy becomes bad temporal even to the cabin boy. There's the «i«.« -flopping U p against the masts like . «»sn Aijths, the ship rolling "around like an old tub, and the cook swear|iUß bke a soldier. Those are the timos when a good sailor man never tries to borrou- mat.-hw or anything else for mv- of a rofusnl. Th tf a the first mart f ? Jl! * 011 witch. He looks at tJu <-W looks at his sails, and says: tall all hands, and we will trin. sails. « 0 he keeps us dancing arouiume ropes, hauling here, there and everywhere— the pitch in between thi planks bubbling 'with, the heat, and The ropes that hot that you can hardly aang on to"* them. After you have strained every rope as taut as a Jiddk suing, and coiled the ends down again ami the watch below has gone below the mate decides he will put her cii the starboard stack. !So all hands h ' vailed again,, and they swing • tin yards, tighten all the ropes again an toil down their ends— and the sei-om. mate comes on deck; he looks aioi. looks at the horizon, looks at the sail.suid decides to put her on the poi . | ■<;'■'•!;: Kvvry sailor man will undei ' |.'i-.::-i«l what it moans to be in the do. J dunns in the nropics— not knowin-jj'-vro the blow wul come from, evei-° f 111 l ''Hd everybody bad-temp^.. v.:.d i ho ship making no headwa-. When it's -blowing: .hard, the sin heels over, settles down and renuuh. down, every sail dmiviug, and ever. body happy.- Labour in New Zcalaii seems to be somewhat in the doldruin. A'o one ..knows just what to do, am everybody is bad-tempered. There a! a lew who are taking advantage o this state of affairs to suggest that \u scuttle the skijil All hands and tlw cook are growling,- and we have l keep our eye on the man with the a:, ger, or we shall have to go to th, pumps, and do extra labour to keej iier afloat. 1 have been just reading the screed from the Comrade in th. North. He says he will join the Ls. hour Party for the purpose of bustin:. it u [>'. He lias got un auger, 'lit gives us no indication of how wt should proceed. He is like the secoin mate, he would just put her around o;. the other tack — ;o keep the watc. busy, lie doesn't boiieve in politic;; ad ion, because it only gives a ie.« soft jobs. He ■doesn't believe ti strikes, and contributes to ; strike fund because he thinks the da;; of starvation strikes arc gone. ii.: latest, advice is "Communism!" To. sonally, I think he is like the man win wanted his son to come to a decisiu. about getting married. "Tvly son,'' Jx siiid, ''the uiue has niriv~ed for y«i. to decide about getting married. a would not influence you one way or ilu other. It is for you to decide, an. no matter which way you d«cide y<h will regret it after." Dear old Com ratio Cujinijigtoii used to say, "!<.•*. Vag, but think how we drop petl from the trees." And 1 think, am. when 1 see some of the aeroba.u tricks of my comrades, I think again. We want a paper of our own, san, one of the speakers. "We have two.'" 1 murmured, "do you ever get one. Do you ever think of the struggle it has been to keep the 'Worker' going or to keep the 'Argus" our only Labour daily t" ''Shut up, you darneo politician," said one of my comrades. Workers, unite, it's the only hope. Take all action! Take every" action. Have Bob fcjemplc out from the cJ;:v pit, ne is worth thousands to us. Way, Henry, it's Christmas time, senu. and get a share in the "Argus." Semi a pound to the "Worker." Wo can have New Zealand if we want it. 1 , lake -off my hat to the A/W.W. They :".re sending the, little old '-'Worker' into the country districts. They are doing splendid work. A big fat prosperous looking old cocky coming down in Uie boat .was introduced to me. ''Ah," he said, "so you are the cheek,, little chap who does the-' VagV Ooiumn." "I am Uncle Ted/ said I, "and 1 send Good Thoughts at nine " and I looked towards the bar. ".D6 y OU know, sir/ said he without taking the hint, "that that dirty little rag comes into my home every week?" "Great Scot," said 1, ''how does that come about?" "My son, sir, had to oin the Shearers"' riiion, and he roars like a bull if he doesn't get his 'Worker.' Sir, you are demoralising my 'family, be«ai.ise , my wife reads it, and my " daughters' " read it, and damn me, sir/l read it." And we moved to the bar. Here's to the Shearer's Union! THE YAG.

Talisman Consolidated (Jold Mino is being closed dowau