AN APPEAL TO WORKERS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume VI, Issue 347, 5 February 1917, Page 2

AN APPEAL TO WORKERS.

v Ry T. CLARKSON ) Ol the things that I have to speak here I should have hoped that discussion was unnei-fcbsaiy, but i event ■happenings at the Port and in other pai’s r.t fm Doimni.m ha\< m-.-miisioned me.

It is nisastious to line to admit that while the Empire, ot which we aie a pait, is engaged m a stn.gglc foi national existence - in a gle against the vilest forces t.nat. evei assailed humanity -an impoitant. section of our workers is prepared to help the enemv by holding tip onr industries and our ships. Workingmen'. It is useless to shirk tae facts. The forwarding of our troops and of our produce to England is of vital need to the .Empire. The more Britain and her Allies have oi both the more certain will be our victorv, the sneedier will come a lasting peace. That is why the. earnest co-oneration of everv uork‘>r in the countiv is uieemh needed, so that New Zealand can plav he” part m v inning this gnat war.

No one who reads the papers can fail to leihso that if Britain fa’teiin the camoaigo of 1917 we inav vet come old losei-, Woiking min’ do you fully appreciate the intense gravity of the position ? One hesitates to even think of the probable results of failure. If you are dubious as to the consequences oi a German victory ponder over the position of the worker in conquered Belgium and Servia and compare it with your own of which you now complain. Possibly you will retort “But Germany can never win.” And I will reply that if there ig disunion in the ranks of Britain and her Allies ; if the people of those countries (including New Zealand) fail to back un the Army and Navy Germany can still win. Now more than ever must be made absolute unity and a determination to use every atom of our resources to help the Empire. Men ! .Car. thousands of troops now fighting in France are protecting the land of our adoption, the lives of our children, the honour of our women. That fact stands out radiant as a. meteor and flashes meaning clear through the 15,900 miles that separate us from the scene of battle.

Men 1 On the yockv heights of Gallipoli, on the islands of the Amo Rea .on the blood-stained, shell-i iddled fields of France, are to he seen ine rude crosses that mark th<* ist r< sting places of our gallant i oldies Ve we tn say that their sacrifice has been in vain: that it was fien fooh nlv made?, What can you say to the thousands of your if-lloxi men who will come back after 111 wii sonif it already’ here—maiineo foi htr to the sorrowing i o hr is who haie lost their sons and are treading a weary path to the grave under the burden of a .' Jen onou that can never be lifted/ Mhat will you say to them. W h”r can von sav that will be w’orth v’nh saving that you could ask them to listen to ? Will vou mutter, “We struck in 1917 because ot-.r wages were not- high enough ?” Your mates in France w’ould reply, “Help us win the war and then fight for higher wages and we will stano with you. - ’ Would you say, “Out conditions of work are not satisfactory’’ ? You will again get a similar reply. To make the excuse, “We struck because the union called us out'’ could surely be hopelessly futile. At such a time you cannot evade direct personal responsibility. Where the security 7 of your home is threatened you cannot depute your obligations to any union. To say “This is our way of protesting against conscription” is only another way of saying “Because the Government is introducing methods that we disapprove of w 7 e will stand out and let the Germans win.” Would you say r , “We can see squatters and others making rich profits out of the war” ? To this I woula reply, “Because a tardy Government has failed in its duty in some respects that is no reason why you should spike the guns witn which your comrades m France are keeping back the hellish Huns.” That it is possible lor anv employer to maKe profit out ot the Empire s needs is a grievous blunder, but it is not greatly affecting the military situation ; it is not preventing our utmost output in troops and products from reaching the other end of the world where all are so badlv needed.

W orkmg men : Let me once more apneal to vou in the names of our fallen heroes ; 111 the names of out soldiers still at the war. help Britain and her Allies to win. baerifiu vein personal inti\ests sauifiu you unionist pi me inks if mid b< foi tin gt mdest < an-e that exci man strove for. Fail not, in anv detail. Icep iodi foi'iKi output up mid increase it it possible, don 1 stndv the clock, ignore the taunts of misguided mutes, pass bv for the moment anv ill-judged action on the part of vour employers. Do these thing >nd fo> God s sake foi x run (ountii s foi the «akt ot imp women and children, don’t strike while the war is on.