The Star. MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1914. NEW WAY TO PREVENT STRIKES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLVI, Issue XLVI, 16 March 1914, Page 4

The Star.

MONDAY, MARCH 16, 1914. NEW WAY TO PREVENT STRIKES.

Delivered every evening by 5 o'clock tn Hawera, Macafa. Normanby, Okaiawa, Eltham, Mangatoki, Kapongra, Awatuna, Optmake. Otakeho, Manutahi, Alton. Hurleyville. Patea. Waverley.

A leading Sydney butcher lias proposed a new way to prevent strikes. The Government, he thinks, should issue ballot papers to the members of the union concerned, and should conduct the ballot instead of leaving it to the union officials. But every married man should receive two ballot papers, one for himself and one for his wife, and an additional paper for every child he may have. The single man has, in very many cases, no one but himself to consider. - He acts from selfish motives, and frequently on daring impulses. And too frequently it is the fact that the vote of these irresponsible young men outweighs the vote of older and soberer men who have more experience of life, and who have, besides, both women and children to consider. When a strike occurs the younger men probably know very little of what it really means. They take an extra hour or two in bed, saunter to the recognised meetingplace, exchange ideas with others like themselves, listen to heated oratory, and generally enjoy the excitement of the occasion and the unwonted leisure. They can always indulge in a smoke, and, unless the strike extends over a long period of time, are not compelled to', curtail their meals seriously. They are free, if the necessity arises, to move about from place to place, and in the majority of cases they have parents or brothers and sisters who will not see them starve or go without a bed whilst the trouble is on. But the man with the family is in a very different case. He is, responsible for the shelter and feeding of a woman and little children. The fear that confronts him when loss of work occurs is not the fear of physical discomfort for himself, but the misery of seeing women and babies going hungry. He cannot turn up at the house of his parents or other relatives, as his single brother might, with a cheery req-uest for temporary food and shelter. He would have to ask for more than they could be expected to give. His opportunities for saving have been less than the single man's, and the probability of his "tiding over" the time of stress -is proportionately smaller. Only when there is a very real grievance and the chance of success is good will such a man inflict the hardships of a strike on those dependent upon him. He will not be carried away by specious arguments and shallow reasoning, says an Australian P!f TL 'at the Same time > it also adds that "it is, of course, a counsel of perfection to urge that the voting power of a unionist in reference to a strike should be measured by the extent of his responsibility for,the lives of others; but it is perhaps a good thmg.that the matter should have been Placed before the public in this light The irresponsible men themselves howl ever cheerfully they may seem to'laugh the proposition away, cannot but admit the justice'of it, and they may find it le-s easy than before to acquit themselves of selfishness. There is such a t;nng as conscience, however hard mp n may try to forget it, and some seeds of compunction may be sown which in time will bear fruit." We must hope that the proposal may substantially leaven public opinion in New Zealand *>r it is entirely just, and has both reason and humanity on its side