THE STRIKE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 620, 19 November 1913, Page 6

THE STRIKE.

DO STRIKES PAY? "Strikes do not pay," writes Mr Philip Snowden. a prominent member of the Parliamentary Labour Party in Britain. "They are a barbarous, crude!, costly and ineffective way of trying to remedy the wrongs of labour. They do not pay the workmen; they do not pay the community ; the employers form the only party which can be said in any way to gain by them. They have powers in their hands by win eh tbey can speedily more than recoup themselves for any temporary !o?3 a strike may inflict upon them." _ LESSONS TAUGHT. It is too early yet to be pondering the more obscure lessons of the strike, but an article appearing in the "Metro politan," which claims, with some justification,, to bs "the iivest maagzine in America." seems to be so applicable to the conditions now prevailing in New Zealand that no apology need be made for quoting a portion of it here: — "The "Metropolian" does not hold a brief for the I.W.W. It heartily approves of some ct the acts and tendencies of that organisation and has plainly said so. But that by no means dosposes of the subject. The I.W'W. as such may pass into history before long. Similar organisations have preceded it and others will follow iE the conditions for their existence continue. The I.W.W. is not an accident. It ia. a symptom. Whatever becomes of this particular organisation the unrest of these labourers and operatives is going to remain. There will be intervals of apathy, alternating with waves of revolt. The quiet intervals will probably grow Bhorter, the revolts larger and more persistent. At any rate, there will be no return of the idyllic days when such folk were happy in 'their poverty and thanked their masters for giving them their daily bread. Their condition may not be worse than it was 20 or 50 years ago. It may be better. It ought to be much b9tter. considering how the powers of production have increased. ENGINEERING A STRIKE. HOW LEADERS WORK. PLEA FOR SECRET BALLOT. Many interestnig letters reach the Mayor of Auckland in respect to the strike. One, which came to hand from a French polisher, makes interesting reading, as indicative of how the Furniture Workera' Union decided to participate in the general strike. The writer gives the Mayor his name and address as a bona fide, and his letter reads as follows:—"Allow me to congratulate you and your colleagues on the splendid move you made in coping with the present industrial trouble, I can safely say as a workman, that the treatment every man received, if he was not in favour of the strike, was of a most disgraceful nature. In the factory in which 1 work there are 12 hands employed, and only one man was in favour of the strike and he waß a recent arrival from England All the others are colonials. It appears to me that these men from other parts of the world are always the first to try and make trouble. They always exaggerated what wonders they have done in other countries, and what marvels theya re, but when one comes to work with tbem, one finds that they .are mostly what is called a botch at their trades in every shape and form. 'The position in regard to the Furniture Trades Union," is interesting. A special meeting was called to see what steps sould be taken. First, things were put on a very firm footing as to how they wanted things to go. The air was full of Btrike fever, and it was very catching. It was not longbefore the strike leaders were holding the floor, receiving cheers for everything Baid. But when anyone opposed to a strike rose to speak, he was quickly cried down, and collapsed into his seat, stricken with nervousness. It was proposed that a secret ballot should be taken. This can be demanded by two members, and the proposal was supported by -50 members. This was cried down, however, and a show of hand? was called, Which was a hard thing to decide on. Finally, a division was called, which reulted in a | strike being declared by 96 to 45. The ! total number of members at the meeting was 141. The union has a momnership of 400. This is ho* the Furniture Trades Union secured a majority in favour of a strike. I am quite satisfied that most of. the men are anxious to return to work. Some have I resumed already, and I am going back to-morrow."