CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXX, Issue 14981, 29 April 1909, Page 6

CURRENT TOPICS.

THE PABIS TOSTAL STEIKE.

How absolutely essen-

tial tho postal and allied services are to the

proper working of the modern social machine was forcibly demonstrated to tjhe people of France last month. M. Simyan, tho Post-master-General, made himself obnoxious to his subordinates by certain reflections which he passed upon them, and the Postal Servants' Association, a very powerful industrial organisation, demanded that the Government should dismiss him. The request was met with a firm, refusal, and tho postal, telegraphio and telephonic staffs in the various post . offices of the city promptly went out on strike. The result was immediate chaos and. disorganisation in,both business and social circles. Communication with other countries was suspended, and business on the Paris, Lyons and Lille Bourses came completely to a standstill. On the fourth day lof the strike there were 12,000 persons voluntarily idle. A great meeting was held, at which. 10,000 of the strikers were present, and it was unanimously decided not to resume work until M. Simyan had been dismissed. M. Clemenceau was waited upon by a parliamentary deputation, and asked to tako measures to end the strike, but he replied that he would consider no concession until the strikers had resumed their duties. By the fifth day of the strike the Postal Department had 6,300,000 undelivered letters on its Jbands. Special messengers and organised companies of cyclists reaped a golden harvest by carrying letters and messages for the •citizens. Government and Press despatches had to be sent by ' special couriers, and in many respects there was a complete reversion to the methods of two centuries ago in regard to communication. The position was an intolerable one, and a very drastic step was taken to alleviate it. Military telegraph operators were pressed into the service to the number of three hundred, and threo thousand picked soldiers were placed at the disposal of the Postmas-ter-General. These men were instructed in their duties as letter-car-riers, sorters and telephone exchange officials by a handful of the strikers who consented to return to duty if they were assured of military protection. The Minister.of War proposed to call up at once for their period of military training all the reserve men among the strikers, which meant that four thousand of the younger telegraphists and postal servants would be ; obliged to go at once to the garrisons I of Eastern Franco for a month's ser- | vice. It was believed that this ineaI sure would break the back of the strike, l and it appears to have had that result.

ejitibe DEFENCE.

Major-General J. C. Hoad, Inspector-General of the Commonwealth military forces, recently

returned te Australia after spending some time in Great Britain in discussing the establishment of.an "Imperial General Force." As a result of negotiations between the authorities in Great Britain and the oversea selfgoverning ' colonies, representatives were sent from Australia and Canada to London, and a memorandum was issued by Mr Haldane, Secretary for War, outlining the basic principles of tho scheme he had in mind. "The necessity for the maintenance of sea supremacy, which could alone secure any military co-operation at all," the memorandum ran, " tho desirability of a certain broad plan of military organisation for the Empire, but not a rigid model making no allowance for local difficulties; a conception of combination in which the armed forces of the Empire would be organised in two parts, the first part having local defence as its function and the second designed for service of tho Empire as a whole." It is understood that the General managed to secure several important amendments in the scheme, but he would not reveal them to a newspaper reporter who saw him in Sydney the other day. He made it clear, however, that the importance of colonial co-operation in the defence of the Empire was fully recognised by the responsible authorities at Home, and that the scheme could be put into operation directly it had received tho sanction of Parliament. It would involve the representation of the responsible self-governing colonies on an Empire Defence Council, as an essential principle, and also a representation of colonial interests on the Imperial General Staff. That would moan that there would have to bo a comprehensive body in touch with the War Office. Tho General was much struck by the important part that Australia, played in official circles in London. Speaking of compulsory service, he said that the wave of feeling that swept over Great Britain in connection with the Territorial Army scheme showed how the country could act when aroused te a sense of ita responsibilities,, He woidd, not discuss

the efficiency of the Territorials, because it was too early to speak of the results of the new policy. There; can lie no doubt, however, that the extension of the policy to the colonies will bo watched with keen interest in all parts of the Empire.

" KIJWI PATAUD."

One of the most interesting and commanding personalities in the in-

dustrial world of Paris is M. Pataud, secretary of the Trade Union of Paris Electricians, universally known as "King Pataud," who made himself prominent in the earlystages of the recent strike. " King Pataud" has on many occasions shown himself to bo a resourceful and daring despot, and his autocratic actions have established quite a little reign of terror over electric light and power users in the French capital. In August last Paris found itself plunged into partial darkness at night. A dispute between the v employers and the Electricians' Union was in progress, and to facilitate a settlement " King Pataud " decreed that every electric lighting plant in tho city should suspend operations. The result was that the electricians received the concessions they demanded, and the : power of " King Pataud" was more firmly established than ever. As an illustration of his methods, it is stated that a few weeks ago the fifteen men employed on the private electrical plant of the Hotel Continental demanded a rise of wages. The request was ignored, and at half-past six on . a Saturday evening "King Pataud" called at the hotel and sent his card to the manager. The manager was busy and refused to see him, whereupon M. Pataud scribbled a telephone number on his card and sent it back to tho manager. "Tell him," he said to I am not in the habit of being turned away. However busy he may be now, he will be glad to. see me soon. TeU him that this telephone number will find me." M. Pataud went out, and five minutes later the lights in. the great hotel followed his example. It was dinner time, and an important banquet was to take place. The manager telephoned to the electricians, and was laughed at. Then he hunted up M. Pataud's card and telephoned to the potentate. "King Pataud" arrived, and was received by the manager in the dimly-lighted vestibule. "lam not in the habit of dealing. with so important a question standing," was M. Pataud's first remark. He was handed a chair, and waited complacently while the manager signed.an agreement raising the wages, of his electricians by tenpence a day. " King Pataud" strolled out of the hotel with the agreement in his pocket, and a moment or two later the Hotel Continental was a blaze of light again.