ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. MONDAY NOVEMBER 4, 1912. "THE WAIHI "HEROES."

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 261, 4 November 1912, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. MONDAY NOVEMBER 4, 1912. "THE WAIHI "HEROES."

A considerable amount of time was occupied, by the House on Thursday in discussing the question of the. imprisonment of the Waihi miners in the Auckland gaol. The main argument brought forward by those who supported the release of the men was that they had now been sufficiently punished, arid that it would be a tactful as well as a merciful act to order their release. A vast amount of sentimental and inconsequential talk was indulged in; but not one of the speakers who advocated the release of the men could successfully override the plain arid straightforward explanation of the position as given by the Minister for Justice, the Hon. Mr Herdman.:;^ Mr Herdman pointed out that so far from the Government's having flooded Waihi with police in order to coerce the men into a relinquishrnent of the strike, it had not interfered in any way whatever until it had been made manifest that the peace of the township was being de^ liberately and violently disturbed, and that . men—and women and children also—were being subjected to persistent insult and threats of bodily injury. Such a position of affairs had come into existence that it was found absolutely necessary to take steps 'for the preservation of law and order, and to protect honest, industrious men who were earning their living. As a matter of fact it is a crying disgrace and'scandal that it should ever have been • even insinuated that the Government has "sided with the capitalists, and mine-owners" in the course of the dispute. The trouble at Waihi has heen caused by a disagreement or quarrel between • two sections of .the. workers, those who belonged to Federation of Labor and those, who favored the establishment of a union under the Arbitration Act. It was not the mine-owners who "locked out" the men, or stopped the work; but the Federation. But this initial point need.,riot now be discussed at length. The two points for settlement are, first, whether the men now in^'gaol, were1 treated with any special' or undue harshness by the magistrate^ and, second, whether the Government should recommend his

Excellency the Governor to cancel tlie remainder of the sentence and: allow men who have knowingly and deliberately defied the law of the land to go scot 'free,' without any engagement on their part that they will refrain from ."■'■■ future insulting behavior or with the arbitration's.. On the first point the facts- a'p6' all against those who plead, eithel' for sentimental or for political reasons, for the,release of the prisoners. The Minister for Justice promptly disposed of the statement that a particular magistrate had been sent up to Waihi to "deal it out" to the strikers. On the contrary, the magistrate' who tried ;the charges had been three months in the district, in the ordinary discharge of his duties,, before events compelled the police to bring the cases into court. On the second point'it is difficult to conceive upon_ what grounds the twenty-one Members who voted against the 'Government on Mr Robertson's motion can justify the stand they have taken up. Surely the law of the land must be enforced, and surely, tod,' those who deliberately break the law cannot be allowed to. defy prop^rly-con-stxtoted authority. Thei*e was no harshness shown to theselaw-breakers. On the contrary, every possible opporv tunity was given by the magistrate to allow them to withdraw, and withdraw quite honorably, from the completely false position into which they had been so/foolish and misguided to forcf themselves. The magistrate would have acpepted the simplest kind j ot surety for future good conduct and I reasonable respect for the law, and j not one man need have gone to gaol But no, infatuated with the silly idea that they were making heroes of themselves, and, to a large extent/no ! I doubt, encouraged and strengthened i |in their obstinacy by the mischievous I agitators who . "run" the "Red" i Federation, the foolish fellows decided g° *° gaol. TKe position now is, as Mr Herdman explained to the House on Thursday evening, that the men^are not being kept in gaol by the Government, but by themselves, lhe bond they were asked to sign was a very easy one to find. It had to be signed only by any member of ! the union, or any of the men's own i companions." The Minister for Jus- j tice then proceeded to explode the | rumors-(industriously circulated by! the Federation with the object of I gaming for the prisoners the sym- i pathy of the workers) that the men '■ now in gaol were or had been treated with any unfairness by the authorities ot the prison. "All the rights the ' men had under the regulations were being preserved to them." ■Mr Herd- • m un cm Phaafeed the fact that persons ' who used obscene or abusive language in a public place were liable to punishment, and when had the Gov- : eminent been asked to release men who were suffering imprisonment for such an offence? So long, said the Minister—and we heartily applaud his clear and unmistakable declaration— as he was, Minister for Justice he i would make no r distinction between strikers and-other offenders in any °£ he. r Place. Later on the Prime \ Minister said that the Government i had been forced to undertake an unpleasant duty, at Waihi; but they in- ' tended to do their duty. We believe \ that the country as a whole will unre- ' seryedly "commend and support the + action of the Government with regard to Waihi.. If there be any cause for ' dissatisfaction with the manner in which -the. Government is dealing with the Wa-ihi trouble it is, with us at n least, the curious indifference and ■• shutting of the eye" to the 'disgracp- ■■ ful and certainly illegal behavior of : certain of the strikers' wives. We ■ see no reason why a woman should b*> " allowed to use insulting and obscene \< language without being brought be- • fore the court. No doubt the Government is loth to order the prosecn- )■■

tion of these offending termagants; but firmness all round should be its motto. Meanwhile, however, we applaud the action of the-majority in the division on Thursday evening