Law and Order

Maoriland Worker, Volume 4, Issue 146, 19 November 1913, Page 8

Law and Order

On Saturday, November Bth, at 7.45, tho "Preservers of Law and Order,' , iv otlior words, the hirelings of the Shippine Cos. the Merchants, and above all tin- Mine Owners—raided the Gladstone Biiildiii'.-s, the offices of the Waterside Workers 'Uni-m, and ttuiK possession. By what legal right this was done no one knows. No one will ever know now. The authorities, the friends of of the bosses, can use 83 much violence as they 'ike, and no one can call them to account. Until this morning the wharves and Waterfront have been perfectly quiet and peaceful and open to all who wished to go there. Now an armed mob U in possession, the public excluded, and all the element of riot and disorder have been introduced. lii the face of all this the lying capitalistic press has the audacity to say that law and ordor has just been restored, and that once inoie the public is free to go about its business. Walk down to the waterfront and see for yourselves what law and order looka like when it has been restored, ond see how free yon are to go about any business you may have in that direction. We are being kept out of our offices, for which we pay £2 lOs. per week, by organised violence, and our little bit of property and our papers will no doubt be destroyed. And why? To crush our union and break our ranks! But it will be quite useless. The J good work will go forward just the same. The police can make as many raids as they like, but they will not hinder our cause or Stop our operations. There are too many of us in the ranks for that. All we have to do is to stand firm, and neither the police nor their employers can stop us from winning. Already lying reports are in circulation as to what was found on our premises. We do not say thai explosives, weapons, and barbed wire were not found there. But if they were the police put them there, as. they have done repeatedly on such occasions. Our offices were far too public and open to strangers to be used for any incriminating purpose. The most explosive things the police found there were strike pamphlets, such as have been distributed to the public, and they are heartily welcome to them. Wβ hope they will read them, and get to understand what senseless tools they have become in the hands of the master class. We hear that they would do the same to us, but We sincerely hope that no good unionist will give them half a chance. We can win this fight best by standing together. But if you have never been classconscious before this ought to open your eyes. Are these scabs on horse-

back brought into this town for your beenfit? Are these "specials" for your protection? What have you to protect except your life? And who cares for that? Now you can see> if you did not know it before, that in the eyes of the "boss" his property is everything ancl your life is nothing. He holds you so cheap that he will maim or kill you without hesitation if you interfere with his profits. Remember this, but don't give him a chance to get in on you. Don't give him an opportunity to use his special police tools on you. Ton have a better way, and that way lies in solidarity. Stand firm, keep together, and all things are possible to you.—Auckland Strike Bulletin.