MORE DIRECT ACTION

Maoriland Worker, Volume 10, Issue 448, 8 October 1919, Page 8

MORE DIRECT ACTION

The rational strike of railwaymen mi Oire.it Britain will cause th«_ Hon. .1. T. Haul to ponder deeply on his muchapplauded (in the capitalist press) homily iigain.i direct, actiou 11 month ago. Nearly G0t),... railwaymou havo "downed tools," and, at tho time, of writing,"' not a train is ruii-iing in the country." Why? For the simple reason that tho Lloyd George Government proposed to-reduce wages. The present situation has arisen despite the fact that at the last election "constitutional action'" yas taken. Mr. Lloyd George asked for a. mandate •'to hails' the Kaiser." The people who took the trouble t° vote gave him the desired mandate, but the Kaiser is as yet tar from defunct, and likely to remain so for .om e considerable time to come. Whatever else he was empowered to do by the nine million voters, "mostly fools," las c December, Mr, Lloyd George was not elected to reduce wages. Wages are not to be reduced. Mr. George's sins are therefore of omission and commission. . History will prove him to be the most crafty quack ever inflicted on the public lifo of Britaiu. On the decision beiug made to reduce wages some more "constitutional action" was taken. By this is meant that the railwaymen's officials received a letter from the Government couched iv the terms of an ultimatum, and went along to Downing Street to be told that this was the end of the mater, and that wages were to be reduced. Hence the strike. A fact, that must not be forgotten' is that the railwaymen's secretary, Mr. J. A. Thomas, was only a week or so ago a hero of "n*oderation" in the editorial columns of our local Tory and liberal press, and was boosted as an exemplar for the Red Feds and Boleiitmks cf Maoriland. Mr. Thomas ia Labor JI.P., and consequently is a believer in political action, but he it was who called the strike, aud, undoubtedly, he will light for victory, although Britaiu is paralysed in tho process. If Mr. Paul will inform us of an alternative policy for Mr. Thomas i-nil the raihvaymen wo will be pleased to hear of it. The position is one in which the railwaym-n have to hght or accept a reduction of wages. "Conr siitution.al action" (voting at the polls) Js ll«t vouchsafed them for another lour aud a half years, and "constitu- j tional action" (palavering with the . powers that be) has just been tried to the point of failure, co that only a fuiilist would depend on that. Well, what was left but tb e strike—direct actioisp The only present alternative to the strike is of course the acceptance by tue railwaymen of less wages aud conditions oi semi-starvatiou. in tlie cir.nmstanoes this would be described aj "constitutionalism.'" Is this what Mr. Paul advocates? Does ht> really think that submission to th. dictates of capitalism is prelfcruble to a turn-on I, of a conscript army for tho di-l'eat ol Strikes;' If not, would h_. wete he ih Britain vow, stum;. Hi. voviritry ou behalf nf tbe railwaymen. aud ._'-rt himself without stint for tho _nu:e--.. ..f their direct a.'-Don. And if 00, uhut becomes oi" his nice little theorisings in the Upper House the other dayi'