Silly Gibes

Maoriland Worker, Volume 12, Issue 293, 11 October 1922, Page 6

Silly Gibes

Herewith is an extract from the " Blackball Notes"' column of the "Grey River Argus"—and it is typical of the shallow., bunk served up in that column twice or thrice a week: —

"The 'Maoriland Worker' seems to be highly elated that the Miners' Federation will be able to continue paying the wages of its organising secretary, and 'evidently holds the opinion that so long as this is done all will be well. It continues to resurrect that stale old yell of disruptionist to any individual or uniiof the working class that refuses to i see eye to eye with or accept as gospel the dope disseminated by the particular individuals it chooses to believe in as, the Moses's of Labour. '. Now that the miners' splendid fighting .organisation has resisted the effort of the moderates and disruptionists, we trust that the Extremist Federation will go ahead and gather in just a few of the lost concessions and' wages. Really, it is quite possible that the Alliance of Labour, with the aid of the fighting miners, will now be ;able to get its own representative onj the Arbitration Court bench in place of Mr. M. J. Reardon."

Tltc Maorilaml Worker is not elated over the defeat of the West Coast separists • for the reason given in this paragraph. The reason for our pleasure is that the rank and file rejected the local niovfr, and expressed their preference for a national organisation.- , ■ Why does the "Blackball Notes" scribe always put other people's motives at the lowest level? A few weeks back we condemned his (oilier) agitation for a,split in the Labour movement, and instead of taking: our advocacy of the unity of Labour as sincere, this scribbler sneered that we were probably a candidate for Parliament. He (or she) was at-the time perfectly well aware that we were disfranchised for ten years. We wonder how the "Blackball Notes" writer would behave if we were to remark in a casual kind of way that probably there would have been less criticism of the Secretary of the Miners' Federation had he been some other person. Very likely he. (or she) would snap out a high-souled protest about •personal disinterestedness and moral yearning for the spiritual upliftment of the race.

Now what a silly.gibe at the Alliance of Labour that is at the end of the paragraph! The Government of this country placed Mr. Reardon where he is, and refuses to give the Trades Unions any opportunity of shifting him. The Alliance of Labour is no more blameable for that than are the Bolsheviks for making nice fat concessions to European and American capitalists. Both have been put offside by the economic situation, and to blame them for what they cannot help, and have no power to change- in the present circumstances, is simply to betray either mental weakness or deliberate dishonesty.

It is just as silly,to hold the AlKance of Labour responsible for Mi , . 'Reardon's presence on the Court as to blame Mivßalderstone for obeying the Labour Department's subpoena a»0 •going into the box las a witness in a case against his pinion comrades — neither could help themselves in the circumstances.

We think that infernal place Ims destroyed the Blackball writer's sense of tmmour. The dismal hole is enough to give anybody melancholia.