Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5,1898.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXXII, Issue 3, 5 January 1898, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1898.

The commencement of the new year will mark a renewal of the i industrial war now raging in j Britain. The engineers havo rejected by a very large majority the proposals cf the recent conference, and tho employeis have resnmed I the issue of lock-out notices. It ib a significant fact in connection w'uh the struggle that Continental firms 1 are aiding the strikers with funds. Thiß in itself should warn the men that they are likely to do themselves irretrievable harm. 'I he fox is _ not kind to the goose, or the spider to the fly, without an ulterior and selfish inteniion, and it may be taken for granted that the Continental ironmasters are not actuated by sympathy with the strikers. Tcey do not themselves pay such high wages, or observe Buch short hours, or accept trade unionism so unreservedly as to warrant tbe supposition that they wish tho sttikors success for the justice of their cause. The only other inference is that the Continental firms hope that the strike will prolong industrial paralysis in Britain, and so bring them gain by the diversion of orders. In America, too, the employors are already obtaining benefit from tho engineeia' strike, for an order ior a large number of locomotives and carriages for the Siberian railway, which would have gone to Englandfand Scoiland in the usual course, has been placed in the States, The loss to the British bread-winner by such diversion is not only enormous at the present time, but it may blbo be permanent. When custom once goes elsewhere it is most difficult to obtain again, for new interests and liabilities aro brought into existence, and both buyer and seller are reluctant to change conditions more than absolutely necessary. We can understand a strike for shorter hours, for better p»y, for an

amelioration of the life of /the] worker generally. Strikes with ' such objects in view have nearly \ always succeeded, and trade unions ' have done good for labour when the motive has been legitimate. But the engineers' sit ike at present raging seems to have as its chief motive a mere sentiment, The leaders of tbo men have a notion that the employers hope to " smash trade unionism," aud therefore demand a light of interference with tbe management of businesses whioh no independent men oan grant and preserve their self-re-spect. The attitude which tho professional labour agitators are successfully inducing the engineers ; to assume is grossly intolerant, for, at a recent congress of trades unions, it was resolved that while the employed should federate to guard their interests, the Legislature should be asked to make laws against the federation of capital, that is to say, the employers, for common interests/ How is it possible to sympathise with a movement which is so essentially selfish ? The employers do not seem to desire tbe downfall of trade unionism, otherwise they would not have spent time and money over tho recent conference. On the other hand they declaro that they must be allowed lo conduct their businesses in their own way. They find that in other countries, in America especially, labour - saving appliances have broken down the barriors which still in Britain separate one class of work from another. They find that the extreme conserva.ism — the caste prejudice, indeed — of the British trade unionist is enabling countries where such ca-te prejudice does not exist to compete with British manufactures on unduly favourable terms. British ironmasters, therefore, wish to make the most of their labour - saving appliances. The engineers, however, cling to thoir old methods; and herein probably will be found one of the true canscs of the strugglo now being fought out. The demand for eight hours ia a mere catch-cry, to enlist the unthinking, for the intellig-nt engineer knows well enough that in his trade hard-and-fast rules of beginning and knocking off work are calculated to hinder rather than to help him. The eight hours system is being made capital of for all it is worth, however, and the interference of the labour leaders with the employers is beyond question intolerable. Tho Federated Employ eis recently gave to " The Times" some typical instances of this interference, and also some examples of how much they are saving by the men on strike compelling tho breaking down of old customs. In one instance, owing to the Btriko, a firm was forced to hand over the charge of two copying lathes to a labourer. Before tho strike these lathes had been worked by two turners, each receiving 35s a week, or 70s for tho two. The labourer worked both for 24s a week, an ad vance on his previous wages, and the output was larger, tho saving being 4Gs a week. In another case some plane work which should have been done in 3i hours had occupied a man 12| hours. When the matter was brought beforo the Trade Umon delegates the man resigned ; but a few days later there was a threat that all the union hands would strike unless he was restored to his place. The complaint of the firm and its manager was declared to bo " tyranny" and a " concoction." Owing to an order for the engineers to " take things easy," a Clydefirm found that the increase in tho time taken to build engines in 1896 compared with 1895 was 20 per cent. The insistence on the eight hour system is shown by an example also from tho Clyde. A heavy iron plate was being lowered on a vessel through a narrow casing, and it could bo done only at high tide, The operation began , an hour beforo knocking off time, but there was some delay, and when the whistle blew tho plate was only threequarters of its way down. A fow minutes would havo finished tho job, but the fitters left off work under orders from the union. Such instances as these do not redound to the credit of unionism. Tho men are led away by professional agitators who " live by the game ;" but the time may come when they will bitterly rue tho day when they followed false guides and throw away the substanco for the shadow.