SOME STRAIGHT TALK IN PARLIAMENT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume L, Issue 175, 5 October 1917, Page 6

SOME STRAIGHT TALK IN PARLIAMENT.

•A REGENT OUTRAGE THE NEED FOR CAUTION. Some plain talk was given to the House *of Representatives the other evening" by the Hon. A. L. Herdman referring to recent acts of the authori-ties-in this country. Mr Hindmarsh had ben .speaking of the searches, made by the police of certain premises in the city says the Dominion. In search for evidence pertaining to charges against officials of the Seamen's Union regarding the strike, of' seamen in the coastal vessels. He .did not say that no search would under any, circumstances be justied, but he did .say that the search had'been conducted in rather a harsh and high-handed- manner The Hon.' A. L. Herdman: I have known, the honourable member for Wellington South for many years, and I know thatwhen he~makes a statement in "the House he is animated by public spirit. But sometimes he is mistaken. The'honourable gentleman, in the course of the: speech he made/referred to the investigation. carried out by some police officers .the other day, and ventured to suggest' that it should not have taken place, or that it was done improperly. Whilst the war is on it is necessary that the Government should do a great many unpleasant things which would not be dreamt .of in time of peace. It mustundertake unpleasant duties, and one of those-'unpleasant'duties is that mtntioned. 'lt is- : within" the knowledge of members that a ship was lost on the way from Australia to New Zealand ,and the 'enquiry-that has taken place would lead one to'sup'pose that the snip was lost by the-act of some person either in sympathy with or in pay of the enemy. We "have been free from that sort ot thing in New Zealand, but I do tell the House that the police have had reason to : suspect persons of acts of that description- in-this country. I may also say-that something was found in the vicinity of-fthe building m question that made it necessary" to' search the building, and' if' I related all the circumstances members would agree with me that .the. search was necessary in the interests' of public • safety. •I think that the people'of this country are apt to-forget that this country is >*i warl Ships are passing between the Jld: Country and New Zealand, carrying thousands of pounds' worth of valuable" produce, and it is my duty as head of the Police Department to take euch steps as I 'can ensure the safety of ehips-andof the people upon them. "After three years' experience of this war'l can say that the workers of thi* country, ahd'noi only aw soldiers, have rendered patriotic service to the Empire Oh the field -of. battle and in New Zealand these men have done splendid work butlhave been led to believe that frequently these-men have been grievously misled. iFor'many of the incidents that have taken place in the last three years the strikes that, have occurred m which •men have participated, I do not blame the men- Time and again men have stated that they did not want to stnkp biit they have been intimidated, bullied and: "forced" into the position they have taken up by men who do not know what their"."duty..-to' their country is and who .-ire" rather enemies of Britain than her friends. ... „ , _ . : -'The coal strike on the v\est Coast was-instigated by leaders who did not care'whether England fell or remained as'-., she -is', who did not care whether Germany won or England won. But I know that the men working in the mines wanted to work, desired to work, but were prevented from doing so by these men- Sou talk about industries of the country! These men were told to go slow, and they deliberately arranged their dailv wage so that they did not earn more than 12s or 14s a day. They were forced to do it. The man responsible for industrial trouble is not the ordinary average agitator who is entirely responsible for the mischief. I could name one or two agitators without.any difficulty who do not live very far away from Parliament House, and who to a large extent were responsible for a great deal of the trouble that took place. • "I only ask honorable members to think of t*he condition of things in Australia when thev talk about industrial troubles. The fair fame of Australia I is dragged in the mire by the agitator. Her soldiers in the field have done marvels at the Dardanelles and in France. They have made-for themselves a namethat will never fade, but there are people who 'remain at home who want to-tear from the heads of these men the -laurels they have; won in battle, and trample them in the mud... Fortunately; in New Zealand, the condition of things has been much better. Industrial peace has been observed, and the great mass of the workers have stood firm and have been loyal. And I hope the time will never come when we shall liave in this country the condition of things now prevailing in Australia." Mr P. C. Webb (Grey) said that the Attorney-General had again indulged in misrepresentation regarding Labour. His references to Australia had been _ absolutely unfair. What was an agitator? Every man who fought for a cause was ah. agitator. Mr Herdman was an agitator on behalf of the Conservative principles, just as Mr Isitt agitated for Prohibition. The: secretary, of the Employers' Association was an agitator, appealing to his class to organise with the object' of combating more successfully the claims of the working people. But a, man only became a vicious agitator in the opinion of the Attorney-General when he agitated on behalf of the oppressed. The truth was that the high cost of living and the conditions of life of the workers made it the duty of every man to agitate. . iXIr.PaiT (Eden): Are strikes the remedy? • Mr-Webb: 'No. Strikes to the body * politic are like a- festering sore on the human body. They are the reflex of a rotten, corrupt system. We know that strikes are a waste of energy ,and an economic loss.' The same thing applies to war. We see millions "of men being 'sacrificed and billions of money being PTJent. and we know that it is wrong. ..But-there are times when the nation

"mast-'fight,' and there .'ire times when - the -workers must strike in order to im-'-prove their conditions a tittle. The root of\ the evil that produces strikes is the

capitalistic syste.ni." Tlie Australian strikevhad Been due to the. introduction of an American system of "speeding up" ■ Which, had never' been tolerated by 'British workers. It had not been caused 'bv agitators. Its leaders were men who had riot been on strike for many years. ./The blame had rested upon the Government, which had trie<l to introduce Sh-the railway service a system that fivep-the American Government did not recognise. It was a simple fact that men°did not strike without cause, and that wise etatesman tried to adjust aaid not to repreen.