"LIBERTY" AND DISLOYALTY.

Free Lance, Volume XVIII, Issue 984, 14 May 1919, Page 8

"LIBERTY" AND DISLOYALTY.

Some Straight Talk from Sir James. inrT'HATEVER faults Sir James Al- »»■ len may have., a want of pluck is not. one of .them. He faced his -waterside critics fairly and squarely last Saturday and gave them just as good .as he got. Indeed, on most points he had far the better of the argument. JTor men to come and abuse .the head of .the Government for imposing, as they said, undue restrict tions on personal liberty simply because under the War Regulations persons of doubtful loyalty have_ been refused access to the wharves is a very good specimen of the Red Fed. impudence. As Sir James Allen reminded . the speakers the question of seditious behaviour is decided, by the Courts and no honest, loyal worker need fear any interference by the police,. either civil or military. No such man can have any just grievance against the War Regulations. All this talk about "liberty" is the veriest cant and hypo-o crisy. * * # * When a man is found with revolvers and cartridges in his lodgings, with, too, a pile of the abominable literature of the I.W.W. brand he cannot complain if he be regarded as "subpect" and warned off the wharves. Neither has a man any just grievance if he be arrested __ and sent to jail for distributing seditious literature. As to what is noj; sedition the heads of our Courts are just as competent to judge as is the average waterside labourer. If the latter would talk less and push/on with their jobs the channels of industry would no.t get blocked as they do, and half the real or socalled grievances of the workers would disappear . -

Last Saturday a whilst the men were wagging their jaws over the woes of the I.W.W. sympathisers and canting about interference with personal liberty, a big coal cargo was waiting discharge. And yet these very same people will be the first to growl if coal supplies run .short this winter. The only purpose served by the constantly recurring stop-work meetings is to give a few well-paid notoriety-hunting apostles an opportunity for cheap advertisement with those who are foolish enough to provide them with then* soft jobs.