THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1890.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8354, 6 September 1890, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1890.

We are informed that the ballot amongst the men employed 011 the railways on the momentous question of strike or no strike is, in this district at least, largely in favour of remaining at work. In Dunedin it is said to be 4 to 1 in favour of striking, but wo should think that this is not a suflicient ma jority, and that when a vote is taken on the question of whether or not men are to give up good situations which perhaps they have held for years, and which they may fill for a life-time, a ruling decision should be something closely approaching to unanimity. Even a majority of 4 to 1 ought not to be sufficient. The men connected with the Maritime Unions have struck work, and have made many sacrifices in doing so, sacrifices greater than many of them quite appreciate yet. That of course they are at perfect liberty to do, as they themselves are responsible for all the consequences. They have directed their efforts to boycotting the Union Steamship Company, which is in reality their only opponent, and in order to subdue it they have declared a boycott against all connected with it. In order to prevent goods being taken from the Union Company's vessels, or goods being conveyed to the vessels, they vhue "called out" carters, wharf labourers, and other classes of workers. In this action they have been very successful ; but the decision to call out the railway employes always seemed to us to rest on exceedingly slender and insufficient grounds. The leaders of the labour party are directing a boycott against the Union Company; and, for the sake of their own cause, they should endeavour to limit the field of operations as much as possible. Otherwise it will appear to the great body of the public, whose sympathy they ought to endeavour to gain, that the object of the labour party is to display power by causing a paralysis of business. Nobody in the community cares for the Union Company except so far as it serves the public ; and, if the public wants were supplied, the Union Company would be left to light its own battle. Many, no doubt, would sympathise with tho Company, but that would be about all the aid they would receive.

As regards the Railway Commissioners, we do not see that they have as yet done anything which can fairly he termed taking a side in the 'dispute. Platelayers have in some cases been directed to handle goods on tho wharf, which duty was formerly done by another class of men. In delivering these goods the Railway Commissioners were only doing what they were legally bound to do, and the men, in carrying out the orders given them, were acting under a rule to which they had subscribed when they entered the service of the railway. The grounds, therefore, for calling out the whole of the railway employes from Auckland to the Bluff tfere wholly insufficient. If these

men had come out we do not see that I the Union Steamship Company would have been at all affected. They would not have been in any way the more inclined to yield, but the contrary. The amount of inconvenience to the. public would, however, have been enormous, had the railway . mployes gone out, and had the Commissioners been unable to supply their places. The traffic of the country now depends on the railways, and in all the principal towns they are the means by which numbers of business men pass to and from their homes. To attempt to bring out the railway employes was a serious mistake in tactics, and we are glad to hear that it is likely to prove a failure. i

It will be seen that the Government have chartered a steamer to proceed from Wellington to Greymouth for coal. This action is in conformity with a suggestion made in these columns a few days ago. The Govern went- are bound, so far as it can, to see that the necessities of the people are supplied. No Government could stand aside and see a considerable amount of suffering because of a trade dispute, when it could obviate the evil. No accusation can be made that in doing this the Government is taking a side. If anything, its action tells against the Union Company, for it is taking up their trade. The motive, however, is simply to prevent the public from suffering on account of this difference. If the Government would act vigorously in this way, the strike would soon come to a conclusion.