LABOUR DEMONSTRATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8355, 8 September 1890, Page 6

LABOUR DEMONSTRATION.

The Labour Demonstration arranged by the Trades and Labour Council to be held at the crater, Mount Eden, came off on Saturday afternoon. At half-past two o'clock the various bodies of men on strike mustered at the Queen-street Wharf, with their society banners, headed by the Trades Union Band. Mr. Bust, secretary of the Trades and Labour Council, acted as marshal, and having arranged the order of march, he gave the word to movo off. There _ was' a large number of spectators in the streets, who were estimated at about two or three thousand. The first half of the procession "formed fours," and the latter half two abreast. The procession was led by the officers of the Trades and Labour Council, then the band, behind which was the banner of the Seamen's Union, which was borne by two athletic fellows. The seamen, principally from the Union Company's steamers, wero a fine body of men as to physique and appearance, and one could only regret that they were not on the ocean wave instead of being engaged in labour demonstration. All in the procession, as well as the onlookers, seemed impressed with the gravity of what lay behind the demonstration, and not a cheer was given, or a manifestation of feeling of any kind whatever was elicited either from the processionists or the spectators, who walked on in dead silence, for the most part listening to the strains of the band. The only tiling that arrested attention was a string of flags across Q.uoon-streetfrom the Waitemata Hotel to the Thames Hotel. But a good many people were surprised to find the Stars and Stripes floating from the flagstaff of the cupola of the New Zealand Company's block, the Victoria Arcade. Mr. J. D. Connolly, the American Consol, was particularly asked if the ISew Zealand Insurance Company had solicited the protection of Ins Hag in the present unsettled state of the country, and he courteously replied that although tho Bird of Freedom (the American eagle) covered a good deal of ground with its wings, it had not yet squatted on tho dome of the Victoria Arcade. The fact was tho offices of the Consulate were in tho block, and he had only hoisted the flag on the flagstaff as a mark of courtesy to the U.S. warship Mohican which had arrived in port. The explanation was accepted as satisfactory. As the procession passed slowly up Upper Queen-street, the processionists were counted, and as near as possible were as follows :—

Officers, Band, etc 30 Seamen's Union 224 Wharf Labourers ]t>2 Trades and Labour Council ... 'it) Carters, etc. 200 Tailors ... 10 Mill and Bushmen 7(i Carpenters... 50 Typographical 20 Bootmakers ](X) Gasmen ;iH Saddlers 40 Gum Storemen ... 70 Total 1034 As the column wended its way along the route to Mount Eden the impression of the general public was that the processionists Mere a well-dressed, well-fed, respectable and comfortable-looking lot of men. On reaching the crest of Mount Eden the processionists descended to the bottom of the crater, where 011 a patch of sward the standards wore planted and the leaders clustered round. The general public squatted round the rim of the crater above, and looked down upon the busy scene of life and activity below, which had a verypretty scenic eil'ect, of which the " photographic fiends " quickly availed themselves. THK SI'KECUKS.

Mr. J. Tc'kn'kk, acting-President of the Auckland Trades and Labour Council, said that the procession that day of Unionists, at so short a notice, proved conclusively the undivided opinion amongst Unionists "as to the stand they had taken in this great struggle, and their determination to stand to the ground they had taken. On the outcomo of this struggle depended the future welfare of Unionism—(hear, hear) —not only in New Zealand, but also in Australia and England, and this had been proved by the hearty vote of sympathy and financial aid which hail been sent from England without their even asking for it. (Cheers. They were all agreed, both Unionists and capitalists, that the prolongation of this struggle would be calamitous to all concerned, and Unionists were as anxious as other people for a quick settlement. He thought the Unionists of Auckland were deserving of commendation from every side, for their sobriety, and their determination to preserve the peace of the community. (Cheers.) He hoped that their determination to bo peaceful, law-abiding, and sober, would last to the end of the dispute. Mr. Turner proposed, " That we, the representatives of labour, protest against the avowed intention of the Shipowners' Association to prevent the right of labour to combine." (Cheers.) He would ask, to second this motion, a gentleman who was well known amongst them as having taken a great and unselfish interest in. the welfare of labour ; he referred to Pastor Birch. (Loud cheers.) He would say one thing to all the people of Auckland, no matter whom: There need be no fear about provisions, if this struggle: lasted for any length of time. (Cheers.) There was at the present time in Auckland a boat-load of wheat, and that would be landed free of cost. A vessel was also loading at Dunedin to bring up flour and oatmeal, and everything necessary. (Cheers.) Pastor Birch, who was received with great cheering, called upon the people to sing the fust verse of "God Save the Queen." This was given with stirring effect, and then, also .it the call of Mr. Birch, there were three cheers for Right and three cheers for Brotherhood. Pastor Birch, remarking that this was a matter which concerned women as well as men, went on to say that when ho was asked why he dared come forward to sympathise with the men, he had replied, "Because I also am a man." (Cheers.) | Men were not dumb-driven cattle now; they were men, with an equal voice and power in the community, and they had been ; enlightened, and that enlightenment had ! taught them that tho luxury of wealth was not of necessary importance, but that ! moderate comfort was ; and moderate com-

: orfc the men of the civilised world wished to have, and ought to have. (Cheers.) Because a man was born poor, was that a reason why ho should always have to struggle for an existence, and many men end in the poorhouse?" (Cries of "No.") Why should little children be sent to work before they were 14 or 15 years of age? Why should men grind at work after they were (50 years of age, because the land which God gave to the children of men had been taken from them ? (Cheers.) He was there that afternoon to stand shoulder to shoulder with the men, because it was right to combine for labour purposes. Objection had been made to the combination which took the form of the boycott. Was not the 80-ton gun a boycott? (Cheers and laughter.) Under the prayers of the Archbishop of Canterbury did we not boycott the Zulus? Did wo not boycott China ? Did we not send opium there at the point of the bayonet ? Was not that the boycott ? (Hear, hear.) They dil not want to remind themselves of past wrongs, but they knew that in the olden times when a man's eonduct or manner displeased an employer, he was dismissed without a character; and now if there be one man who is turned away without sufficient cause the other ninety-nine men in the shop want to know the reason why—(cheers)—and they say, " Weninety-nine have a voice in the matter; there are ninety-nine of us, and only one of you." If the ninety-nine men stood by the one man who had been unjustly treated, he (Mr. Birch) as a Christian gentleman, went with the ninety-nine. (Cheers.) We had had, in the past, seventy-five years of grinding power uponthe poor of the land, and when the money had been made, it had not been spent amongst the poor, but in London, Paris, and elsewhere. They contended that they had a right not only to a bare subsistence, to bread and butter and weak tea, to common clothes and a poor little den of a house, but they had a right to some of the wealth. (Cheers.) He asked who had made the land ? who had made the minerals in the land ? who had made the water ? (A voice: "Not the capitalists.") Yes, that was it. If the minority had made the land, and the minerals, and the water, they were content to work for them ; but if God had made it for them all, they had a right to a fair share of the wealth | they produced. (Hear, hear.) They might j as well say that the minority had a right to the sky. to the wind, or to the sea. Our I

Lord had said that the highest life was to seek first of all the kingdom of God and His righteousness ; and His righteousness was. acting rightly man to man, brother to brother, and until they were prepared to do that there would always be strikes, lockouts, and boycotts. Their agitation was not against men. Working men forgave past wrongs, bub they said, Let past wrongs now stop; let us begin with a clean sheet; let the land become free. (Applause.) Let the labourers in the town, whose families were nearly on the verge of starvation all the year round, have a free right to land and liberty. He denied that the land belonged to the few; let them be paid for it, if they liked, but let the land become the property of the nation. Having come somewhat recently from the old country, he could tell them that every man there— skilled workman there, was in their favour. (Cheers.) He urged them to take heed that in all things they not only dared to do the right, but aid it in a peaceful way ; let them agitate as did thoso wonderful men of old who were put in prison Henry Hunt, Richard (Jobden, and John Bright. (Cheers.) Let them stand forward and do that which is righb in a kindly and in a peaceable manner, and with the disposition of brotherly love. And what were they to say to the wives ? They knew they would suffer, but this was ft cause by which the future generations would benefit; they would have the blessing of the starvation that might come upon us. He begged and besought that splendid meeting of workingmen that they would bear with one another and help one another; let them divide what they had, and let them band together in this cause of justico and right. All they wanted was that equality which God meant for us all, and that liberty for which men in olden days fought and died. (Prolonged cheering, three cheers being given for Mr. Birch.)

I Mr. G. Aldridge supported the motion. - He said they were met that afternoon to - ask and to answer one question, and that f was, "Is the federation of labour justifiv able?" (Cries of "Yes.") 'l'o that ques--1 tion various answers were given. By those i who possessed the power of wealth the 3 answer was, It is not justifiable. To those, 3 however, who knew what social degrada--5 tion was, there was only one answer, and > that was, It is not only justifiable, but, 3 under present circumstances, it is the only right thing to do. (Cheers.) Their fore- ■ fathers, who were working men—and ho > wished to say that he was one of ; those who know what manual labour was—their forefathers who were working men, had struggled hard in order that that great principle might obtain a root-hold among generations after them. Anyone who had read at all the history of labour struggles in the past would know that it had been a continuous effort to obtain Combination on the side of labour, in order that there might be a more equal division of the wealth which the community had produced. We in this favoured land had perhaps not yet reached the limit which had been reached in the old country, because there was as yet access to the land. But the time was now drawing near when there would bo no possibility of obtaining access to the land, and when that was obtained, the men who held the wealth of the community would bo able, if there was no combination of labour, to crush down labour to the point of bare subsistence. Ho maintained that the men who laboured with their hands, and who created the wealth of tho community, had a perfect right to combine, in order that they might obtain a more equal division of the wealth which was produced. (Cheers.) It was said that men who were thrifty and temperate, and sober, wore able to step from the ranks of labour to the rank of the capitalist. That might have been in the past, but let them mark the state of things now: capitalists were combining—they said that was wrong on the part of labour— (laughter)—capitalists were combining, and they wore gradual'y crushing out the men with small means; and when that came to pass, and a number of men had formed rings and monopolies, as some had done, there would not bo the slightest chance that labour would ever rise above its lowest level of hard work for a bare subsistence. If capitalists were combining—and they saw thorn doing so in this city ; there were examples here—they knew them, he need not state them—if men combined to crush out smaller men, it was time that those who created the wealth of the community should combine and say la these men, We murt, have our share of' the wealth that is created. (Cheers.) That , would mean a steady and powerful resis- i tance to tho pressure that would bring | again an era of social degradation. He was ] [ born in a country where working men had obtained 9s per week; and his father i had been one of them, and had brought up - a family of six on that. He could remem- f ber that in those days men were struggling | in order to live, and that men higher in the I social scalethe big farmers, and others — i said, " These men are living far too extrava- * trantly !" (Laughter.) But there came a * time when Joseph Arch(applause) I men of like stamina to him, rose up in their t power and said, " This shall be no longer !" r and lie was proud to say that their efforts i had been largely crowned with success. It t was necessary, however, not only that tho r agricultural labourer should combine, not i only that every separate trade should com- (• bine, but that all trades should combine to- n

gether and force their decisions. (Applause.) He was proud that there were such numbers of men who wore realising, in this Southern Hemisphere, that it was necessary to combine, and that they were doing it with such hearty goodwill. He suggested one step more, in order that they might get what they were looking for, and that was, that labour, skilled and unskilled, should bo federated together—(cheers) not one layer left out, for so long as there was one layer left out the combination was imperfect. [ Within tho last few days he had conversed with men who evidently had little or no knowledge as to what trades unionism was, and _ they had said, " Look at the working - classes; thoy are ready to employ brute force, intimidation, and threatening languago"—(" No ")—and he had said, "It is not true." (Cheers.) He believed that the working classes were the backbone of the community and he believed that there was a far greater average of intelligence amongst them than was to be found amongst the so-called higher classes—(cheers)—and he believed that if comparisons were drawn, it would be found that there was more likelihood of intimidation on the other side than amongst the working men. He spoke thus from the history of tho past, which bore evidencoofwhat, on occasions of largo strikes, had been brought into play against the working men. He had no sympathy with tho but ho begged all to remember that it was used as a war measure. All combinations

in the present state, whether of capital or labour, were to be looked upon as combinations for lighting purposes. He did not use the words "fighting purposes" in any wrong sense, but simply that men were going to battle for the right and true. Mr. Aldridge suggested that workmen should combine for operative purposes. (Cheers.) He trusted that there would be 110 word or act of theirs that would show anything that would be injurious to the community. Ho wanted them to remember that they were fighting for a grand principle, and that they would fight for it in every legitimate mode, and show those opposed to them that they would do it in a kindly and courteous spirit. (Hear, hear.) They were warring just now with capital, but behind capital there was a power unseen, against which both capital and labour must join to fight, and that was land-owning ; and when they had gained their battle against that, he steadily believed that victory was not far from crowning their efforts. Ho appealed to them to listen to every peaceable suggestion that would bring about a settlement of the strike, but let them not yield one atom from the great principles they held. (Loud cheers.)

The motion was unanimously adopted. Mr. KiiiKUP, secretary of the Carters' Union, moved, "That this meeting has full confidence in the Maritime Council in the present crisis." Ho said the labour party had tried everything in their power to avert the present difficulty, and the Union Steamship Company themselves admitted that. They wanted nothing in the way of higher wages or anything else ; they were fighting this battle for a principle, and they were fighting it for the world. Mr. Kirkup went on to show that the labour' party were taking care that there should not be any lack of supplies, and 3pokeofthe barricades on the wharf, claiming that the erection of those structures was an insult to them as men. He pointed out that when he asked to whom he would apply for a pass

for the wharf, he was told to apply to the Union Steamship Company. He protested against the wharf being handed over to that company. At the call of Mr. Kirkup, cheers wore given for the steamer Jubilee. He also reminded his hearers that their strength lav in the ballot-box. Mr. Birch : Lot every trade send its man to Parliament. Mr. W. Jennings seconded the motion. Mr. Kirk dp read the following telegram he had received from Dunedin :—"Maritime Council endeavouring to secure steamers and bring breadstuff's up to Auckland. Steamer or schooner sure to come. Encourage members to be firm. Confident of success. Be firm. Won't desert you." Three cheers wore hero given for Mr. Millar. A voto of thanks I was given to the speakers and others who had assisted in the demonstration. The crowds then left the crater. The procession was re-formed at the top of the hill, and the men marched back to the city, separating near the Queen-street wharf.