HOW PUBLIC SUFFERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16619, 16 August 1917, Page 6

HOW PUBLIC SUFFERS

WORKERS WALK TO BUSINESS

RUSH FOR RARE TRAINS.

SERVICES RAPIDLY IMPROVED. J Realisation of the effect* of a transport strike came en Monday of last week, when the trams ran as usual, but the train service was utterly disorganised. The commissioners ran what trains they could, and the people just caught any train that came along, i Sometimes none came along at all. During the hours, however, the commissioners were able to run a- much-reduced service, thanks to the loyalty of some of the enginedrivers and firemen; and thanks, also, to the fact that numbers of ex-service men and other men capable of rendering -assistance placed themselves at the disposal of the Department, i o*ife listened in vain for any expression of sympathy with the strikers, said a 1 writer in a Sydney journal. "No man } can object to the card systeii unless he is ( a shirker." said a railway TJuard. " But i there's more in it than the card," he i added. " They talk about the Govern-} ment trying to smash the Labour move-j ment; but, for my part, lam more m- j clmed to look upon this strike as an ! attempt by the red-raggers to smash the National Government. ' . The public was not slow to appreciate loyal service, and while drivers and firemen manning the few trains were cheered at every station, many were presented with collections i made among the passengers. Ho Time-table Kept. Many strange scenes were witnessed throughout the day, and especially in the busy morning and evening hours the' city and suburban stations were crowded with I people. Time-tables were put aside and people just went to catch the first train, they could. Sometimes a couple of trains ; would turn up within a few minutes of each other, and then there would not be another for an hour or more. "For Sydney, eh!" asked one suburban stationjnaster. "Well, I've been talking to Parramatta and Granville, and they say there's nothing in sight. There may not be anything till after tea, for all I know—unless a country train turns up from somewhere." There were some extraordinary scenes at the Central station in Sydney in the evening. If you didn't get home for tea, you didn't get home at all, for the last suburban trains left at about half-past six. There was an unprecedented rush between five and six o'clock. Thousands of men and women, youths and girls, who go to business" were allowed by their employers to get away somewhat earlier than usual, in order to avoid the crush at the end. And they ran right into the crush. They rushed hither and thither. Everything was disorganised. Many people were forced to stay in the city overnight, relying on friends or boardinghbuses and hotels for, shelter. As for the very limited train service, never were such sights seed' as these trains presented. They were simply packed to suffocation. Passages and carriage platforms were crammed with human beings. One would not have imagined that it was possible, to get so many people crammed intq and about a waycarriage. They were everywhere except on top. Thousands of people walked to work on Tuesday, for the. tramwaymen had gone "out, and the limited service could not carry more than a fraction of the day's traffic. Some of the tramwaymen remained loyal to the Department, and stayed at their posts. They had to put up with

many insults, but, except on one occasion, no actual attempt was made to hold up the trams. There was a policemansometimes more than one— ; 'every ..tram, sitting in the front of the car near the driver. No trains came into the Centra) station between 8.30 a.m. and 2.30 p.m., and during that time the station and its precincts presented a strangely-deserted appearance. There were a few officials, ,a few clerks, a few porters at work, and that was about aIL People turned up, of course, .hoping to catch a train, but they were disappointed. Earlier in the day, however, and later in the evening, the service was a fairly good one, in view of the circumstances. At all events it was an improvement on the previous day, though there was no suburban train to be had after 6-30. Volunteers at Work. There were no trains and no trams durI ing the night, but during Wednesday there was a f<" rl good train service on nearly all lines. The fact that the.services were suspended overnight was not due to any inability to run them; it was dictated by other considerations. Thousands of offers were received from volunteers, and suitable | men were rapidly being absorbed. Clergymen's sons, bankers' sons, barristers' 30ns, j merchants' —students from the collegeshad suddenly become railway porters. Trucks full of -luggage and parcels of all descriptions, were bemp pushed along >' by these bright-faced, patriotic youths. Don't you think it's up to us?" said one of them. "We've got our brothers fighting in the trenches, and we know what they'd do if they were here."

' The crowds had been orderly so far, though some of the strikers in the procession that marched through the street" on Wednesday caused something of a commotion at Circular Quay by blocking the tramway lines for a time, and howling objectionable epithets at the tram-drivers and the ticket-collectors. For the rest, the day passed off very much is Monday and Tuesday passed off, except that the public found the train and tram services much improved, and there was not the same frantic rushing hither and thither. Indeed, the streets seemed almost normal again, and thousands of people who spent the first two days of the week at home came into the city to do their . shopping.

REGULATING" FOOD PRICES.

UNDUE INCREASES STOPPED.

Shortly after the strike began the Government revived the Necessary Commodities Control Commission, and on August 9 a proclamation was issued fixing as the highest selling prices wholesale and retail, in New_ South Wales, of all necessary commodities, those prices which were in force on August 1, the day before the strike began. No increases on account of cost of transportation oi other strike "conditions may be made without the permission of the commission, of which Mr. Justice Edmunds is chairman. Addressing the commission, the Attor-ney-General, Mr. D. R. Hall, * said it_ was necessary to revive the commission because of the industrial crisis and the inflation of prices of commodities, which were reported to the Government front different centres. He had been told that in some of the suburbs meat on Tuesdav was selling at something like 3s a lb. He had also been informed that eegs had been sold at about 50 per cent, above their selling price before the commencement of the strike, while the prices of other necessary commodities had been lately increased- .....