FACILIS DESCENSUS AVERNI

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8129, 24 May 1912, Page 4

FACILIS DESCENSUS AVERNI

That the various organisations shall make common cause in all disputes affecting the Waterside and Miners’ Unions directly the dispute is held by the organisation which has initiated action to require the co-operation of other parties to this agreement.—A Federation of Labour plank.

The objective of the Federation of Labour has been reduced to simple terms lately, and as presented in the “ Maoriland Worker ” is so clear as to permit ■ <jf no misunderstanding. The idea is to organise the affiliated unions in such a manner that when one or more becomes involved in a dispute the others shall, upon “ official notification,” refuse to assist, in production or transportation. Since the main object of the federation is at present to secure the allegiance of all workers engaged in mining, the transport services, and waterside occupations, the end sought by the erecutive is to get into a position from which r would be possible to bring practically every industrial undertaking to a standstill. Closing the mines would, of course, impose burdens upon classes of the community. . A cessation of work upon the wharves would throw shipping out of commission and place 75 per cent, of the wage-earners in a condition of enforced idleness. T scheme is a bold one, but it is not by any means new, and, in this country at least, is’ not likely to prove effective, first of all because the great bulk of people who work for a living would find it an unsupportable tyranny from which they would be the greatest

sufferers, and, secondly, because no democratic State would tolerate domination. of its affairs by an autocracy relying essentially upon force for ascendancy. The lesson of sucb a theory brought to practice would be sharp but salutary to all parties—for it would be shown here, as it has been elsewhere, that as a means of securing progress the strike is one of the most dangerous of weapons, and that the “general strike!”—leading as it does to the weakest sections of society having to withstand the heaviest part of the attack—must inevitably bring disaster. With the aims of that portion of the Labour army which seeks by economic, social and constitutional reforms to uplift the masses and provide every opportunity for the indi vidual citizen to enjoy the fruits of his skill and industry we are in complete agreement. Relief from the abuse of privilege and monopoly will only come by awakening the national conscience to realisation of the justice of Labour’s case. Labour must all through rely . upon education, clear thinking, and discipline. It must make efficiency its watchword. Thr idea that by creating chaos any good can be achieved is a mischievous heresy, and though it has a powerful influence over a certain type of individuals it has but little attraction for that great body of citizens who, after all, are the arbiters in the great issues affecting political and social conditions and the lives of the people.