LATER IMFORMATION.

NZ Truth, Issue 115, 31 August 1907, Page 8

LATER IMFORMATION.

Still later information appears m the "Labor Leader" for July 12, a copy of which we have just received. The article dealing with the strikes is as follows : — The hopes of an early settlement of the dispute held out m last week's "Leader" have, unfortunately, not been realised. The fight is to continue, a«d on both sides there ds the fixed determination 'to make it a fight to the finish.' The responsibility for the continuance of the strife rests with the English railway companies— the Midland, the Lancashire, and Yorkshire, and the London, and North-Western. Last week the Lord Mayor of Belfast (Earl Shaftesbury) tried to bring; about a conference between the EMPLOYERS AND THESTRIKERS, T»Uit without success. All the local firms were willing enough to treat •but the railway companies persisted m their refusal to recognise the officials of the men's Union. Until this autocratic attitude is a- , bandoned there is no hope of a settlement. The merchants find it absolutely, impossible to deliver, or even store, the vast quantity of goods that are coming into the city., FRANTIC APPEALS Eave been made to merchants across the Channel to cease sending. goods to Belfast unless : they are urgently required. Some of the local merchants to whom goads are consigned are making attempts to cart them from the dooks on their own vans, but as each of these blockade-running vans has to be accompanied by a strong force of police, thig method has its disadvantages., So far public sympathy is undoubtedly with the men m their struggle, but desperate efforts are ■being made to alienage that sympathy. The English railway companies are bringing pressure to bear on local employers to induce them to close down their works, giving as .their excuse the present strike, m some cases this method of peaceful persuasion h a s been resorted to, with the inevitable result that men thrown out of work are loudly murmuring against the strikers. The railway companies and their 1 .unscrupulous backers m the press

are trying to divide the dockers and carters by making the basest appeals to their political and religious prejudices. • On the one hand the ORANGE : AND PROTESTANT. STRIKERS are being loudly assured that^ the strike is a Popish plot, engineered by that Papist, Larkin (the Dockers' organiser) , m order to drive every Protestant employed at the docks out of work. On the other hand, the Catholic and Nationalist strikers are being just as loudly itold that the whole thing is an Orange. plot, organised by that b Orangeman, Boyd, to drive them out of work. One of our local journalistic hacks has become particularly solicitous of the poor, deluded Protestant carters. He makes a piteous appeal to them. Do they know that the majority of the members of the Union are Fenians ? Do they know that Larkin himself is a minion of the Pope ' : . Will they not turn back before it is too late, before they are sold to the Pope and John Redmond ? So far there has been no outburst of solicitude for the poor Protestant employers, whp are associati'mg with the Catholic employers to defeat the workers of both creeds. Perhaps the scribes have overlooked them altogether. There was a time m Belfast when these miserable appeals to popular prejudice would have had their effect- ■ -„..-.. • THAT TIME IS GONE. The workers can be no longer deluded. They are standing well together, and if they are beaten it will be for the lack of funds rather than lack of determination to succeed, or loyalty to one. another. In the matter of funds, the men are <not too well oft. As the branches are only recently formed, they arc not entitled to any benefit from the Dockers' Union. They have, therefore, to depend upon such assistance as they can obtain" from outside sources. If this were purely a local struggle, the men would have some hesitation m appealing for crossChannel assistance ; but the struggle is of National importance. The English railway companies, who are responsible for the trouble, and who are finding' the funds to fight the men, make no secret of their intention to prolong the struggle m order to make it AN OBJECT. LESSON to trades unions- in general, and they Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants m particular. The result of this fight will largely determine the companies' attitude towards the railway men. With regard to Larkin's complaint about blacklegging ;by. members of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, I have made further inquiries, and find that the facts cannot be disputed. To -break the strike of the dock laborers the companies imported a staß of 160 picked railwayman, who are at present boarded and lodged on special Ijoats at the Belfast Quay. Of these 160 imported , strike-breakers at least 32 arc members of the A.S.R.S. Seen by the dockers' pickets, these TRADE UNION BLACKLEGS urged m their own defence (that, ■being old men, they had to choose between blacklegging and forfeiting their claim to superannuation from the Railway Benevolent Fund. They say they .would only be too glad to get aiw-ay from Belfast; if the A.S.R.S. woukli take up their case. Larkin has communicated with Mr Richard Bell, M.P., but so far no action has been taken. As another means of harassing the men, - the Belfast Harbour •Board have instituted procetdings against Larkin for trespassing, on the property of the Board. His offence was addressing a crowd of dockers on the sacred ground. Theothar case against him, m connection with the attack on BAMBER, THE BLACKLEG, comes on at the Belfast Assizes, which open on July 19 . ;