Truth THE BLACKBALL STRIKE.

NZ Truth, Issue 142, 7 March 1908, Page 4

Truth

THE BLACKBALL STRIKE.

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SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 1908

Blackball, as the name would imply, is the place where the coal comes from— or some of it. Tire mine is run by a family called Leitch. They are well named these Leitches. They are as fond of setting, something, out of the other fellow as their Hirudinean namesakes. And it is because the Leitches want the miners to become subservient to the Leitoh law that the present trouble arose. This docs not include all the Leitches. There are some m the town white men and good Unionists. According to the capitalistic press the miners are a set of malcontents, raising strife and playing hell out of pure cussedness and a desire to drive capital out of the country. ' capitalistic press never stems to ■ask itself whether any number of sane men would voluntarily; deprive themselves of their means "of livelihood unless- they had some very goad reason. The Blackball miners struck as a protest against an act of injustice. • » . - ■ . The facts of the dispute leading to the present trouble are practically as follows : Under Leitch law the miners are allowed 15 minutes only for crib time, that is they must bolt their mid-day meal m a quarter of an hour. Many people get through their scran m even less time and die of indigestion as a resjilt, but when it is compulsory to gobble a meal m that time 'the thing becomes irksome. Anyhow, a miner might want a smoke afterwards, or a few minutes for-sa spell and a mag to some other miner about his Sunday school class or Gold Crest's chance for the Cup. The men came to, the conclusion that 15 minutes was not long enough, so a meeting of the Union was held, and it was decided that crib time should be extended to 30 minutes. This didn't suit mine manager Walter Leitch a little bit. He gave- the Union to understand that it could fo to Tonhet for all he cared, and that at tlie expiration of 15 minutes he would expect the men to be* back at work. When the men didn't roll up: to the prescribed time, Leitch got mad and things began to happen. It ended in y two miners being cited to appear before Warden Turton for refusinn- to obey orders- The case got the Warden thinking considerably, and lie reserved his decision. It took him quite a long time to decide whether a man can eat his dinner m 15 minutes or not, but eventually he decided that he could— in law (a live man can be dead. in law)— not only that he could but that he'd darned well have to if Leitch said so. What Warden Turton thought about the merits. of the case he didn't say. He indicated though by inflicting a ' fine of 5s only. In the meantime Leitch was making ' things warm at the mine,, and trouble was getting heap,ed up good and big!.

( It appears that it is only within recent times that 1 the Blackball miners appear to have come to a sense of their own worth and power. It wasn't until the advent, .of certain unionists, who stirred them ,up a bit (labor agitators the dailies call them) that they began to see that they were not getting a fair deal. Hence, among other thingr, the buclcing against the 15 minute crib, Beitch knew perfectly well what was going on, and the thought of it made him very unhappy. Soulless slaves are the class of- men Leitch likes. He seized on a miner named Hickey and called him an agitator and a socialist, and other names that this paper cannot print because of the Noxious Weeds Act. He accused Hickey of' hitting below the belt, as if a poor, • unfortunate miner could hit the topdog manager anywhere else. But what price when the top-dog aforesaid threatens to retaliate m; the same way. He is a bully and *a bounce is Walter Leitch, and when he dismisses a man he doesn't send : him notice on perfumed note-paper, he just tells him to get and isn't too gentlemanly about it either. He '•picked out seven men whom he. evidently' thought had been leaders m the r agitation for 'the extended crib time and gave them some unwholesome and unnecessary advice and Ihe sack. The Union held a meeting th.it. ' n'ifht. and a deputation was sent Ui Leitch asking him that tlio sacked men be reinstated. Leitch refused, and was given to understand that, there would be no more work until ; the men were* taken on again.' So the rest of the men went out with the socialistic seven and at time of writing are s.till out. Such is the story of the fetrike.! • • i Commenting on the case, the "Dominion," jn a sub-leader m Tuesday's issue, urg^s the Government to do its duty. Which meaiis lock the men up. The "Dominion," which was started by a gang of capitalists to boom Capital and kick Labor 1 below the belt, quotes Section 15 of the Arbitration Amendment Act;, of '05, | which reads :— Any industrial union or industrial association or employer, or any worker, whether a member of such union or not. which or who shall strike or create a lock-out, "or purpose, aid or abet a. strike ov lock-out-or a moveuwnt m tended to nvnduco a strike or lock-out, ahull no guilty of an offence, ami shall ho liable to a flue, ami may hf proceeded against* m Uve same- manukas if it or ho were guilty of « breach of awn I'd. Provided that the due shall not exceed ono hundred pounds tor an? such offence Jn the ense ot a union, association or employer, pv ten pounds m the ense of a worker. And comments thualy : "Onions all over the Dominion havo contravened 1 this wholesome law, ft ml. they will be wise to remember that the Cloven^ ment may even master up courage to bring them to 'a nropcr souse ot til© meaning of statutes. . . • Ihe men say openly that (hoy havo U0 confidence m the Arbitration Court : 1 it is hinted that to punish them will

be 'a large order '■; they flaunt their red badges m the face of the law. And the Government, entrusted with the custody of Justice, is patiently awaiting information." Of course a capitalists' paper like the "Dominion" ftuld naturally gloat over a chance to cough up lumps of abuse at ji Government that won't see eye to c - with Capital. The section of "the Act quoted makes it very plain what the Government MAY do, but it is only the "Dominion" and other fat bossed papers who say it is what the Government SHOULD do., The responsible Minister very rightly hesitates to put the law into motion where the issues might become disastrous. The workers, as a rule, are a very lavv-abickung body, but there are limits, and it is just as much to their credit that they are as loyal to themselves as they are to the laws of the land. Had the Blackball miners 'stood by and watched the sacking of the Socialistic seven without a protest they would not be worthy the name of men. It has only been by the loyalty of the men to each other that such concessions as are now enjoyed have been wrested from Capital. And if unionists are to stand meekly by and see their fellows bounced and bullied and bumped out by tyrants of the Leitch type then good-bye to unionism and good-bye to all hope |of labor's betterment. The men may have broken the law m going, on strike, but they broke it as a pro.test against petty tyranny. If everyone feared to strike a blow at an abuse reforms would never have been. The Blackball miners have struck, legally they may be wrong, but they are fighting for a principle and protection against the oppression of Capital, and all the Tory rags m the Dominion cannot make criminals of I them. ■ "