BOB SEMPLE INTERVIEWED.

NZ Truth, Issue 437, 8 November 1913, Page 6

808 SEMPLE INTERVIEWED.

ITHE ABORTIVE CONfCRENCt I — - | Massey's Malice Made Manifest. ;• A Chairman Who Took Sides. j Bob Semple, interviewed, said that the Federation Executive sat on ..Saturday mgbt -hist till midnight: (They reto^nised that, m view of the seripus nature of the position and the ', as far .ii-' possible on- the way to- |. wards.' effecting a settlement, s On Sunday, the l'riiue Minister and -..Sir .Joe Waro were approached con- : jointly, A "deputation consisting of i-roprestnta lives' of the United Kctljerntion of l-iii>or, of most of the or- . gsnisc-d bodu-x m Wellington, incluri. Yin if- the A.K.H.S'.. met them, and ': or^etl the necessity of yet unuther j conference with the employers. Tho 1 conference was arranged, and met at j seven o'clock on Monday nighv. lust fin th» l'lime Minister's room. The I Prime Minister occupied the chair. | At the very outset the employers I made it cleur that compulsory arbitration would he n< sine qua nor. I it was pointed out by tho workers, that this was a most UNItKASDNAULi-; AND TYKANNIt. AL .STAND, The Wrtt'rrs.ile Workers, by a baliot vole of * f »l5» ''or cnnerllation. to >•> against, h«PI l^ally withdrawn irom j tbe Arluti'.tlioit Court. It was also i pointed out that tlu re wus no ' statute law to com|K'l • rc»: resist raI tion at t'he dictation of the enM»lo.v i cis. In the present "dead-lock." ; ihe men's action bad been absolutely constitutional—that of Till-: KAIPLOYEHS INCON-S J I'll - i TIOKAL. Mutlei'H wee thn^hed out up till j eh* ven o'clock. Durw« ihr- pr«»c«v<d- , ltigH. Maj<K«s. vsiio should hay.« t*»k»»n ; an impart ial stand. u*«i h'« |'«"*ti«aii i to itJ^iKt th«« vinployerii. j With ewtv i-ro^i^rt of a f.ivofaiile j ronclufiion, the uieeUnj; ndjourtirtl uittM twt. o'clock next day, | on rt-trtimios *t twje oiclxtck on^uvtlx_|

day, Foster, the spokesman for the employers, . informed th? Federation delegates that the employers had decided that nothing, short of compulsory arbitration would do. Tom Young asked if that was the ultima-tum,-and Foster replied 'Absolutely." Before Young could resume his seat Massey was out of the chair. At this stage, it was plain to anyone that Premier Bill was a party to the conspiracy to' strangle organised labor. "1 have attended a few conferences,'continued Bob, "I have met most of the Prime Ministers of Australasia, Tor,*, Liberal and. Labor,' and have never met SUCH A HIDE-BOUND RETRO- '■ GRESSIVE, such an incapable man as Premier Bill Massey.'-' At the Monday night meeting, while there was a discussion between opposing delegates, Pryor and Touiig; over tho question of having a ballot under the supervision of the Government, Massey deliberately chimed :n to favor the employers; and Tom had .to inform him that he was there, not PROBABILITY OF BLOOD BEING SHED, the time had arrived for them to go

as representative of either side, but as chairman of the meeting. J Semple. continuing, said that he felt certain, that if Joe Ward, or any other reasonable man, with some industrial knowledge and responsibility, hbd occupied the chair, a SETTLEMENT WOULD HAVE 4 BEEN EFFECTED. At Huntly ihe men were stlil out, through a pvocsss of cruel atad brutal victimisation. There was not one man who was not determined to fight to the bitter end. .As f-ir as th« responses lalready to hand were concerned, there was no hesitation on the part of the men. Organised labor, had been challenged m. a way that it had never before been challenged m- the hlstory-of Australasia. The men had done all- that they could honorably do m the way of settlement, but haa failed through the immovabieness ot the opposite side.