Out and About.

NZ Truth, Issue 441, 6 December 1913, Page 6

Out and About.

Pithy Pars for Plute and Plug.

At 1 present there are eight specials |m the Christchurch Hospital. One of these lias a broken leg, one has a broken arm, another has pneumonia, : and others have broken hearts" disguised under technical names. So , far, there have been no broken necks. Tho ambulance men at the "spes-hells* " camp have kept a record of tho number of casualties which they have attended. Tho total amounts to 700 cases, which shows that just about every special m the camp has had soniothinq; wrong with him. The dry rot still Continues among these gentry, whilst it is interesting to observo that the supposed creators of bloodshed, whom the specials were sent to conquer, have not so much as bruised a finger. •, • • On Tuesday last tho absurdity of maintaining a force of about 2000 specials m the quiet and orderly

City of the" Plains apparently dawned on the- responsible authorities, and after the "foot" specials receiving the order of the boot, all the mounted" men/ with the exception of ■ 250, were similarly dealt with. What J tales of gallantry those; returning * heroes will unfold to the back blocks ! bumpkins ! 1 New Zealand has for some time had a Compulsory Arbitration Act 1 (says Sydney. "Truth"). The present industrial upheaval is showing the '■ - futility of such compulsion where . either the employers or employees i are determined to resist entering I such" court. It is apparent, m Dominion, the death : knell */ of Com- j . puisory Arbitration" has been rung. Inrits stead will be substituted a volunteer system, under which the right to strike will not be taken ! from either side when all peaceful ■ j means have failed to bring about a ! settlement. . ; ■ •"■■■.'• ' ■•- | The young man from Wellington who ■• edits^ the "Taihape. vl3aily Times," must have little sense of humor^else- he --would snot have pass- ; , ed this delicious morsel from his Wellington correspondent— "We have not," writes the keen observer of doings of city lile, "yet lost the thrill of seeing these fine fellows, the country specials, riding down the : streets calm, capable and determin- \ ed, the sayjours of the situation, '! . „/ . the ■; self-restraint and the self-aacriflce'-''^ih^''men are beyond all Upraise; -and what, little one Cati do for them is done with eager'gra- [ titude. . ... The refreshment places have been* kept busy ; . .; '. One af- \ ternoon. Mrs. Massey, wife of the : Prime Minister, visited ono of the , refreshment aheds, and received three hearty cheers from the special constajbles, who were onjoying the tea and -the delectable sandwiches." '^The thrill of seeing these fine, fellows" is distinctly good. ; Barmaids can testify to the thrill produced by the language of some of them. The business i "of the refreshment "places 1 can be vouched' for by the- propnej tress of the Royal Tiger Hotel, and other resorts of that kind. That the new wharf laborers' arbitratipnist union is a "fake" body Is evidenced by the fact that this week a petition was m circulation along the waterfront protesting against the pro-. .! posed charge for meals and lodging. | Ask'e"d aol&uV 7 the' 'shatter, Long* the j secretary of the union, said that there 1 was not- much m it. In fact, -he "was j preparing a counter-petition" m favor jof the various charges. It is rather ! unique to see the secretary of a. labor union working m the interests of the 'employers. , .> . , At a strikers' meeting m Wellington on Tuesday last rather a good sugges-tion-was made by a visitor from the Red>-Fed. district of Tlunanga. He proposed that ail the miners should swear 'm as special constables ; to resist an invasion of scab labor. ■ •..»■ •, • On Tuesday last it was announced, that the Seamen's Union m Australia was unanimous m its support of the struggle m New Zealand. Help would be forthcoming m both the flnancl.il and boycotting departments. A guarantee., was"*: given that the Uiimaroa would riot sail from Sydnsy with "fr competent crew. " ' ' - s r • : • > '• The chances of the Lyttel ton election were being discussed the other day, when the question as to tho value of "the sympathetic vote" cropped up. A dip into parliamentary election history gives tho brother of the lftto George Laurenson a very good, sporting chance. When tho original Otaki Field died, his brother', WillKi} was put forward as a candidate and came out'- on top. George Fisher "'went the way of all flesh," and the rainbow "Dahn" came out, to succeed m turn, but not to emulate, Dick Seddon ended j m a blazo of glory, and the miners ! stuck to young Tom when he expressed himself as desirous of follow-,, ing m his father's footsteps. Tommy Taylor lost the uumher of his mess, > and. his. most intimate friend, Leon- | ard-M^ Isitt, is ; now heard dispens- : inirifhianAvisdom among tho seventy choaon brainy (?) men ot New Zealand. Tfr coincidences are a guide, Lnurenson should be m the second ballbt at any rate, especially as the Reform candidate is making such on arrant fool of himself on leading political questions of the day. » , , : . ■ • - • _ A cnifitod- coiiserva.tive city-coun-cillor, who would liko to see tho Red .Fed. m tho Inferno, whero Pat Hickey would j cast nil agreements, pointed; <>uti to -"Truth" tho other day tnfcjUthiS grcai mistake of tho strike** was not m confining it solely to the Union > Compuny, - New Zealand's great commercial octupus. Had this been dono, he was sure thq wholo/ofc Uuj commercial community, with thej eSt^ption of shareholders m tho U-Shant-SJeep, would havo supported the workers. There appears to bo 6omo ho«>s-sen«c m this view. And it would have been Just, for it was tho meanness of r theMJhi©n Co.— luo docking of 18s or £i per week from a fow shipwrights— which

caused the whole trouble. It seems rather late m the day to adopt the suggestion, for it is very plain that the all-absorbing octopus has cunningly succeeded m , placing its tentacles round all the smaller fish as well as the simple farmer, whose greatest enemy it is. \• • • When the Rosamond arrived at Gisborne from Auckland, the Press Association wired that she- had doing* duty m her stokehole a bank manager, a dentist, a surveyor, and several other professional and^business men. And the wiseacres of the Plute press published the inforhiatio.n and expects its readers to believe that the strike has collapsed ! Magistrate Evans, m the Wellington: Court, on Wednesday last, brought a little common sense on to the bench, which came as a gleam of sunshine on the dreary drab prejudice that has marked legal proceedings during the past five weeks. In dismissing a case against John Allan, •' charged with having used insulting words, to wit, "Scabs, get to them," m the back bar of Barrett's Hotel, he aaid . that the evidence c was not strong enough -to support the charge. It was hardly provocation of a breach of the peace if a man said, m conversation, that he would not drink with a "scab." ■ .• ♦ , ' • » . . Thomas Acland was fined £3, or, m default, one month, with, the additional necessity of putting up a bond of £50 and a surety of £10 to keep the peace for six months. No evidence was taken for the defence. Lawyer Dickson stated that he quite admitted that the' accused had , been m the Square during the disturbance, but what was denied was

He used to track the shikkar, the irarri-car, and the byker, . But now he's prowling on the. wharf, a-looking for a striker. He .cart smell disorder keenly, ay, even up a spout, And no truer blue did Billy brew, or hero Shawn turn out.

that the "accused had used the words complained of. "Apparently to be a striker nowadays," continued counsel, "is to be one of the damued. They are looked upon with looks of scorn, anil the mere fact that a man is a striker is practically conclusive evidence against him." j Before the lino and additional pon- ! ftlty had been imposed, Lawyer Dickaon said, "I wouid ask your i Worship not to order him to find j sureties. 'He would be unable to find ! the money, and would have to spend I nix months m gaol." Inspoctor Hondrey : .Perhaps tho lenders, who have got him into trouble, will get him out of it. They take good caro to get out of . it themselves. .'. Lawyer Dickson: They get run m,, too. *