THE WHITCOMBE AND TOMBS DISPUTE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XV, Issue 4743, 11 August 1890, Page 2

THE WHITCOMBE AND TOMBS DISPUTE.

(BY TELEGRAPH.) Chbktchuboh, Auguat 9. The following are the iaaaea submitted by the Maritime Council to be arbitrated upon In the Whltcombe and Tombs diapnte :—l. Were the men dismissed because of their connection with a union ? 2. Have the firm kept their word to recognise anioDs ? Has their refusal in the pas'; to do bo caused the present dispute t 4. Is not the employment of girls at 10s a week in the composing room a process of sweating? 5. Are the demands of the Typographical Association unreasonable? 6. Should not the firm give praotioal proof of the future recognition of the Union by employing union men at once, and working under the-Typographical rales. 7. If It can be shown that the employment of females is detrimental to the whole of the printing trade, should it not immediately be Btopped. A meeting of the directors of Whltcombe and Tombs will be held on Tuesday to consider the Issues. DUNEDIN, August 11.

The latest phase of the dispute is that 1 the Carpenters' Union have called out the men employed by Mr Geo. Hill in fitting up the branoh shop in the Gutting taken by Messrs Whltcombe and Tombs. Ghristchuboh, August 11. The R.9V, T. A. Hamilton, preaohlng In the Cathedral on Sunday evening, justified unionism, and counselled moderation on both sides. The Rev. J. O'B. Hoare preached to much the same eflfeat iu St. John's. Prayers were offered in some of the churches for a peaceful solution of the labor difficulty. Wellington, August 11. The Railway Commissioners have replied to Mr Miller's letter setting oat the views of the Maritime Council, that, as trustees of the people's railway, they could not deprive anyone of the people of the common right of using those railways, and that the Council might as well ask the Post and Telegraph Departments and Courts of Justice to olose their doors on Messrs Whltcombe and Tombs. The Commissioners consider that the question is whether the laws and liberties of the people are to be overridden at will by a self-constituted Irresponsible body and whether society Is to be governed by lynoh law or constitutional law. Much as the Commissioners deplore the consequences of a general strike, they refuse to seek to avert them by a violation of the law of the land In refusing to carry any person's goods.

(from otje own correspondent.) Wellington, August 11. The following is the full text of the Railway Commissioners' reply to Mr Millar, Secretary of the Maritime Oounoll:—" Wellington, Augußt 11. lam directed by the Railway Commissioners to acknowledge your letter to them of the sth Inat., in wbloh you Invite them to evade the statute law by refusing to carry goods for Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs because of the dispute between that firm and the Typographical Association, which you state has not yet been settled to the satisfaction of that body and the Maritime Council. The Commissioners reoognlao that they are, as you describe them, ' Public trustees of the people's railways,' and as suah they could not deprive any* one of the people from the common right of using those railways. You might with as much reason ask the Post and Telegraph Departments and Courts of Justloe to olosa their doors on Whltoombe and Tombs, or on whoever else refused to obey you, as to ask that they should be debarred fron using the railways. If the public services of the oolony oould be used for partisan purposes and to crush individuals, there would be an end to personal liberty, and in its plaoe a reign of terror, instead of that of security and peace which has hitherto been deemed the greatest privilege of every law abiding subject of the Britain Empire. You have raised a question not of capital and labor, or of rights of majorities and minorities, but a much more serious question, as to whether laws and liberties of the people are to be overridden at will by a aelf-eonatltuted and irresponsible body, In, short, whether society 1b to be governed by lynch law or by constitutional law. The Commissioners think It proper to point out to you what appears to them the real meaning of your proposals is, and that you are entirely mistaken in thinking that the public services could be other than Impartial, or take aides and become allies in any dispute whatever. You state as certain that the railway servants will refuse duty if called on to handle Whitcombe and Tombs' goods, and you assert that if dismissal or suspension should follow there will be a stoppage of the railway service from Auokland to the Bluff, and the effects of so extensive a strike, Bhoald it come to pass, will be a serious check to the trade of the oolony, and entail privation in many families. Much as the Oommiaaionera deplore those consequences, they will not seek to avert them by a violation of the law of the land in refusing to carry any person's goods. (Signed) E. G. Piloher, Secretary to Commissioners.