LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13998, 3 September 1907, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

THE DRAPERS ASSISTANTS' UNION A REPLY TO MR SCOTT.

Sir—Mr Scott in his paper on the Conciliation and Arbitration Act, which he read at tho recent Employers' Conference in "Wellington, made the following statement in dealing with tho'act, making it far too. easy .for unions to bring cases before tho court:— | The best illustration we have of the absurdity of this provision is in connection with a certain dispute in Otfcgo, where » Labour leader got * few juniors together and told them that if they formed a union he would get them more pay, shorter hours, snd belter conditions, and'that none of their names would be divulged. The consequence was that a- union was, formed comprising from 16 to 18 juniors, who knew nothing of: tho act or the probable effect of the reference they agreed to file before the court, and a trade comprising 3000 workers _ and somo 200 employers was embroiled in &■ trade dispute. When the so-called dispute came before the 'court no less than 200 journeymen signed a petition to the court praying that their wages and conditions be not interfered with..

Tho Labour, leader Mr Scott refers to is myself, and the dispute that of tho Otago drapers' assistants. There can bo no question about this, as there has been no other dispute in Otago during the history of tho Conciliation and Arbitration Act the nature of which bears any resemblance to the case Mr. Scott quotes. Had tho position been as Mr Scott states, lie would probably have been justified in assorting that'the act made it too easy for unions to bring cases before tho court; but his statement is not true. The facts in connection with this celebrated case are no doubt familiar to those directly conoerned, and also to many who ta-ko an interest in- unionism; but as tho memory of tho general public is as a rule short, I should like to place the truth—which i 6 fortunately 011 record —before them. They caii then see bow accurate Mr Scott's statement is, and what valuo to place on the many other statements contained in that gentleman's paper dealing with the Conciliation and Arbitration Act.

To Mr Scott's charges I make the following'reply:—The Drapers' Assistants' . Union was formed by tho Organising Committee set- up by the Otago Trades and Labour Council in 1900. The committee consisted of the executive and six other members of tho council. The unions formed by that committee included tho Carters, Grocers, Metalworkers' Assistants, Ironworkers, Plasterers, Bricklayers, Hosiery Workers, Eoxworkcrs, Coachworkcrs, Felt Hatters, Plumbers, Saddlers,, Brickworkers, Lithographers, Tramways, Brassfinishors, and

Sawmillei's—all of which are both numerically and financially in a sound position today. 1 At the time the Organising Committee was set up Mr R. Slater was secretary of the council, and as ho was also a member of ihe Arbitration Court it was not considered advisable for biro to take part in organising work. His name was therefore struck olf the committco, and I was appointed organising secretary. As. secretary of the committee and by direction of that body, I convened several meetings of drapers' assistants. The meetings were attended by members of the Organising Committee, and were presided over by the president of the council, the least important person being myself, A union was formed on October 15, 1900, and officers were duly appointed from tho members themselves (all drapers' assistants). The membership of -the union recorded on tho minutes'at its formation was over SO, but whether they wero juniors or not, from a draper's point of view, I am unable, to say. All I do know is that with one or two exceptions the ages of the members ranged from, Z1 to 45.' The union was formed, on October 15, 1900, and tho dispute came before tho Arbitration Court on October 30, 1902—^wo

years later. During the interval the secretary left tho town, and at the . request of the members 1 consented to act- as secretary, and cipntinucd to do so until the case came before the Arbitration Court. From the first. I was opposed to the committee's taking in hand tho draper?,'as I was of opinion there were other workers who wero

in as bad a position and more eager to be organised. However, when tho union was

formed and the members came to ino for assistance I considered it was my duty to assist them, but at 110 time was there anything said about payment {or my services,, nor did I receivo anything. What' I did for tlie drapers I have also done for other unions, and never looked for payment.

When the easo came before the court X called four witnesses. Three of them ,wero members oi tho imion; ono had been president, arid two of them had assisted in drawing up tho claims of the union. In tho box the four witnesses disapproved of

(he wages' 1 and conditions asked for, and expressed the opinion that thore was no necessity for the intervention of the court or for interference with the present conditions. Tlicy all refused to stnto what salary thoy were receiving, and only one .consented to supply tho information privately -to the court. Mr Sfcott accused me of fomenting tho tlisputo for the purpose of making money and of being tho paid secretary of tho union, which statement he afterwards withdrew at- the request of the president, Mr Justice Cooper. Tho petition referred to was not presented to tho court. Whether or not there was such a petition. I am unable to say, but- it thero was ono it was never presented to., the court. Had it. been presented I should certainly have wanted some proof that the signatures wore genuine, and I should also, have wanted to know tho method adopted in order to get those signatures. . Tho court decidod to strike out the case. The decision 'is too lengthy to publish in full, but any person wishing to read it can find tho report in tho Otago Daily Times of Octobor 30, 1902 ; The following is the conclusion of the judge's remarks, which

should, lie sufficient to convince any reasonable person that Mr Justice Cooncr and the members of the court did not share the

opinion of Mr Scott. At the conclusion of the case ono of the emplovcrs who assisted in conducting tho case shook hands with me. and stated that he endorsed all the jti'Joo had said: His Honor said they did not treat it 05 a trivial.matter, and thought that Mr Broen had, owing to circumstances fit vrhich tho court knew nothing, bc&n unable to place the court in possession of certain information. He wished to express his appreciation of the difficulties in which Mr Breen had been placed, and his courtesy towards tho em-

ployers. Mr Breen thanked l his Honor for what he had said, and stated that he had folt very much the remark that he had fomented the dispute. He, had never received a penny in connection, with' tho matter.

His Honor, thought Sir, Scott would with draw the remark he had made.

Mr Scott laid he withdrew tie. remark. He understood that Mr Breen was the paid secretary of the union. His Honor: In the meantime it is quit* oteai from' the evidence that the court should not interfere, ■ bui we appreciate the very difficult position Mr Breen has been placod in..

Mr Scott is naturally pulling in an opposite direction to myself, and I suppose will continue to do so,, but that is no 'reason why he should set unfairly and bolster up his caso by misstatements. ' During the whole, of my career as an agitator, both paid and unpaid, I have never done anything unmanly, and the best evidence I can produce is the opinion of a judge cf the Supremo Court—a court which. Mr Scott, must admit,, has never been unjust to the class ho represents.—l am, etc., R. BP.eek. Trades Hall, September 2.

NOTES. ON POPULAR ASTRONOMY. Sir,—ln your correction in.to-day's issiu of the typographical, error that appeared in my . notes on "Popular Astronomy" in Saturday's Times you iro made to say tho exact dpposito of what wan intended. I said that tho equinoctial points roovo a littlo over 50 seconds a year, not 50 degrees, as stated in your correction.—l am, etc., September 2. D. Dotton.

THE TREATMENT OF DELIRIUM TREMENS CASES.

Sir,—lt is a pity that tho writer of the letter signed " Hedicus" did not append his nanw to his ridiculous effusion, 60 that tho public might have been made awiro who this dogmatio member of the profession is and his fellow mcdicos saved from:, any doubts in tho minds of their friends aa to their sanity,. And, Sir, you not • have exercised a' wise discretion in "relegat- f ing- to : tho waste-paper basket such a-' farrago of nonsense? , Who is there that is tho least, in sympathy' with .the treatmcnt of the insane as depicted in tho fol-' •lowing words of your correspondent:—: "Wo aro not sufficiently far advanced, forsooth, in 'God's own Country' to adopt , other methods than obtained in '"| ages, when they ohained their lunatics' in■ the straw and made them a peep-show for the vulgar I" Certainly not your paper, for it is notoriously on tho side, of all that is good for tho community. It is utterly ohild.ish of a presumably educated man to. pen such nonsense, and gives suspicion that ho is not sufficiently well-balanced in . his judgment of things to be entrusted wit.li •tho health, perhaps the lives, of peoplo who innocently consult him. mo say that I al6o have read your artiolo, which I consider a reasonable and thoughtful pre- v sentation of tho position. I agree entirely wMi tho suggestion you make, that tho homo at Orokonui might bo made available for tho newts of tho _ unfortunates whoso cases are under discussion. It may bo that the Hospital, with, adequate provision made, both as to a special observation ward and suitable , attendance, ■ would' bo more suitablo than the Orokonui Home, 'but the latter is witMn easy reach, and your suggestion does not in tlio loast call for the "supercilious method, of disposing oE it that your cancdte'd'j correspondent adopts.' It is letters of tho class of writers of whom "Medicus" is a specimen that- have tho effect, of detracting from tho respect, in which an honourable profession should ho hold, and if, as is probably tho case, ho is of the vain and eilly typo whioh likes to air its superior discernment and has proudly confided to somo of his confreres that ho is tho writer of the letter in question, it is to to hoped the Medical Association will lay their restraining hand upon him.and .prevent him further bringing the profession into disrepute.—l am, etc., Medicus. 11.

THE OTA-GO INTERCLUB CROSSCOUNTRY. CHAMPIONSHIP.

9m,—" Coming events cast their 6hadow9 before them." In last Thursday's issue I notico your contributor "Amateur" makes reference to the possibility of tho Otago Interclub Championship being held on Labour Day, so with your permission I would like to say a word or two thereon. With regard to the wisdom or justice of •postponing tho event last Saturday or tho indispcnsability-of crossing the Silverstream I will not at present concern myself, but. when tho executive did do so it..was to bo reasonably expected that the'centre would have been called . together before ' the' effluxion of 10 days to consider tho matter, more especially when one remembers that tho race is now a month later in the season than on tho two previous' occasions on which it has been held, as well as that it is tho most important event in-the whole of the hafrier season under th'o control of the centre. Such proceeding shows oither a lax control or a high-handed tnanagejnent of the. centre's affairs, , and somo of tho officials would do well to remember that though they may lay tho flattering unction to their souls that they are,meri of importance, still, while they hold executive posi-, tions, they should at.-least refrain from, doing- tho sport any harm even if they cannot do it any good: and I don't think that outside of 'themselves, anyone can h»' found to assert that their action in departing from the date on which the race, was held in 1905 and 1906, and their subsequent conduct, is conducive to tlio best interests' of the sport. On Tuesday night the centre again meet , to fix a dato for the event, when I hopo the 'arguments will prevail:—(l) That tho Cross-country -Championship should ho run 111 the cross-country.running season; (2) that it would f bo unreasonable to 1 expect ' about 60 men to keep in training at least three weeks longer than is necessary after an arduous season; (3) that tho championship is of sufficient importance-to warrant a special race being run for it, notwithstanding it is a New Zealand championship that has been proposed to blend with it; (4) that it would bo an injustice to the Labour Day Committee, who run' amateur events on that, day, to run the championship on that, date also; (5) that, owing to numerous tuiuiots joining iirto summer sports with the advent of October; the race would- not ho thoroughly, representative; (6) that even if Labour Day is appointed, tho Otago Centre cannot positively rely on the Now Zealand A.A.A. permitting it to .run the New Zealand championship in conjunction with tho local event, and should the colonial championship eventuate thcro would then be the possibility, of the abandonment ol the Otago Cross-country Championship for the-season 1907. lam sure none ; would '-like', ,to see tho latter take.pliice.'so.it behoves every delegate to. be in his place on Tuesday night to oppose those gow-intentio'ncd but misguided zealots who think that.only -Labour Day will 'suit, and'''.oven at the eleventh hour save them from; themselves, and th« sport from an lo'fs, for, as I said at the beginning,: "iComing event# cast their shadows beforo them."—l am, August- 31. R. J. J. For Children's Hacking Con?li at nipht Woods'-Great Peppermint Cure; 3s6d fcSsfid. — In the United States only ono -building ill 3000 is oven nominally fireproof. Drinking the king drink—King Coffee.. — The red coral whioh is used in jewellery, and which is known as precious coral, is mostly obtained in the Mediterranean, tho Barbary Coast furnishing the dark red, 1 Sardinia the yellow, or salmon colour, and • tho coa6t of Italy the rose-pink. It is also found in tho Red Sea. 'LINSEED'COMPOUND.' Trade Mark o£ Kay's Compound Essence of Linseed for Coughs and Colds. — Many English Queens liavo chosen oak' trees in Windsor Forest whereon their names, with tho dates of their ohoiee, have been commemorated bv means, of brass plates. In different part's of the forest, with seats round them, are oaks bearing th« names of Queen Elizabeth, Queen Caroline,