WATERSIDE WORKERS' STRIKE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15938, 4 December 1913, Page 8

WATERSIDE WORKERS' STRIKE.

(Continued from page 4.)

AN AUSTRALIAN OPINION.

SOME PERTINENT COMMENTS.

The Australian Mining Standard, in itel issue of November 20, makes tho following, pertinent comments: — "There is a common impression tnat a, bully is almost always a coward, and a largo number of the reail} big strikes .which have marred tho industrial .progress of Australasia have alforded illustrations of its trutn. Lika tne rough of the streets, he is bold as a iion so long, and so long only, as he sees no police about; let the untrienuly helmet, appear round the corner, and lie i 6 as metii as a lamb. True, the agitator in the midst of a wild' harangue cannot eat his words because the police come upon the scene, for that would brand him at onco in tho esxeem of his hearers and his ocupation would be gone. Appearances must be kept up as long as possible. But it is within the memory of, ail that at the beginning of a big strike

there are invariably protests against any increase of tho police force in the affected district, and it will be remembered with, equal clearness that the arrival of reinforcements almost always has a marked effect upon tlie behaviour of the strikers. It is not surprising, therefore, that the strikers on the Geelong (V.) sewerage works should have protested against the police being employed to maintain order and to prosecute lor breaches of tho law. Nor is it surprising that at the recent Inter-State Congress of Trades and Labour Councils a motion should have been carried condemning the employment of tho defence forces in 6imilar circumstances to preserve order, and, if. necessary, to disperse a mob by force. There appears to be an idea that one portion of the community has a perfect right to array itself against all the rest, and that the attacked portion has to sit quietly by, see its own welfare endangered, yet raise no hand to protect itself, nor even look for protection to tho* to whom the safety of the public is entrusted. Someone has said that a strike i 3

' an invention for making crowds think,' and the epigram is a true one. If the present etrike in New Zealand collapses, as it promises' to do, that result will have been, brought about. not merely, perhaps not mainly, by the arrest of the ringleaders, but because it made the crowd of farmers think, and the crowd of citizens think, and led to

the enrolment of a large body of special constables and an army of workers, who roso

to the occasion, and undertook, to the best of their ability, the work which the strikers had thrown out of gear. And the same effect will assuredly be produced some day amongst the workers themselves. Some day they will begin to think what asses they have been to allow themselves to be diotated to, very frequently, indeed, qiiito contrary to their own interests and opinions, by men ■who have previously been hounded away from other districts by tho workers themselves for having misled them into false positions. At the present moment wo have in New Zealand the remarkable position that men 'who had refused to belong'to tho federation, or ' strike-all-the-time,' party, and had joined the United Labour, cr ' arbitration,' going on strike at the dictation of those with whom they had refused to ally themselves. When things have reaumed their normal once more, these men will realise that a strike has the merit of making crowds think, sooner or later."

UNIVERSAL ARBITRATION. TO THE EDITOR.

Sie,—Seeing the serious effect this strike is haying on our dominion, and believing that it is only by arbitration that we can keep the wheels of industry running smoothly, how would it do to have every employer of labour, farmers, borough councils, and all and every worker, from farm labourer to artisan, bound under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, without any exemptions? I then believe we oould givo arbitration a fair trial—l am, etc., AItBITKATIOinST. Dunback, December 2. ' THE POSITION OF THE SEAMEN AND FIREMEN. TO THE EDITOR. Sib,—l wondor if there is any body of men whose present position is as chaotio ts that of the seamen and firemen. Two out of the three branches, when a ballot was taken as to whether they should join hands with the United' Federation of Labou-r, emphaticallyvoted against such a course being taken. Yet we find that the Wellington branch, which was in the minority when .the vote was disclosed, is practically control-, ling the majority. Our agreement with the Union Steam Ship Company is on the eve of expiration, and it is freely admitted, that it is the best we ever had. The attitude that we have been compelled (I use tho word advisedly) to adopt—that of passivity —is certainly not a feather in our caps at present. There are scores of men kicking their heels in idleness who would be only too pleased to get back to their work; but. till a modern Samson arises in our midst I suppose we must still go on groping blindly in the dark. I may add, in conclusion, that unless a 6peedy termination to the present 6tate of affairs takes place, the seamen and firemen will have a fine parcel of after-regrets to face.—l am, etc., Common Sbnsi. Dunedin, December 3. , MR W. D. MASON AND THE STRIKE.' TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—ln his reply to my letter Mr Mason says he is not a member of the Red Federation, either old or new. I have nover said ho was. When I said he was an out-and-out federationist I meant he was in sympathy with the federation, and he cannot deny the fact. One has only to take the opposite side to find that out. I know Mr Mason, and I know he is a strong supporter of tho federation and its methods, both old and new. As for ray other question—What percentage of labour does the Red Federation represent?—Mr Mason says he does not know, and he says neither do I, Well, I do not know tho exact figures, but I know from personal observation thai the federation represents only a fraction o£ labour, and Mr Mason cannot deny it, nor does he attempt to. When he says I am ignorant of him he is mistaken, for I know him as well as I know myself. I am not concerned about the shipping companies or the Employers' Federation. I know they will not suffer over this strike; in fact, they will make money out of it. It is the producers, the 6ma'll tradespeople,' tho workers I am thinking about. It is they who will havo to pay for the strike. Strikes are no good to the workers; they are simply waging war on themselves. If they would nse the money and energy they are' wasting on strikes by putting the ■ proper men in Parliament they would be doing something to help themselves.—l am, etc., LIBEBTT.

Sri?,—Mr W. D. Mason, in replying to my letter 'of the 27th ult., ridicules my question, What good reasons have tho workers to detest and distrust the Arbitration Court except the teachings of their leaders and would-be- leaders?" Ho answers with such expressions as "childish," ."nonsensical," "the workers' reasons are legion for detesting the Arbitration Court," "Mr Justice Chapman is a disciple of the Manchester school of economics," "cracking a filbert with a steam hammer," "for one breach of the award by the workers the employers commit 20—which is a mild estimate." I presume Mr Mason imagines that this verbosity is a logical reply to my question. Ho asserts that in the Arbitration Court there- are two representatives of the employer and only one of the wage-earners, and that the judge is biassed against tho workers. Tf that is so, why do not the leaders and their advisers agitato to get this supposedly unfair condition .altered instead; of calling on the workers to "down tools." thereby throwing tons of thousands oat of work and seriously affecting many tens of thousands outside the strikers? Dore not this show that the leaders' actions are of nn imbecile nature, and foreign to that business sagacity "which they should show if thev are qualified for the imnortant position they hold amongst their fellow workers? I fruees'these leaders, or most of them, aro still receiving their salaries and expenses during the strike. Tho strikers and their leaders put mo in mind of one of Carryle'sj sarcastic sayings that the world is composed of fools and knaves—mostly fools. Perhaps Mr W. D. Mason cannot discriminate which is which between the strikers, thoir leaders,and advisors. I do not intend to continue this correspondence anv further.—l am, etc., December 3. ' J. R. K.

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