INDUSTRIAL WORLD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15962, 3 January 1914, Page 7

INDUSTRIAL WORLD

NEWS AND NOTES.

Bz THI Hon. J. T. Paul, M.L.G.

Itami ol information and bricl oomment« on questions coming under this beading, ue ireioome. Books, pamphlets, etc., seu ' Author oi thi« ooiuxun will also bo noticed.

MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK. Monday.—Tailors; Bricklayers; Painters; Tinsmiths; Butchers; Boot Repairers; Plasterers (committee). Tuesday.—Soft Goods; Woollen Mills. Wednesday—Furniture Trade (committee). Thursday.—Social Democratic Party; Furnituro Trade. Friday.—Carpenters; Moulders; Drivers. Saturday.—Bakera.

LABOUR AND SOCIALIST SUCCESSES. I pointed out last week that tho first ballots at the recent general elections in Itaiv increased the strength of the Radical Socialists by 13 seat* and the Reformist Socialists by six seats, a combined gain of 19 seats. Tho second ballots havo further enhanced tho victory. Twenty-ono additional seats were won, making a total gam of 40 6eats. At Naples, Arthur Labriola, tho well-known author, was elected as a " Revolutionary Syndicalist." The Socialist party in the Chamber of Deputies now number 80, out of a total membership of 508. The full returns of the recent elections for the British local governing bodies are also to hand. They show that Labour has been very successful at the polls. Tho total gains aro' 106. Tho following table shears Labour's progress for tho past three years in elections for tho chief publio bodies of Great Britain: — Year Net Year Net Year Net 1911. Bains. 1912. Gains. 1913. Gains. April 41 April 30 April 115 November 74 November 40 November 106

A SPIRITED CONTROVERSY. A week or so since I referred to the controversy between Mr H. G. Wells, the ■well-known novelist and sociologist, and the editor of the Labour Leader. One of Mr Brockway's points against Mr Wells •was that his later novels portrayed Mr Wella in the guieo of his heroes. Mr Wells claims that his heroes in fiction are quite impersonal. Mr Brockway criticised Mr Wells's Daily Mail articles on . " The Labour Unrest." Mr Wells retorts by saying that Mr Brockway's criticism in this matter "would be—if he were capable of understanding an idea—sheer, unadulterated lying. I say plainly in those articles that I want to abolish the labour class as such; that 'Labour Unrest' and so forth are only symptoms of that profound necessity. If that is not tho very gist of Socialism, if that is Tory Democracy, then I do not know what either Socialism or Tory Democracy mean." jut Mr Wella declares in a final word: —_ I am not sulking from the service of Socialism because of a personal feud—l am not sulking from the service of Socialism at all. The Socialist movement sulks from me. because I criticise its labels, point out and try and repair the gaps that everyone must know still exist in its theory, because I despise and do not conceal my contempt for its petty ' politics,' and will not run in the processions that glorify this or that pushful young ' leader.'' In rebutting Mr Brockway's suggestion that the invention of the character of Stratton ,in "The Passionate Friends," is merely an attempt to do something to meet that need, ''the establishment of a publishing company, Mr Wells declares"Against eualj *illness I oould almost find it in me to despair. But I do not despair. In the end I believe even Mr Brockway may come to read what I have written instead of artfully reading between the lines as he does now. A time may come when ho will grasp that the old fight for liberty of printing and publishing was a preliminary to getting people to read and think, and that until that is done nothing is done —even though there is no flag in tho world but the red flag and every man alive is labelled ' Socialist'"

STRIKE BREAKING IN THE STATES. In view of otir" M recent experience the following circular issued by the Waddell and Mahon Corporation is interesting as showing the American method of breaking the strike, and emphasises the tremendous . difficulties connected with the strike policy froin the workers' point of view:— " As an evidence of our ability as strike breakers, we invite your attention to the labour difficulties now ensuing along the topper range of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, between the Calumet and Hecla Copper Company, the Commonwealth Copper Company, the . Quincey Copper Company, - and tho Western Federation of Miners. In amount of capital and number of" men involved this strike is the most important of the present year. We point with pardonable pride to the fact that this corporation has been selected by Sheriff James A. Cruse, of Houghton County—the storm centre of the strike, —to aid him in maintaining, the integrity of the law. We are now engaged in 'policing' the 1019 square miles of territory contained in Houghton County. We are safeguarding -the property of the mineowners against intrusion and violence. We are also protecting the lives and tho homes of 80,098 men, women, and children of Houghton County against overt acta. The Western Federation of Miners is doomed to inevitable disaster and defeat in the Upr>er Peninsula of Michigan. We make this prediction at this time, and if you will follow the story of the strike as it appeal's in the daily newspapers, and particularly in tho Boston News Bureau, the well-known financial organ, which has a special correspondent the ground, you will see that our prediction will be fulfilled daily. We ar<i sure of defeating the Western Federation of Miners in this operation, because we have met and defeated them_ before. Last year, when the agitators of this union sought to paralyse tlje copper industry 0 f Nevada and Utah, we were retained by the Utah Copper Company and the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company, and broke tho groat strikes at Bingham, Canyon, Utah, and at El» and M'Gill, Nevada. We ask you to watch the of the present strike, because we know it will be a triumph for law and order, a triumph fpr tho mineowners, and will furnish 6tiU another evidence of the success we have always mot with in breaking strikes. We ask 'you to judge us by results."

THE LABOUR MOVEMENT AND DISCIPLINE. There is a marked tendency in the Labour movement to underrate the value of discipline. In many of the recent industrial struggles in the Old Land the absence of discipline was moat marked. So much 60 was this so that' some of the brainiest of Labour's leaders dcclarcd that Labour was in real danger of losing its effectiveness and endangering the very basis of effectivo unionism. Most of this lack of discipline is traceable to the Syndicalists. In ' their efforts to discredit tried leaders the Syndicalists have preached the sovereignty of the mass. " Always distrust your leaders " has been preached so persistently that none can be surprised if the advice has been widely accepted. The real issue is that the mass has to choose between discipline on the one hand and anarchy and disaster on the other. Mr W. M. Hughes, the Commonwealth Labour' M.P., who gained much prominence in connection with ouir recent strike, puts 'this phase of the question tersely and convincingly: — . " Man is naturally and incurably a gregarious animal, but the mere gathering together of men in crowds does not create the necessary conditions for concerted action. Ten thousand men orowded together may be that most helpless of all human institutions—a mob, or that most effective one —an army. All that is connoted by the generic term ' organisation' divides the mob from the army—the abjectly helpless from the 011-pof/erful. " And the basis of organisation is discipline. An army is an army because discipline prevails, and its actions are governed by commands given by recognised authorities. And the lesson of the ages is that the more pcrfeet the discipline the more effective the army. The qualities of the individual matter surprisingly little. Discipline alone bridges the abyss between a mob and an army Mere numbers without discipline are a positive danger. The bigger the mob the easier it can be dispersed, rnd more readily it succumbs to panic.' Without discipline, the mob remains a mob, and is at the mercy of any disciplined force; with discipline the mob becomes an army, and so able at least to hold ite own. " And this applies not only to armies fitrhtins other' armieg upon the field of battle or {fuelling rebellion and civil warfare. Discipline alone can make unionism, as euoli, successful. It is emphatically not mern numbers that matter even here " In order that mrons (I do not hero Bpeak of proceedings before Wages Boards or Arbitration Courts, there the positiop is quite different) may succeed, it is of course necessary that, thev should include within their ranks a substantia! proportion of those engaged in the industry. "But, subject to this o-bvious qualification, mete numbers without discipline no

lnoro strengthen a uniou than they do an army. They aro indeed in danger. Without discipline, and perfect discipline at that, mere numbers aro a deadly lure, whicji will surely lead unionism to its undoing. " And now to apply these principles directly to tho present circumstances of unionism. Australian unionism wis never so powerful as it is to-day. It never cmbt'aced within it 6 wuiks eo lar'fo a proportion of tho total number of workers in every industry in tho Commonwealth. It is not too much to say that unionism in Australia to-day exercises an incomparably greator influence, political and social, than in tiny other country. " I am not going to deal in detail with tho causes that have led up to this. It is enough to say that tho power and influence of unionism to-day aro largely due to its adoption of a policy of political action. In a country whrro every adult hue one vote, and no one has more than one vote, to neglect to uso the ballot box is to ignore tho most oonvenient and effective weapon at the disposal of unionism. "Hut while this polioy is obviously right it does not exhaust tho influence and opportunities of organised .labour. Labour organises, not in order that it may exorcise political power—it can cxercise tho political power in numbers entitle it to do without organising industrially—it organises in order that it may improve the conditions of labour by any and every legitimate means. " Tho function of unionism is to formulate tho desires of tho industrial workers, and, if possiblo, to give effect to them. To exorcise this function effectively, concerted action is necessary. In order to secure concerted action discipline is necessary. Put thus, no one will deny tho proportion."

JOTTINGS. Tho holidays havo suspended all local Labour activitiea The time for nominating tho representative and doputy representative of tho workers on tho Arbitration Court has been extended), and nominations havo to be returned "as soon as possible." Brisbane and Melbourne Trades Halls aro being extended in order to keep pace with tho growing demand for union offices. During the "cost of living inquiry" in Now South Wales 51 witnesses testified to their experiences. These included butchers, bakers, grocers, milkmen, builders, houso agents, and 18- housewives. ' - This is how tho Australian Worker misled its readers in chronicling the result of the recent Lyttelton bye-election telton was one of the smaller storm centres of the waterside workers' strike, and as the Massey Government candidate had a majority of over 2000 at the last election, tho Ministry has suffered a crushing defeat." As readers doubtless know, the Ma«aey candidate was over 2000 in arrears at last election After efforts extending over some years, the Baiildcre Labourers' Unton has secured recognition by the Sidney Labour Council In support of their application for affiliation the bricklayers' delegate on tho council stated! that the builders' labourers were the biggest factor in tho unionism of the building trade. At international congresses of the working class three languages are spoken—English, German, and French. The necessity of every speech being delivered in the6o three tongues causes a vast amount of delay, and delegates unacquainted with any of them dlon't know what is going on. There .is now a strong agitation in favour of Esperanto being adopted as the one language at these gatherings of the workers of the nations. Sir William Lever, of Sunlight soap fame, says in the Pall Mall Magazine:— " As to trades 'unionism, my own feeling is that the forces of labour requiro to be organised just as much as the forces that employ labour, and I know of no more selfish and unreasonable trades unions than those amongst combined capitalists, or barristers or lawyers, or doctors. For myself, I rejoice in labour unrest. I think it would be the best thing that could happen to this country or any country that the wealth produced should) bo shared in proportion to tho ability to produce amongst all producers, and that tho idle wealthy rich should be compelled to become workers and producers."