The Railway Strike.

Ohinemuri Gazette, Volume XIII, Issue 1000, 15 May 1903, Page 2

The Railway Strike.

!4'HB PREMIER'S SPEECH: THE ISSUES AT STAKE. [By Electric Telegraph J Melbourne, May 14. The Premier, on rising, was loudly cheered. by a very full House. He said he intended to ask leave to introduce a short Bill dealing with the strike. The Gqvernment had"|aken.action on the strength of an Act passed hy the House enabling the Minister to direct that a certain policy should be carried out. The Government directed the railway servants to obey the law. by forbidding public seryants to associate with a politico! body. As a result they now had to deal with a long meditated revolt. He recapitulated the events leading up to the strike. He went to meet the men with a sincere and earnest desire to prevent by any means short of absolute surrender, the catastrophe which had occurred. In order to gain their ends the men were prepared to force Parliament and the country to their knees to petition them to take charge of State property It was an attempt to wrench by violence frflin, the public what they could not get constitutionally. Anything short of complete victory meant absolute disaster and the dislocation of Parliamentary government. It had been said, that Ministerial action precipitated -the;; strike. He pointed out that six months ajjo they threatened to strike, because they were asked to share the retrenchment forcecl upon all sections of the public hy the state of the finances. Conciliation was impossible now, but as many men had been misled, the Government thought there should be room for repentance, but that room could not be for ever. It was only by complete and absolute submission to the Department and the public they had injured, that they could hope to be taken back into the grace or favour of those injured or the Government, which was represented to them. " Mr Irvine then^ read the preamble of the proposed Bill, which stated the necessity for , suppressing the strike. He sai^ the Government were asking the. House to give the Government power tq bring tlie strike tq a successful termination. If tfeey failed, either through want_of determination or want of th,e support of Parliament, it would be oisastrous, not only to the future government of Victoria, bi^to ihe other States of Australia. Th.c ' Government would deal with H finally and effectively. Some foolish persons advocated conciliiation. Anyone who urged conciliation at such a time as the present joined themselves with those opposed to the Government.