THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2545, 24 December 1902, Page 47

THE WEEK.

"Oni a.nrt aid i«d •«■•« man ertt jgi«.''— Foc-j. By a fortunate combination of events this Christmastide promises, for j A Hippy the colony in general and Chrlstinis. for Ofcago and Southland in [ particular, to be an exceedingly happy one — that is, in so far ac mere environment can compass happiness. Twelve months ago the 1 enjoyment of the festive eeaaon was greatly marred by the remembrance of tht war then raging in South j Africa.. Happily that war was brought to j a satisfactory conclusion, and peace now reigns supreme throughout the world. There is cause for rejoicing in the fact that the agricultural and pastoral outlook is extremely satisfactory. Whilst our neighbours in Australia have been suffering all the pains a.nd penalties of a disastrous drought, this colony has been blessed with copious showers, and, other things being ' equal, there is every (prospect of an abundant harvest in the coming season. Added t» this, the rates ruling for all primary products are at a high level. The price of wool is advancing, and with the present purchasing power of grain, frozen meat, and dairy produce, no one h;u» any cause to complain. The colony, too, is also singularly free from social strife, and despite the fear of a oming depression which is felt in come quarters, the natural buoyancy of the land and its people seems to pro- ■ mise a continuance of the prosperity with which for so many years we have been blessed. Given a well-to-do farming com- • munity, nd there is little fear for the ' future, and providing the Government is careful to conserve the interests of the landed classes, and not sacrifice them to popular clamour, the coming year may be

I looked forward to with considerable expectation. :

, The only cloud en the horizon which afc this Christmastide threatens. A Cloud the universal peace has on the arisen in connection with Horizon, what is known as the Venezuelan trouble. President Roosevelt now proposes, with a view to arriving at a settlement of the deadlock, that Great Britain, Germany, and Holland shall submit the issues involved to the Hague tribunal, «nd as a counter-pro-position, the Powers have requested President Roosevelt to arbitrate. On the other hand, the London Daily News has declared that the real object of the , combination of the European powers against Venezuela is to lead a revolt against Monroeism. This again is quoted in America as evidence that Great Britain is playing a hypocritical part. The original Message, sent to Congress on December 2, 1823, by James Monroe f - President of- the Upited States from 1817 to 1825, and which forms the basis of what is now known as "Monroeism," contains the following passages : — In the wars of the European Powers, in matters relating to themselves, we have neveir taken any. pact, nor does it comport with our policy to do so. -With the movements" iq this hemisphere we are 'of- necessity more immediately concerned. The politic'shsysteia^^ of the Allied Powers is essentially different in this respect from thai of America. The difference proceeds from thtrt which exists in, ' their respective Governments, * and to the, defence of our own, which has been achieved'by the lose of so much blood amd treasure, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candour, and to the amicable relations existing bo-tw-een the United States and these Powers, to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing" colonies or dependencies of any European Pcwer we have not interfered, and shall not interfere ; but, with tl<e. Governments who have declared their indepedence, and maintained it, we could not view any intei position, for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling, in any other manner their destiny by any European Power, in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition towards the United States. This latter clause, of course, has a direct ' bearing upon th'e> present difficulty in VeneI zuela.

But it is when we come to consider another extract from the Presidential What Message, which, coupled with Monroeism w hat h as already been given. May Mean. completes the statement of the. Monroe doctrine, that ifc dimly dawns upon us what Monroeism may possibly mean in the near future. . The extract U which we refer runs as follows : — The occasion has been judged proper, for '• asserting aST a principle in which, the ' ri'gKts ' and interests of the United States are in- 1 ' " volved, that the American Co.ntinente, by the free -,nd independent condition which ■" - they have assumed and maintained, are hencefcrth not to be considered as subjects for 1 future colonisation by any European Power. • Carried to its logical conclusion, the adopI tion of this policy on tlie "part of the United States practically amounts to* a prohibition to colonise against any European power, so far as the nations of Europe are concerned. It is true that all past attempts on the part of America to give the Monroe doctrine legislative sanction have failed, and although Great Britain, in the matter of the Venezuela boundary arbitration established a precedent against herself, yet this is not binding on other nations. - The point which is sure to be raised is as" , to how far in this condition of the world's - affairs any nation .an presume to exclude other nations from a country which she does not control, and for which she accepts no responsibility. The crowded countries of Europe are seeking an outlet for their surplus populations. Most of the world's surface has already been occupied,' but one vast and fertile territory yet remains, large portions of which are yet virgin to the foot of man. This is South America, a country capable of supporting easily 300,000,000 of people over and above it* present occupants. Within the next half century many sub- | jects of European nations will settle irt I these regions, and every time friction arises between them and the apologies for Governments which rule these tottering republics the aid of the Powers will be invoked. From this it is only a step to the repetition - of the South African trouble, in which case the question of questions is : "What will the United States do?"

The verdict given against the Amalgamated I Society of Railway Servants A Warning to in the action brought by Unionists. the Taff Vale Colliery Com- ! pamy to recover £28,000, the alleged loss resulting from a strike, although the assessment of damages lias been postponed, goes to show that in future any union will need to think twice before throwing the business of the country out of gear by initiating a strike. This verdict is the outcome of the decision of the House of Lords in the case of the Taff Vale Railway Company v. the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, the circumstances surrounding which are thus succintly summarised in. the introduction to the 1902 edition of Webb's Industrial Democracy : Thero had been a dispute between the railway company and many of its employee I*.1 *. A 6trike took place, which was sanctioned by the governing body of the Trade T7nion, - and was conducted by its authorised officers. It was alleged that in furtherance of the strike, some of the agents of the Trade Union, had committed ■unlawful acts, and incited others to commit them, to the injury and

-Jamage of the railway company. Instead of prosecuting ia a criminal court- the persons Alleged to have been guilty of these offences, the company applied to the Chancery division of the High Court of Justice for an injunction to restrain from committing euch acts v mly certain of the persons implicated, •>- also the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants itself. The company also commenced a civil euit against the society in its corporate capacity, claiming- a large euro as damages for what were alleged to be its wrongful acts. The society pleaded that, whatever might be the personal liability of individual officers or mei>ibers, the Trade Union itself could not. in its corporate capacity, be made the object of an injunction, or be sued for damages. It was contended that the Legislature had deliberately abstained from giving Trade "Unions the privileges of incorporation, and jhad expressly provided against their being eucd as corporate bodies. This view had been universally accepted by friends and foes alike. The immunity of" Trade Unions from corporate liability for damages had jbeen repeatedly made the subject oi official jdemment, and even of recommendations by (Royal Commissions. For 20 years after the •Act of 1871 no action against a Trade Union ia its corporate capacity waa jver maintained in the English Courts.

Tkis view, however, -was entirely reversed on July 22, 1901, when the The Unbilitf House of Lords decided that :of Trades Railway Servants, though '.' Unions. the Amalgamated Society of admittedly not a corporate body, could be sued in a corporate capacity lor damages alleged to have been caused by the action of its officers, and that an injunction could be issued against it, re- j ■training if not merely from criminal but - *lso from other unlawful acts. Moreover, ] in their elaborate reasons for tEeir judg- j meut, the law lords expressed the view that not only an injunction, but also a manVkumis, could be issued against a. trad© union ; that a registered trade union could be sued in its registered name ; that even ' an unregistered trade union might be made collectively liable for damages, and might be sued in the names of it* proper officers, the members of its executive committee, and its trustees ; that the corporate funds of a trade union could be made answerable for costs and damages, even if they | were in the hands of trustees ; and that the i trustees of trade union, funds might be joined as parties to a suit against the trade union, or might be separately proceeded Against for recovery of damages and costs Awarded against the trade union, whether j registered oi not. Mr Webb points out , that the effect of this judgment was to [ impose upon a trade union, whether yesterday or . not — although not incorporated 'for other purposes — complete corporate liability for any injury or damage caused by »ny person who can be deemed to be acting as the agent of the trade union, not merely In Tespect of any criminal offence which he may have committed, but. also in respect of any bet, not contravening the criminal law, which, the judges may from time to /time deem wrongful. It follows, therefore,, upon this interpretation of the law, that trade unions must expect to find practically every incident of a strike, and poseibly every refusal to work with nonunionists, treated as actionable, and made the subject of suits for damages, which the trade union will have to pay from its corporate funds. Of this the verdict just given in the case of the Taff Vale Colliery Company against the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants affords a striking illustration. It is interesting to note mi this connection that the threatened maritime strike in, Australia has been averted by the men accepting the agreed upon reduction of 10s per month, the question of a farther reduction to be deferred until next June. Thus for the present the New Zealand and 'Australian rates of wages stand on the same level, which is a satisfactory state of affairs.

We referred last week to the limitations of the telephone girl, but the the FoitibilitlM possibilities of the instruof the ment entrusted to her care, telephone. in America at anyrate, appear to be boundless. In tome of the Western States, on the big farms and ranches, the miles of Barbed wire fence are utilised for telephone purposes, and, equipped with proper insulators, etc., are Bntirely sufficient for full and free local communicatipn. This telephone reaches points within a I'adius, in one instance, of a hundred miles, and is also immensely conrenient for home purposes upon those farms .where the measure is of miles, not acres. tn these same Western communities, too, has been established the telephone news bui'eau, something on the lines of the famous "Newsletter" of Buda, Pesth, and thus subscribers every day are treated to V resume of the very latestnews happenings long after the evening papers of the largest eilies have gone to press. The Buda Pesth '■Newsletter" has over 6000 subscribers, and the issue of news through the telephone begins at half -past 10 every morning, and ends at half-past 10 every evening. Once a -week a. concert is given over the wires. It- is stated that in Philadelphia an inventor has been experimenting with a wireless telephone, and has succeeded in telephoning scross the Delaware. His invention provides the telephone instrument with two discs, and by revolving their dials, something in the manner of the combination of a safe, urtil the two numbers to be connected ai-e brought into line, the communication is established.

It is not often one hears of an instance of a man erdeavouving to re-lieve his impecunic^ity by forging his brother's name, but a man named Lloyd Evan" <-£« charged with this offend at the Foiire Court on Saturday. The case alleged by the prosecution ie, briefly, that a local firm of solicitors had money bclonp;incc to a n.an named James Evai.=, a brother of the accused Subsequently both left for the north, and the firm received a telegram from Christ church. sit?n°d " .Tamo? Evans," asking ior a remittance Tite nmo'int v. as forv. arded through, the iS&ti&afel Jfenk Att CLustclyu-oiu

and was drawn by the accused under the name of " James Evans " by means of a cheque. It is also alleged that a further attempt of a similar nature to secure a , second instalment was made from Auckland, but the police having been informed, the accused was arrested. On Saturday he I was charged with forging and uttering a i cheque for £30, and the presiding justices : (Messrs M. Fraer ar.d Jomes Wren) re- | manded the case, on the application of the I police, till Tuesday. Bail was fixed at £100 in accused's own recognisances, in addition to two sureties of £50 each. j i j During the visit to Dunedin in October j last year of Sir Hector Macdonald he was j taken for a drive to Waitati by the office- | bearers of the Caledonian Society, Burns ; Club, Gaelic Society, and the Otago E^rly ■ Settlers' Association. The reunion proved co enjoyable that it was determined to make it an a-nnup! on*. The then pending general ! election and subsequent bsd weather caused i some postponements, but on Saturday it j was decided to proceed should the weather j prove at al! favourable. The nearness of the < Christmas holidays prevented many from j attending, but at 10 a.m. Mr Bacon's drag, ! drawn by four spanking greys, left Dr Stuart's monument for Waitaii. Among those present were Messrs James Biown, William • Pveid, Simon M'Donald (Cale- ' donian Society), D. M'Pherfon (chief of the Gaelic Society), John Reid, L. Langlands j (Otago Early Settlerd' Association), G. L. Denniston (who as Mayor was with th» first party), T. K. Harty, W. Burnett, and a few others. The outing proved a most enjoyable ono, and, after partaking of dinner set out in Mrs Colehan's best style, the party returned to town by 6-15. Regret was expressed at the absence of a few of those who had taken part in the first function, but, with this exception, everything passed off moet delightfully. The usual Christmas tea for sailors in port will be held at the Choral Hall. Mr A. R. Falconer, of .'the Sailors' Rest, has invited the crew of H.M.S. Wallaroo, and as many as can obtain liberty will attend. The s.p. Tarewai will leave for Port Chalmers after the tea is over. The partnership existing between Messrs Barr, Leary, and Co. will be dissolved by j efHuxicn of time at the end of the present month. The "Wellington business -will be taken j over by Mr Leaiy and the accountancy business j in TJunedin by Mr Barr, each of whom will \ carry on business under the style of " Barr, i Lcary, and Co." The sharebroking business j in Duuedin will be taken over and continued by Mr Lawson in his own name. I