THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2565, 13 May 1903, Page 43

THE WEEK.

" Nuauim laud nMura, mud mpicatU Jlxil."— Jctixil. "Oood uiture ami too-1 Kute must ercr join."— You. i ' A year or two hack one of the Melbourne i * papers published vliat ]>urj A Beleaguered ported to be a comic sketch j city. of the state of affairs in the j event of that city suddenly j falling into the hands of Germany. This 1 imaginary account was surrounded by much circumstantial detail, and whilst enjoyed ■ for the moment, was soon forgotten, no one i regarding such a situation as even a lvmote i possibility. Yet to-day the city of Mel- | bourne is as surely beleaguered as though a hostile army was encajuped round about it, or a hostile fleet anchored in Hobson'.s Bay, And. strangely enough, its fo?s are not tb.fi r.rmed emissaries of a foreign StaiX-, but those of its ov/11 household. Men who are making their living out of the State might reasonably be expected to display some sort of loyalty to its interests. The strike of the Victorian railway men, ordered by fh*: executive of the Knyine-diiveis' A*fcoc!ation. has had the most serious find farreaching consequences. The 'configuration of the State of Victoria makes it peculiarly susceptible to such a blow beneath the belt. Over 41 per cent, of the Victorian population resides in the city of Melbourne, and the railway system is the only means of communication between the city and the j country. To an extent only realisable to \ those who have lived in the Commonwealth are the city and the country interdependent for th»> commonest needs of t-very-day life, and the stoppage of the railways means the paralysis of almost tbe whole life of the people. The action of the striktrs is thus characterised by the Melbourne Age. a paper which in democratic Australia, has made a name for itself as the workers' paper: — "We vciiture to say," remarks that powerful organ, "that no body of men in any State exhibited a more selfish and callous indifference to the interests of their fellow-citizens." And this verdict will be endorsed the woild over by all unbiassed minds. It may not be out of place to briefly rehearse the events which A Sulcitlnl have led up to the existing Policy. iinfortuna-te state of affairs in Victoria. The present Government was brought into power pledged to a scheme of thorough-going retrenchment, made necessary by thf altered financial aspect of affairs in that State. Owing to the ravages of the drought and other causes the Victorian revenue at the present time is £174,000 behind, and owing t. that deficiency the Government imposed a small percentage reduction upon the vhole of the civil service, starting it th.6

top. the mpmhers ot tnc Government then* selves contributing £1000 out of the - £75.000 which it was proposed thus tt save. When this retrenchment was mooted ■a.~t year the railway men threatened to strike, but wiser counsels prevailed, and tht difficulty was thought to bs at an end. But the trouble revived when in January last the Locomotive Engine-drivers and Firemen's Association affiliated with the Trades Hall, a body which for years past has notoriously pulled the strings in Victorian politics, and whose domination over the affairs of the State has been fraught with the most mischievous consequences. In view of the discontent known to exist amongst the railway servants in consequence of the Government enforcing its retrenchment scheme, this step was regarded with suspicion, which suspicion was deepened when it became known that tha Amalgamated Society of Railway Employees, the Victorian Railways Dailypaid Employees' Union, and the Carriagebuilders' Association had also affiliated with the Trades Hall. On January 19 the Commissioner of Railways issued a notification stating that "Any affiliation or other connection, either direct or indirect, of anybody or association of railway employees with the Trades Hall Council, or with any other body, society, or tmion which takesan active interest in politics, is directly opposed to the purpose and spirit of Regulation No. 32, which enacts that 'No employee shall be a member of a political association of any kind.'" But the unions concerned disregarded this injunction, and the matter was left in abeyance until a few weeks ago, when the Government again called upon the unions to sever the Trades Hall connection. The four societies concerned, after consultation, sent the Government a forma 1 , refusal, pleading, strangely enough, that the Trades Hall was not a political organisation — a plea which, to anyone acquainted with the inner life of Victorian politics, is ridiculous in the extreme. The Government's retort to this evasion was to inform each of the forty members of the four union executives that unless they obeyed the ultimatum before the 12th inst. they wou'.d be summarily dismissed from the service, and in order to strengthen their hands for the crisis Parliament was summoned for the 13th inst. to review the situation. And then, like a thunderclap, on the 9th inst. came the news that- the engine-drivers' executive had resolved to strike — not foi better pay, fairer treatment, or for improved conditions of labour, bub solely to vindicate their right to belong to an avowedly political organisation, in contradiction of the very regulations under which they had a.greed to serve. The number of men directly involved in the struggle may be computed from the following' figures : — The Locomotive Engine-drivers and Firemen's Society has a membership of over 1000; the Daily-paid Union numbers about 20GO, mostly porters, ticket collectors, and the like; the Carriage-builders' Union has about 200 members, all employed at the Newport Workshops; and the Amalgamated Society of Railway Employees ha« a membership of 5000. And ib is these four unions who are holding up an entire State.

It would seem that what we now witness . in Victoria is but the ben.c Prmajle ginning of a sad struggle, liiTolreil. the ultimate outcome oj which it is impossible to forsee In their exultant blindness, tb.B leaders of these labour unions care not whether they bankrupt the State and shipwreck commerce, if only they can gain their point. Instead of awaiting the summoning of Parliament and being wiling to accept the decision of their own delegates, they chose to force hostilities by declaring a strike, and the dire consequences of their rash action must recoil upon their own heads. The matter in dispute has passed beyond the mere quo.tion of the breaking of a regulation, for a deeper and more faricaching principle is now involved. I* the State of Victoria to be governed in tb.B interests of the community, or is the country to be exploited for the benefit of th« Irades Hall and its affiliated associations? I hat is the real question now at stake. In the name of justice and humanity the Victorian Government muit stand firm, whatever the cost and consequence may be. For them to retreat at the present crisis would be fatal in the extreme". There is every reason to believe that the Victorian Parliamerit upon its assembling wil' support tha action taken by the Government. In the meantime the City of Melbourne, and, incl?«il. the whole of Victoria, is in parlous plight. Almost, entirely deprived of its railway service, all branches of business art» at a standstill, and every day the strike is prolonged will witness more and more people thrown out of employment. It ia deplorable that a country which is just bej;innin:> to recover from the effects of a (!ire and protracted drought should be plunged into the terrible loss involved in the present strike. Amongst other items we are informed that already 500 fishermen are virtually idle, ovrint; to there being no trains to carry their fish ; that the softgoods factories will shortly close their doors owing to the impossibility of sending goods to their destination ; that the timber mills have closed owing to the cutting off of supplies ; that the Government Freezing Works have closed down ; that employers generally are talking of discharging hands ; and that -.rade is in a most stagnant condition. Thus, although the railway employees may be able to support themselves out of their strike funds with the aid of the promised contributions from America and elsewhere, yet what is to become of the hundreds of other workers affected by the strike, who may soon find themselves starving on tJie streets? Viewed from any standpoint, the situation is an unhappy one, and a bitterness of feeling between class ane; clase will be generated which is terribly contagious. Victoria is rapidly losing population, and the people Rtill remaining aie fast flocking into her cities, the back' country becoming more and more denuded. The strife now in progress will tend still more to drive people from her shores, and we fear that those who, in our own colony

an offence." The writer concludes thusly — " The punishment of swelled head may b lifelong. Ground is lost -which can neve be recovered ; acts of recklessness are re membered when brave and fine deeds ar forgotten ; gulfs open between friends, ove which no bndge is thrown."' The London Tramway services are far fron being up-to-date. Certainl Electric Trams there are electric trams ii Without certain of the English pro Overhead vincial towns, such as Brad Wires. r^ H ilifax, Newcastle and Coventry, but in thesi cases the "overhead" system has bee: adopted, entailing the use o; iron poie along the streets, and a wire which convey: the current to the motor, llie ijolc-s an not things of beauty, and :n: n London it i: not con.>idered desirable to increase thi number of overhead wires. The Londoi County Council has, however, decided tc revolutionise the South London tramwaj system, and after exten-ive inquiries intt the various schemes of traction in vogut on the Continent of Europe and in th< United States of America, it has de cided in favour of electricity with th« underground conduit system as most suit able. This system is a. novelty in England, although it is in use in Buda-Pesth, Paris, and Berlin, and is the prevailing system in the traffic-congested streets of the leading American cities. The lines are of the s:ims gauge as before. In t tie centre between the rails is the "slot" through which the "plough," a steel blade from the centre of the c?u, runs down to the current conduit. The cars will be started or stopped by effecting or disconnecting contact of the "plough" with the conduit, by means of switches. There is an underground conduit system by which the plough is carried down from the wheels between the two halves of a slotted double running rail, but this was judred unsuitable for London conditions. The slot in tlie centre of the line is only three-quarters of an inch wide, which is not likely to cause any hindrance or accident to ordinary traffic. The conduit system has two insulated conductors, which means that it does not tise the rails or earth as a "return" for the current. This obviates the possibility of leakage of currents, and consequent disturbance of telegraphs and telephones, and possible electrolysis of gas, water, and other pipes.