"REVOLUTIONARY" SOCIAL ISM.

Otago Witness, Issue 2823, 22 April 1908, Page 16

"REVOLUTIONARY" SOCIAL ISM.

A PERIPATETIC EXPONENT. Mr H. Fitzgerald, organiser for the NewZealand Socialist party, delivered an address on Socialism and the Blackball strike at Green Island on the 15th. The Mayo* (Mr W. Geddes) occupied th© chair, and 20 persons were present. Mr J. Maomanus, acting secretary, made a few remarks, and said the cause had been vilified and slandered, especially by the press. The party was now running papers m Wellington a,nd Auokland, and when th© people had been educated up to the idea men would be returned to .Parliament. This meeting had evidently been insufficiently advertised. Opening his address with the invocation "Mr Chairman, comrades, and friends," Mir Fitzgerald explained that he was not ; a monster who went about devouring ' women and children. By revolution Socialists did not mean going about m bands with swords, bowie knives, and revolvers. But society had got. into such a state that a revolution was absolutely neoessary. He went on to declaim against the Arbitration Court, and defended the Blackball miners. For ' every ton of coal taken from the Blackball mine 6d was paid to Sir Somebody Dawes. He did not know the gentleman's Christian I name. He had not the honour of his acquaintance. To give them an idea of the truthfulness of that mine manager, he said that he did not know one of the men dismissed was a Socialist. Now, the manager had before that been heard to speak of thai very man a6 "that Socialist." That was lie' number one. That manager had also said that he did not know one of the men was married. Why, he had even sold that very man a house for him and his wife to occupy. A man had been so injured by a " blow out " from the furnace that he had died. An autopsy on hia

remains had been held by the management of the mine, and the result was that it was given out that the man had not died because of anything that had happened m the mine. That was a iie— a lie to rob the worker. On the West Coast things were done that would bo a disgrace to barbaric Russia. At one of the West Coast towns he happened to overtake a young man panting painfully up an easy hill. He said he had a cold. He had met others m *he, same condition, and learned that all round the quartz-mining districts men were dying on their feet from miners' complaint. The beautiful law 6 of New Zealand allowed 500 cubic feet of air per minute to a horse | working near the shaft, but only 100 cubic feet of air per minute to a human being [ who worked away from the shaft m a level or crosscut. That was true, or might ha swing for it that night. It was pitiful to see these unfortunates dying by inches and thinking they only had a cold, which would be cured m a day or two. Continuing, Mr Fitzgerald said, " Oh, tho apathy of you working men. You have broken the heart of every man who has tried to dp you any good, and' I suppose you will continue to do so for some time to come." The organiser went on to say that the conditions on the West Coast were so bad that thejr would be a disgrace to any capitalistic country. It was all yery well to speak of New Zealand as the " paradise j of the working man," but even m England the miners had their eight-hour day, and j if they worked half a shift overtime they got a whole one m return. They were not compelled to eat their crib m 15 : minutes. I The speaker then drew a word -picture of a miner rushing to his crib, losing three minutes m getting to it, and bolting sandwiches with his hand coated m grime. He then pictured the Arbitration Court sitting at their ease, and then adjourning for an hour and a-quarter for its lunch. If it needed all that time, how mush more did the toiling miner need leisure m which to eat. " You worshippers of the Arbitration Court," said the speaker, " what a beautiful state of things to be 6ure." Mr Fitzgerald then asked what justice they could expect from a court that had two capitalists to one labour representative. Mr Justice Sim never was, and never would be, m sympathy with the workers. The thing was absurd on the face of it. Continuing his denials of alleged misrepresentations mad© m the press with regard to the action of the Blackball miners, he defied they were m the habit of using bad language, and said he had heard worse outside a church. T' IS . re " ported acceptance of 20 minutes ori-b time, he said, was not on the union books, though a motion m favour of it might have been carried by an unauthorised minority of th© miners. He made sarcastic reference to an interview with Mr Seddon, M.P., who when asked what his position was with regard to Sooialism replied that ther© were several kinds of Socialism — • rational Socialism and ultra Sooialism. He (Mr Fitzgerald) would like to know what ultra meant, and was sure that the late Mr Seddon would not have used such a term. Even Sir Joseph Ward talked about the impossibility of nationalising in-

dustries. But there was no such thing as an impossibility, for the post office and the railways were nationalised. Was th© audience aware that 85 per cent, of the business of the world was carried r.ii 01 credit and only 15 per cent, on cash? To this query there was no response, and he proceeded to explain that m 1895 th© working men of England had 130 millions* sterling m the post office savings banks, to say nothing of the other banks, ond then pointed out that there were only 120 millions of money m the whole of the country. He explained that theso two statements were true, because the money, passed frcm hand to hand m circulation. Ther© was not enough money m the world, he said, to buy the wealth cf any one coantry, and Sir Joseph Ward knew ihis principle of exchange, even if he did not Cere tell fhe -people ao. In conclusion h© moved — "That this meeting of Green Island citizens demand that the Governor, as representing the Crown, shall resum& possession oft ne lands and minerals a*, present held on sufferance by the Blackball 1 Coal Company (Ltd.) owing to the failure of that company to operate the mines under fair conditions of labour, the Stat© io work the same under conditions a 1 * present existing m the Seddonvill© anci other State mines." The Government, h* contended, had no legal ri^ht to sell lane 1 ; but only to grant the use of it, and therefore had the right to resume possession of ihe Blackball mine m the name of fh^ people. Mr J. MacManv.s seconded the motion* which was carried unanimously. In answer to a question from the fi'-d--' ence, Mr Fit2g=rald said that tbe rendition of labour was m the highest degree »n---sat.i'€f<ictorv, and that until men s.upic<_ social questions for the benefit not or.!v3. themselves but of their wives andchildren—until they got away , o , n ?. I . l *« bad influences of the bars and bilhartt rooms, they would not oecomo better. When they succeeded m inducing working men to 3tudy suoh questions for themselves then they would be lifted to a higher plane, and the Government of the day. whoever the members might be. would necessarily be a reflex of the peop.e, anrfa much better reflex than at present. Ho urged every worker m th? country to study such questions and become wslcJi-do*-s of Labour memuers. so that wheii they did not attend lo tbeir duties they cor Id be kicked out.