FOOLISH TRADE UNIONISTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3782, 7 September 1926, Page 38

FOOLISH TRADE UNIONISTS.

RAILWAYMEN RIDICULOUS. “RED” DOCUMENTS PRODUCED. (From Oce Own Correspondent.) LONDON, July 15. A fantastic and foolish attempt to place an embargo on newspapers was made at the opening session of the National Union of Railwaymen’s Conference. At the same conference an attack was made on Mr J. H. Thomas, who read letters which clearly showed there had been Russian influence to create dislocation in the N.U.R. headquarters. It was decided by 40 votes to 35 that only newspapers that were “trade union houses” should be permitted to report the proceedings. Before the vote was taken Mr Thomas was on his feet in protest. ‘The conference,” he said, “will make itself ridiculous by an action of this kind. There are thousands of railwaymen in the country looking towards this conference. We have a duty to them. Only about 40 per cent, of trade unionists read trade union newspapers, and—we have to consider the remainder. Probably the majority of . newspaper men here are as good trade unionists a 9 any one in this hall. It would be mean and petty to pass such a resolution.” Immediately the vote was announced every reporter—they numbered 30—walked out of the hall. They included the representatives of every 'London daily newspaper, including the Socialist Daily Herald special correspondent, who would not remain if the others were excluded. The news agency reporters and the local journalists also walked out. The conference was frankly staggered. Delegates realised they would not be reported. The Deputy Mayor of Weymouth, with his alderman and councillors, extended their welcome to the conference unrecorded. The speech of Mr W. Dobbie, the N.U.R. president, had been supplied to the newspapers in advance, so that it was possible to print extracts from it. but whether Mr Dobbie ’elivered the speech as it was written is unknown. The speech wa9 mainly composed of vulgar abuse of the Prime Minister. PRESIDENT'S SILLY ABUSE. . Rather foolish attempts were made by Mr Dobbie to ridiele the volunteers in the general strike. He said that the armed forces of the Crown, the police, and the -eservirts were mobilised “in the great cause of blacklegging.” The. new name volunteer “dignified the activities of the scabs in Oxford baes and plus fours. The cream of our aristocracy showed their devotion to the interests of their class by driving omnibuses, well surrounded by police, and by taking tickets. “Some of us have always said they would fight to preserve their privileges. None of us in our wildest dreams imagined they would ‘work’ to protect them. But so it was, and the sight of the monocled mfen and fashionably-attired women endeavouring to make themselves . useful, obviously for the first time in their lives, added to the gaiety of the nation for a few days.” On the second day the delegates withdrew their fantastic attempt to restrict the reporting of their meeting to representatives of newspapers whose staffs are entirely trade unionists. The fact that the correspondents of all newspapers and news agencies had boycotted the conferr ence was too much for the railwaymen. “RED” DOCUMENTS PRODUCED. The whole of the deliberately engineered opposition against Mr Thomas later on crumbled into nothing when there was a full debate on the general strike and the subsequent railway settlement. Mr Thomas made a speech of two hours, and Rwept the field of his opponents. He produced a sensation in quoting from documents which proved that the delegates who urged his retirement were acting not on the instructions of their local railway branches, but under Communist inspiration. There was an uproar of cheers at this revelation. A most remarkable scene occurred when Mr Thomas produced the “red” document. There had been among the delegates considerable hostility towards officials of the union until the dramatic moment at which Mr Thomas laid this correspondence on the table. It included conies of letters which had passed between three delegates who had been most conspicuous in the attack. Mr Thomas read the letters. Clearly they revealed a plot to create dislocation in the N.U.R. headquarters. He swung round on one of the delegates, a Scottish railwayman. “Did you,” said Mr Thomas, with his accusing finger lifted, “write this letter?” “I did,” said the man. and his attempt at an explanation was drowned in discord. After that the whole procedure was plain sailing for Mr Thomas, The vote of confidence embraced not only him, but Mr C. T. Cramp, the industrial secretary, Mr W. W. Dobbie. the president, and Mr Marchbanka, the assistant secretary.