Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUEJSDAY, NOV. 6, 1917. LABOR'S PATRIOTISM.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14447, 6 November 1917, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUEJSDAY, NOV. 6, 1917. LABOR'S PATRIOTISM.

A little item included in yesterday's budget of news should not be allowed to pass without notice, for it illustrates admirably the spirit wliich is now animating all sections of the laboring classes at Home-— a spirit whioh we yet hope to sco manifesting itseliy amongst the uorkers of Australasia when the evil doctrines promulgated by the 1.W.W., at the back of which is German gold, have been wiped put. The South Wales coal miners, though declining the offers that had been made to them for the settlement of some ■ dispute ' decided "in view of the country's peril to resume work." Such a decision puts patriotism above pelf and!- will stand to the credit of the miners for many a long day. It was remarked.by a. leadahg.-Euglish newspaper a few weeks ago that no one throughout the war ,has shown a finer patriotism .than the British working man. Ho has labored unceasingly *to bring about victory. He has cheerfully undergone restrictions ahd privations when he recognised the real necessity for them. His heart and soul have been with the men in the trenches. ' He has felt the full bitterness of the toll that has taken of our best, and bravest. "T\\e:. splendid brqtherliness of the fighting men at the' front; has been reflected in the trusted efforts and sympathy of all ranks and classes a-t home. That spirit, will .not perish in any slough of false or/sentimental pacificism.. Labor unrest has manifested itself hbre and.there on occasions in various industries, Mr G. J. Wardle,.the new representative of; Labor inthe British Cabinet, was >ble to state confidently when interviewed at the end of September, that, such uiireSt is slowly but appreciably .giving ,\yay before the new spirit which is beginning to animate both employers and employed in the treatment of labor problems. The great necessity of tfihe times, said Mr Wardk; is that the new spirit of sympathy, for? bearance andl understanding should! be more and moro diffused among all grades connected with our industries. It shbufc( actuate the Government in its approach to labor difficulties. It should be equally, the spirit in which employers .listen td their employees. Effort, mustV.be made to ensure its premeaiting- into «veiy rank* of labor itself. "What must be granted is labor's olaim to .some ". sort of share' m the control of Vindustiy. There ars some extremists . that claim' labor should have full control, and logically there may be much to be said for that' posi; tion, but '-ae'." things are, it would be disastrous to jump from one. extreme ' to the other. But it is, altogether desirably and necessary that, '. febor should have some part, that it should enter into co| partnership iWithiCajnta} .;in;ispme way or other. ' What are the" grievances of Brit! ish labor in these' days? For one thingj. high pi*ices?must be taken;; intc** account! the\wQi*kinj^ his* Avife^inuch" anxiety 'nowadays " "■' A tiiove ' seribus:* trouble 'is .'the... Jqhg . Jipuri entailed 1 'by the demands' the?war.' But . perhaps the most .real caUSebf unres^ "ik that there'us:' too -much .icentralisatibn^iii the indiistrial Avorldyalike^ambttg . eml ploy ers -and employes. Pepprtm^nteJ! committees,,. conf^r/ei'-Sces,. tHeysysJcep| ! b| representation, fifififi prevent'; iKe ■of i the . individuals, ,f j-bin 'gettihgV*to ' thi I c slsVe.fi jThatV'ia^.why we ysee ;th'e v la.bo*f I leaders so 'often disavowed by^thp.-men. themselves; Something must, be -done .to put. those , in*y control into touch * witljj local feeling and! local complaints, l^ap .is., why I•■ lay-'; stress on 'the? new spirit that I seo l^egihiling to 'prevail , iii .our industrial situation. That is why I havb great hopes, if., only 'i tliat. spirit •' caij* be extended - downwards f a'ndl- upwards, ' if blily a closer rapport can be- brought about between the 'different 'grades bf. labor andl the world of 'industry?* The workmen must: f#el /.that he has. anrinterpsti a, .voice, , ay-share, in the. management of his partioular.upd^sky. Then fii don't, think we nieed liave any fear of violence and revolutionary propaganda." Great problems have to be faced in the adjustment of industry and commerce after, the war, when Britain may feel the. full stress of /foreign competition in the severe struggle for supremacy in the

world s markets, and it is highly desirable that everything should be done at the present time to cultivate the best relationships between employers and employed and to secure that hearty cooperation which will b*) as necessary in the future as it is in the present hour of peril if Great Britain and her industries are to be kept afloat. Every rapprochement between capital and labor is to be . welcomed and it: ?should; be the earnest desire of patriotic people to promote a better understanding and 'to devise means by Whicli harmony and vigor and '.hearty co-operation , can s be brought into .our .industrial system. Meantime Labor stands firm for -yth& Rigorous prosecution of the war, realising «;: as was expressed in the British trades unionist manifesto early in the war that upon the result of the struggle depends the preservation and mainteniance of free and unfettered democratic ! government. It is. gratifying to know that American trades unionists ,are in hearty accord with; their British brethren in this matter. After three years' observation, as neutral spectators of the great world conflict they see perhaps more clearly than we do the great issues involved, and their views are definitely expressed in the following message sent by Mr S. Gompers, the President of the American Federation of Labor, .to .the British Trades Union Congress:; '-The righteous cause for which our movements and our countries are engaged in this world 1 , struggle must be triumphant, for it is writ in the skies that the end of autocracy is near at hand v and the world will be made safe and 1 better for labor, justice, freedom audi democracy." Mr Gompers in a recent speech pledged the united! support of organised labor to tho Government in its prosecution of the war, assailed pefice propagandists and denounced the futile activities of those who would split labors ranks on the question of war. With swift, sure strokes be attacked -the arguments 1 , of those who declared the working masses want peace. and challenged pro-German societies to step forth into the open and match their, disloyalty " labor's loyalty. <"I "hold-" '-, he said, "that, a traitor to his country is on a par .with the scab to his trade. I believe that men have the right to express their dissent but the expression of. dissent is one thing and the organising. of.. a movement to destroy the will of the 'majority is another. That is not right and can not be tolerated.'' .Mr Gompers*- declared that persons unwilling io do their full duty in this hour of national peril are not entitled to the protection of the State. "I am a pacifist; that is, 1 was until President Wilson asked Congress to declare wai*," said Mr Gompers. "Now I would betray the great Dody of workers which I represent if I. did not urge the/p to ;give their .last. -full, me&sfure to .the,ca.use of world freedom-. .-,\V|hen lam hit. on one cheek, lam wiping. to turn the other ; .but ■ after ; that I nave no more* cheeks and must use the fists that God gave me for my protection. Men. women and children have been murdered ;by a ruthless power. -that, is tO-day seeking a world domination. It is the duty of every man andl woman in America to gire the best 'that is in them — whether: ori" the field of hittleoi* in the shop— to bring about the destruction of that power." To this plain and honest, declaration of faith everyone who gives a moment's thought to the great issues at stake will utter A fervent "Amen." •:*•'. •*