THE UNEMPLOYED

Southland Times, Issue 22240, 3 February 1934, Page 6

THE UNEMPLOYED

STRIKE PROPOSAL FEW PARTICIPATE IN BALLOT STATEMENT BY PROVINCIAL SECRETARY Commenting upon the national strijce of unemployed which, it has been announced, has been called for Sunday at midnight, Mr P. Marchant, secretary of the Provincial Council of the Southland Relief Workers’ Organization, stated yesterday that further remark on the “strike ballot” was unnecessary when it was seen from the figures how small a proportion of relief-workers voted. He then quoted the latest returns of the “national strike ballot,” according to the Workers’ Weekly of January 30, which are as follows:

♦ Incomplete. The number of men on the No. 5 Scheme alone, entitled to vote to make the ballot giving a true indication of the opinion held by relief workers is as follows for the various districts: Auckland Qity 7151 Wellington City 4647 Christchurch City 5877 Dunedin City 2904 Whangarei 207 Hamilton 381 Gisborne 857 Napier 829 New Plymouth 549 Wanganui 1164 Palmerston North 1164 Masterton 338 Nelson 536 Greymouth 578 Timaru 351 Oamaru 351 Invercargill 741 Sub-districts 19,779 Total: 48,703 men on No. 5 Scheme alone. THE NATIONAL BODY. STATEMENT BY SECRETARY. (Per United Press Association.) Wellington, February 2. The national secretary of the National Union of Unemployed (Mr McLaughlin) in a statement to-day, said that in view of the widespread publicity which had been given to the socalled strike ballot taken by the agents of the National Unemployed Workers’ Movement in some parts of the country, it was necessary, in the public interests, and particularly of the unemployed section, that there should be a clear understanding of the motives prompting the strike move and the genuneness of the ballot. The policy of the National Unemployed Workers’ Movement,” he said, “conforms to the Marxian theory of a class war, which, translated into action, means the fomenting of strife for the purpose of overthrowing by force the entire system of government. He added that the unemployed were to be used as the material. The ballot, he said, was a cloak to justify the strike and its genuineness could be judged from a number of examples he proceeded to give. He first quoted Dunedin, where, he said, a majority was claimed, and gave the following as the true figures. The unemployed numbered approximately 2000, and the voting was 500 for and 400 against the strike, making the actual result 500 for and 1500 against the strike. He said that the National Union of Unemployed, with the affiliated provinces of Wellington, Manawatu, Wanganui, Waipukurau and Auckland, comprising 42 branches and 5000 members, and South Canterbury and Southland were ignoring the National Unemployment Workers’ Movement’s ballot, so it was clear that any so-called national ballot was a farce. He emphasizes that the movement’s own ballot figures were not yet known in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch. Such a obvious proof of an engineered strike required no further evidence to any intelligent man.

For. Against. Inf. Napier 494 91 8 Hastings 228 52 2 Raetihi 36 13 1 Rangitau Rd. Camp 63 24 13 Glen Afton 12 5 —— Charleston Camp 1 17 2 Petone 238 233 10 Hikurangi 58 11 — Palmerston North 381 242 —— Thames 33 63 —— Dunedin 559 412 14* Blackball 77 44 8 Hamilton 35 Mile Camp, 210 54 2 Wanganui 15 2 —— Makowai Camp 59 11 — Wairoa 103 4 —■ West Coast 272 101 — Lower Hutt 245 142 8 Totals 3090 1511 68