WAITING AT THE COURT.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume 1, Issue 13, 20 February 1914, Page 8

WAITING AT THE COURT.

LEFT IN THE LURCH. .-aP" . A QUEER MIX-UP. LVWhen I f;oand hVdiloft me«in.-the lurch, Lor'l How it'did Upset .-moll'- .- \ \ The v words of** the eomie song, must' 'have -passed through',*the minds of a party- of- were waiting,, :not at the church,"s.but,at the Provincial Council Chambers, this-morning. Some of them had been cited to appear as parties to a dispute filed by the Canterbury Catpenters' Union. Mr. JR. C. Bishop, secretary j6f'the pany, produced ami tKere it stated plainly thafciJte .company ■'s re-; jjreseiitative was requested, to be in attendance at 10 a.m. on Friday^'the 20th inst. . Mr H. E. Busjbridge, one ofi'ithtf union-'s assessors, ■' w&s in attenda£acs So was Mr John Maynard, one of. ; Master Builders' assessors. Jheffciy -aTOse:S" Here we are! Where isj; the is the Conciliation : 1 Commissioner?' ,; .--';' A businessman ;|iappened to pass by ;and eichaiage greetings. It was proposed to make him enairman, and he •-expresfed willingness. "Of course," said Mr Bishop, "the^position-is purely "honorary'* "Honorary!" shouted the , business man; '' Oh, 4 no!, ; I'm very *|busy to-day!" And. *he passed on ■'•".'••' • ' • " ' ' '""'' The feeling of, indignation mounted /a& time flew by. The'massive door of / '' the Chambers remained imperturbably banged, "bolted, and barred. A side -door was open, but the meeting decided ( unanimously that they would use either -the front door or none, The Hon. Johnßarr, 'who was to con- / duet the' union?s case, turned up at "10.15. He had some information, but "it was rather indefinite. He did not think that-there would be any case that day, he* said. "Why is not someone here to let us know?" asked-the meeting, furiously. Mr Barr departed, and came back a , few minutes later accompanied by Mr M'Carthy, .Clerk of Awards. ' ' Mr M'Carthy suavely informed- the ; waiting disputants that there was not going to be any case. He added that Mr Triggs had informed him that the union would officially advise him of ■_. their withdrawal. They had not done ' t : so, and he could not send out the no-' :■ tices to the parties in the absence of such a written authority. The. meeting exploded, and wanted to know Why affairs were so mysterji ously conducted that persons so intii mately concerned as they were did not ].'■ know of the withdrawal. They felt ,: very sore about it. '" Finally they de- \ parted on their several ways. / Subsequently, in conversation with the Conciliation Commissioner, a SUN I representative learned a few facts con- :' nected with the tangle. I. Mr Triggs said that at the meeting j of the Conciliation Council on Wednes- !■"• day, when the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters' dispute was heard, Mr Barr ; stated that the Canterbury Union's case would be withdrawn. It was then definitely understood that there would i. be no sitting on Friday. Mr Barr un- [ dertook to let his people know, and" he. :t (Mr Triggs) rang up Mr H. Pearce, of I,; the Builders' Association, and told him; ;.%-.. These parties might have communi* ■•".p cated with the others concerned. The i;! Canterbury Carpenters withdrew the dispute, on the understanding that they ft would have-the right to appeal against ftlp^i&tfyto,,agreement in the Arbitration