AN UNREHEARSED INCIDENT.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 182, 7 September 1914, Page 9

AN UNREHEARSED INCIDENT.

THE OTTT-OF-WQRKS. MR E. W. EELPH -IN, THE BAEEOW. One of the speakers who has achieved •a little fame at the. daily unemployed meetings was responsible for a spirited scene at to-day's meeting. He is a gentleman who speaks with a-'slight American accent, and with, a fair amount of fluency. His speech to-day was not designed to spare anyone's feelings. He referred to the promises made by Mr Massey and Mr Holland, and advised his audience to place no faith in them, as "promises from men of their class, were merely a waste of breath;" He then went pn to refer to a circular which had been sent round by an unnamed firm to its employees, inviting them to con-tribute-to a fund for the relief of unemployment. He ingeniously suggested that refusal to contribute would be followed by the sack. The diversion came when Mr E. W. Eelph, manager of the N.Z. Farmers' Co-operative Association, engaged him in conversation, and eventually stepped into the barrow which serves as a rostrum for the speakers. Mr Eelph addressed the gathering in spirited style, and. put an entirely different complexion on affairs., t Mr Eelph said that the circulars read sounded very like those issued to the employees of his company. They had been wondering what they could do to assist to relieve the distress consequent on the war, and they had resolved to contribute so much a, week, to be hand: ,ed to the Mayor. He did. not: like the ..suggestion -that the man who inspired the suggestion would sack ;, a'man, and then ask the-others to contribute to the unemployed. The company had not sacked a man, and did not intend to do so if it could possibly, be helped. (Hear, hear.) The employers,' of the qity wished to do all they could. , The original speaker mounted the barrow with "fresh evidence." He said that: fifteen men had left the Co;op. for the front and their places had not ,bee%;filled. "Bill" Massey had jnot replaced the 350 men from the Railway Department. There was an interlude of/protest and interjec.tion, and then Mr Eelph once .more stepped into the barrow. He pointed out that the men who went to the front, (he did not know the exact number) were in different departments, <and each man was employed on account of his fitness for his position. If one o'f the auctioneers had gone, the previous speaker might have filled his place, but he would never do for a : milliner. (Laughter.) The* places could not be filled so readily, and it was the desire of the company to keep their places open for the men who had responded to the call of their country. The company had set aside £IOOO to relieve any distress among their dependents. It was an absolute lie to say that the company did not care whether the men went to the front or not. Other employers were taking the same action. .It was a mistake for the workers'to encourage these men to create bad "feelings, and they should at a time like this give the employers credit .for good intentions. .After another interlude of hot crosscomment among various opposing spirits' in the crowd, .-Mr Jim Thorn took Mr Eelph's place in the barrow and gave a practical address. He said that at a time like this the employers, as well as the workers, were in the grip of extraordinary economic conditions caused by the war. They were compelled to throw people out of work, and no good was going to be achieved by cursing them. The position could only be adequately dealt with by public authorities like the City Council and Parliament. The workers should insist that these authori-. ties should start and maintain public works in order to take out of unemployment thousands of men. He criticised the Mayor and Patriotic Committee for. their refusal to allow part of the Patriotic Fund to be used for the relief of present 'unemployment. - The only way to relieve the situation was to make some money, and the State guarantee which had saved the Bank of New Zealand from dissolution and ruin should be good enough fbr~~two or three millions of State notes, to be spent on pub-, lie constructive works. If the Government and the City Council did not step in, the unemployment problem would always be with them, and their best plan was to make the lives of Massey and Holland uncomfortable with the knowledge that there .were anxious and eager men wanting 'work.