CORRESPONDENCE.

Timaru Herald, Volume LI, Issue 4969, 20 October 1890, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

THE BTJMfcB, TO THE EDITOR OP THB TIMARU BEWW Bin, — The ecpUnation given by "Con«i« tonoy " in your issue of Wednesday of hoc the strike came about is very fairly put, bui there i» one important discrepancy betwasi tho statemont thorein madoand the manifest published by the Union Blesm Bhip Oompan;

i fonie time ngo. 1 refer to the discharging of 1 the Taiori at Sydney. It ia ogried that free ? labour wns employed, but the Union rttenm Ship Company assert thatihe unium-te would . not discharge her, tint the currpany then i began to do it wiih t'ne ship's crew, and find i it.g that far too slow a job they wete obliged to employ free labour The trouhle then • began, and it speedily spread toiSew Zealand i Whoever may be right as regards this mattor i (he fact still remains that incalculable loos i has been brought on this colony without adequate cause. Though tho wharf union i men bad a quarrel with the V.S S. Co., that i was no good reason fof hitting all round and bringing tbe trudo of the colony nearly to a standstill. Whun the Wliitcombe and Tombs i dispute took plaoo it appenred probablo that • the railway men would be called out, and recently again tberu seemed to be a narrow escapo from tho same thing, thus proving that the Maritime Council would not Bticfc at anything to attain their ends. They have most unfairly brought grent lose and Buffer- ' ing on tho whole of the people of the colony 1 on account of quarrels t'at they have nothing 1 to do with, and tho rights und wrongs of which they care very littlo about. 1 My object in writing whs not to defend tbe U.5.4. Company, but on the whole tho company has served the colony well, and I do not think that farmer* have any cause to complained on tho tcore of freights. 'I hoy have been fair and reasonable, 'iho travelling public ore charged pretty stiff faree no doubt, but they havo been provided with accommodation superior to any in the colony. Tho tone of " Consistency's " letter is moderato and conciliatory, and I trust it shows that theso unhappy differences will soon ond. I believe that the uni n men themselves in most cises aro deserving of sympathy for their loyalty under great trials, but they" have been b<dly led and advised, and wo have no sympathy for tboss who have brought about the prosent Btate of nffairs. We cannot see why all this troublo and loss should have been brought on ua and on the country, and from which it will tako years to recover The surprising thing is thut the unionists do not realise that the strike was not justified — that it could not. succeed because it hud not the sympathy and support of the people of tho colony. An a cont>nsb the London dockers' atriko had universal support, becauso it wnß recognised that I hey ha'i a real griovanco arid justice was on thoir side. In conclusion I trust that wiser counsels will prevail in the future, and that it will be long before so great a calamity will agai;: eotce on the colony. t I am, &c,