The Cause of Labour in the South.

Observer, Volume X, Issue 603, 24 January 1891, Page 12

The Cause of Labour in the South.

(By Our Special Correspondent.)

A public meeting was held on the 6th inst. in the Theatre Royal, Wellington, under the auspices of the Trades Council. The hall was crowded, and the city members of Parliament spoke upon ' The Present and Future Prospects of Unionism.' Unionism is very strong in this city, and it possesses public sympathy to a very large extent. Within the Unionist ranks are many first-class public speakers and able writers, who are more than a match for the other side in any controversy that arises. With the exception of Mr Duthie, M.H.R., the tone of the speakers was hopeful as to the future of organized labour. Mr Duthie spoke in the well-known style of a successful capitalist who considers labour but as a wareto be bought and sold for a price. He deprecated bitter feeling between the capitalists and the Unionists, and advocated the burial of the hatchet. He strongly condemned the pretensions of certain Union leaders who endeavoured to dictate to capital and control the colony, forgetting perhaps that it is labour that produces capital and controls three-fourths of the voting power. At this stage one person in the audience interjected— ' Where do you get your capital from?'" Another shouted— 'How can a friendly feeling exist when you are trying to starve our wives and children ?' Duthie's view on public questions are very much like those of an old-world Auckland candidate named Walliawhose speeohes caused great amusement down here, i The difference between the two men is that Duthie does not indulge in humour. He is a member of the Employers' Union, and he owes his election to a species of personal popularity, and a wave of sympathy started by the way in which he was treated by his first audience,, who would not listen to him. In appearance he is a [ type of the ' bloated capitalist ' (although it is believed he is working on borrowed money), having a large • corporation,' a white waistcoat and a well fed, well housed, satisfied look. His business is that of ironmonger and importer. He openly states what all capitalists think that wages are far too high, and when he utters the noble sentiment you could hear a pin drop--on account of the deadly silence. Th« officers of the Unions enforce strict discipline, and anyone systematically found annoying or interrupting a public speaker is summarily dealt with. The dead silence that greetsDuthie must be very trying to him. It is like a blast from an ice field. Kennedy Macdonald is an enthusiastic Democrat and a defender of Unionism. He said the time must come when unionists must rule the country, and possess both the capital and the raw material. With better management, power was within their grasp. They would become the greatest electioneering machine in the world, and dictate terms to all opposing them. They were yet in their infancy, but would soon grow and develop to an astonishing degree of strength and power. He said that a strong democratic labour element had been elected into this Parliament, and that the Conservative' party were in a • mortal funk ' as to what the result would be. Duthie is a very inferior public speaker ; but Kennedy Macdonald is one of the best in the colony, and if he makes good use of the power he certainly possesses in a remarkable degree, there is little doubt but that hewill soon reach a prominent position in public affairs. Of the Wellington MJELR.'s he is far and away the most popular, and whenever he appears on a publio platform,, he is greeted with a storm of applause. Geo. Fisher, the third member, is well known, and like Macdonald, was elected by the labor vote ; but having joined the Atkinßon Ring three years ago isi against him.