DOWN WITH THE BOSS!

Observer, Volume XXXIV, Issue 24, 21 February 1914, Page 2

DOWN WITH THE BOSS!

But Who is He ?

IF you irritate the most angelic man persistently enough he will' fight sooner or later. One does not claim that the average employer is an angel, but that he has been long-suffering in Australasia oneconcedes. One imagines, for instance, Sydney waterside heroes; carefully listing every known species of complaint and finding in despair that as they were better off thanmost skilled workers, no joint in the bosses' armour remained forthem to poke a weapon in. Somegenius (who it can be safely surmised) never handled cargo in hislife, suddenly discovered that overtime was paid for as time and' a-half it was an iniquity. Why should those treacherous wretches, the bosses, lure them to hornyhanded perdition by paying them overtime rates ? Why did the wicked, abandoned and perfidious boss, who never worked more than sixteen hours a day himslf, not see that for a lumper to work his sacred muscles for r>ore than six hours was a slave. Here then, oh brothers, was the joint in the armour of the boss. Go for him !

The average striker in Australasia has proved himself to be absolutely devoid of reason. In Sydney a Syndicalist section carefully throws down its tools on the ground' that it doesn't want to earn so muchmoney—and so breaks the law.. Another section rolls up to worked finds that the bosses have closed the gates. " This," says the infuriated labour leader " constitutes a-lock-out." Here is the line of reasoning. We consent to work foryou as long as we feel inclined. Weshut you iip when we like. Youmustn'f shut us out when you like—it's illegal ! The persons in Australasia who create the jobs for thedictators (the dictators' followers; haven't the least ability to createjobs for themselves) haven't the* least idea what atrocious scoundrelsthey are for paying wages, until Labour screams out a new demand. The point that is being stressed nowin Australasia and New Zealand is that no law, either political or moral, can compel ah employer to provide jobs. There is nothing tostop any employer in Australasia from shutting up his business either temporarily or finally. "I'm cornin' back to the job when I feel inclined " says the gentleman whosometimes works. "There isn't a.' job to come back to " replies theperson who owns the business. That is the very essence of finality.

In every case of quarrel between' worker and creator of work the public stops the punch. It hits him on the pocket every time. The publichas been bled enormously by theNew Zealand strike and not a single worker who was in the little war is a ha'porth the better. Employers; lost heavily. They have to make up leeway. The public is the bank on' which the employer draws and the' public goes on trying to make fiveshillings do the work of eighteenpence because of its proportion of bone-lazy people who make hell today and whine like whipped children to-morrow. In every case of stupid' aggression during the past year theaggressors have contemplated dealing with an enemy that won't hit back. In Australia, which is even ■ more saturated with the views of bone-laziness than New Zealand, the men with the moneybags are - carefully sewing the mouths up. The aggressors will not, of course, admit that the person on whom they - depend has any right to retaliate. One thing is fairly certain. In near future when the "down tools order comes,when there is absolutely no reasonable cause of complaint, the cash-holders will simply refuse to negotiate. The borntired army throws down the gauntlet and the other, side merely .sits tight, does nothing, says nothing, and if necessary just goes out of business. As an example of Labours ingenuity in devising a noose for its own neck the latest movement in*

New South Wales is remarkable. Nothing seems so hateful to the workers as work. To humour them, therefore, it seems feasible that the pusseholders should not irritate them by asking them to do any .In the meantime, the anxious public, whose left pocket is smitten to-day by the dealer, whose right pocket is smitten to-morrow by the squeal•er, is the real victim. He will yet become physically wicked about it.