PURPLE PATCHES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10927, 17 November 1913, Page 1

PURPLE PATCHES.

A. HOWDY. MEETING. 'GENERAL LABOURERS DISCUSS STRIKE. OFFICIALS BULLIED BY MEMBERS. [Per Pbkss Association - .] ; ~ WELLINGTON, November 16. ; A meeting of the General, Labourers' Union on iriday night was notable for the breezy character of the proceedings, line meeting was convened for the pur-, pose of deciding' on the action to be vaken by the general labourers with, respect to the strike, and after some 150 or more of .the moderate members had left the room, seemingly disgusted, a noisy and vocally violent minority tried to take charge of the meeting, even to the- point of threatening several of the executive, particularly the president "(Mr'F. Stott): and 'the, secretary (Mr k. J. Reardon). There were hot passages . sprinkled with "purple patiches " of language from a blustering lew who appeared determined to- drag tiie general,labourers out oh strike. ■;■.; The meeting, after a mild opening, resolved'itself .into something incoherent: and disorderly.' Meanwhile the secret ballot, strike or no . strike, • decided ; on;by^the(executive,, is proceeding, and the signs point to a large majority against those who demand ''direct action." ' • The exact number present is not available, but approximately ■ 200 men were in attendance. The'representatives of the Federation of Labour were Messrs Hickey and Parry, - and by. the majority voice of the meeting i these delegates narrowly escaped being denied admission. Mr Parry declared that Mr Reardon, as secretary, had.made an attack on the rights of the workers (Mr Reardon had described the strikers as " lions led by geese.") This delegate was asked by the secretary to .state exactly the words he was alleged to have used, and a copy of the : " Post "was handed to the 'speaker, and he and his co-delegate began to peruse the paper and another with a. view to discovering the offending passage. After" they had unsuccessfully searched for some minutes, the crowd became restive and asked facetious questions.. Then Mr Parry, having failed to substantiate his allegation, observed-that there were a number of '? would-be lawyers" in the Labour movement who were always looking for quibbles'. Interjectors called, " That's what you are trying to do now." This delegate started on a general condemnation of the executive, special exception being taken to the figure of speech ''lions led by geese." . : Eventually the two delegates left the room amid considerable noise, and hoots 'and jeers. -'When the meeting was resumed, one of the " direct actionists" moved—-" That in the'opinion of this meeting the action of the executive in taking a secret, ballot is unconstitutional." Presently some 150- or 160 members rose' and left, the meeting. The chairman (Mr F. Stott) declared the closed, and directed the secretary to close the office. At this the minority of about forty got to work and the diminished gathering became a scene of wild confusion and disorder The Executive of the Union was accused of "rigging" the meeting When tho secretary entered his office to look up, a number of malcontents followed him in and hustled him with some force back into the meeting room, endeavouring to compel him to take the chair until such time as the forty could elect a chairman from the meeting. Their suasion was much more physical than moral. Meanwhile, other "militants" were jostling the president, also attempting to force him -into the chair against his will It was an impotent minority (only about forty, it is said) unavailjngly " pressganging" for a constitutional chairman. Despite an appeal for fair play by the president, he was ijnade the target for abusive epithets. FISTS FLOURISHED. The sera-etary, his back against the

office door, was confronted by some dozen individuals who had him hemmed in, the while lists wero flourished in his face. The rowdy ones shouted at him, demanding that he should do as they told him. " You are our 1 servant,"' they yelled. .To this the secretary replied that he would take no instructions at that stage from'anyone btit thp president. That gentleman (who is no giant in stature) was at the time manfully refusing to obey the dictatos of his assailants. At last, the revolutionaries decided to havo a meeting of their' own. A chairman was appointed, but the secretary and president were not allowed, to leave. Then this band of about forty, all. that had remained of the large gathering, proceeded to pass a resolution calling a special meeting for Monday, with the object of removing the secretary from office for refusing to "proceed with the business." . At a second meeting the metf wrangled as to whether the result of the ballot being taken should be accepted. . It was held by some that if it was decided to "down tools" immediately, any who commenced work on the morrow (Saturday) would be "scabs." The meeting broke, up in disorder without a vote being taken on the question. Mr Reardon states: " The' Executive of the Union" is standing to its guns, and is. deserving of every credit for its bold attitude. It is simply refusing to, allow the majority of the men in the Union to be browbeaten into doing anything but what is fail* to every person in the Union. ~ It is going to stand by the ballot, no matter what a minority of them may think or attempt ." The . result of ' the ballot should be made known early- next •week. GOOD CHEQUES. THE NEW WHARF UNION. There were at three o'clock'on Saturday nearly 700 members of the new Waterside Workers' Union. The response" of- workers from both town and country and of men who intend to remain at waterside work is reported to be so great that the list will have to be closed within the next two days. It has been ascertained that quite 400 men are intending to keep at waterside work, whether the strike is on or hot. Yesterday was pay day for members of the, Arbitration Watersidem' Union, and many of the men received high wages for the week's work. One man earned as much as £7 ss.and another £7 4s, and amounts of from £5 to £6 were handed to several men. A JOKE THAT FAILED. STRIKE LEADER AND A ''FRISCO TRIP. "DOMINION" TAKES THINGS SERIOUSLY. [From Our Correspondent.] WELLINGTON, November 15. One of the strike leaders still at liberty, Mr Hickey, amused his followers in Post Office Square on Friday with some jocular references to tho San Francisco mail steamer and its difficulties. He said with a smile that he had intended going to San Francisco himself by the Moana, but the crew was so inefficient that he could only get as far as Worser Bay. (Mr Hickey, it seems, believed the tale that the Moana had to return to Wellington.) "Having sent my large bank balance to 'Frisco," continued Mr Hickey smilingly, " I hadn't any car fare, and had to walk back from Worser Bay." Mr Hickey, of course, had been too busy to make a trip on the Moana, which was at the time some hundreds of miles away, but his jocularity, as it appears in the cold print of the "Dominion" under the heading "Was Mr Hickey Leaving?" conveys an impression which leads the strike speaker to regret having been humorous. " One of the most extraordinary features oi the Moana incident," states the " Dominion," "was the speech made in the Squaro during the afternoon by Mr P. Hickev, secretary of the United Fcder-

ation of Labour. .Mr Hickey said that ho had been told in the morning-by a man who did not know him that ' that follow Hickey lias cleared out to 'Frisco.' That this was not the. case they could see by the fact that ho stood there before them. At the same time, ho had to plead half guilty, as ho had intended to go to 'Frisco, and would have'sailed by the Moana. He had not managed to get any further, however, than Worser Bay, where th& vessel, ho said, then lay. Here he was put on shore, and he had walked back to town, the only money lie had with him ■being a draft on a San Francisco bank. He had not anticipated the necessity for spending any car fares for some time to come."