IN VICTORIA SQUARE.

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

IN VICTORIA SQUARE.

LARGE CROWD AND ENTHUSIASTIC MEETING. THE MEN'S SIDE OF THE CASE. PROCESSION THROUGH THE CITY. On Saturday night the waterside workers of Lyttelton, with friends and sympathisers, held a procession through the streets of Christchurch. When the procession left the railway station lb numbered about one hundred, but before it reached Victoria Square it totalled between four and five hundred men. At the head of the procession was carried the big white cross of the Church Socialist League, of whioh several members were present. At the Square a large crowd assembled, despite the wet weather, and the meeting was enthusiastic throughout. Before the meeting started, cheers were given for the Federation of Labour and for Mr P. C. Webb, M.P., one of the speakers of the evening. WELLINGTON WATERFRONT TIED UP. Mr P. C. Webb was received, with loud cheering, and assurances that he would be allowed to speak there if not in Parliament. He said that he had come to investigate the position of affairs here, and he already knew that the men were as determined as were their northern colleagues to win this fight. The telegrams from Wellington and Auckland about strikers going back to work were mostly fabrications. In Auckland things were at a standstill, and two hundred business men had petitioned Parliament to bring influence to bear to overcome the unjust attitude of the Employers' Federation. What good would a Union of labourers formed by Mr Pryor, Sir Walter Buchanan and M'v G. Sykes, M.P., be to the labouring classes? He gave instances of attempts, to form -Unions, and also the history of the Unions already formed. A large squatter was the president of one Union, and his interests were not exactly those of the working classes. NO REAL EFFORT. MR MASSEY AND SETTLEMENT. Mr Webb then reviewed the history of the troublo and contended that tho shipwrights were unjustly treated by the Union Steam Ship Company although they did their very best to arrive at a just and honourable agreement with the company. The shipping companies had seized the stopwork meeting as an excuse to strangle

industrial unionism. In this '.. they had the support -of the Massey. ment and meant to end unionism. He did not.blame the Government and the employers but he would .blame .the men if they allowed ■ the attempt to succeed: The Labour organisation in -this country -wras identical with that elsewhere. Labour had a right to form a strong organisation to, suit itself. ' AtT the beginning of the ' trouble' the Federation.of Labour had offered to enter, into an 'agreement to ' be" registered under the Trades Union Act and any breaches to be' dealt with by-a Stipendiary Magistrate. The. Federation made that offer-in order, that hundreds of small farmers might not be ruined and labourers ••pauperised; but the employers would not. have it. - - From the very start Mr Massey'had made no real •effort'to arrange,a, settlement. He applied the.gag when Social .Democrats in the House got up and they were howled down by the Government party. The Liberals were riding the rail and he knew • that when Sir Joseph .Ward made an effort to secure, a settlement members of his own party objected against anything which might* be construed' into- an alliance with the: " Red Feds." The Liberals need not worry about'that. There would be no alliance. FARMERS' ACTION DEPLORED. The : Rev T. A. Williams said that he wanted. to say at the outset that he was there as a follower of Jesus Christ, the Friend of the worker. He also wanted to say that lis was there to speak for fair play against foul play. Ho. felt • that .the men were fighting for their very existence.' Parliament had been strangely dumb, of late and not a Christchurch Member of Parliament had uttered a definite view about this struggle. Voices: What about Isitt? ' Another voice: They only think of the pay. HOW TO SETTLE THE TROUBLE IN TWENTY-FOUR MINUTES. The men were opposed by great forces, Mr Williams added. As he had 6aid, the Press was against the men. The "Lyttelton Times" had been fair, but some editors had lost their heads altogether. What they had said was insulting and so wrong that if right were done some of them would not rest at home to-night. They had the Massey Government, the boasted champions of law and order, against them. Mr Massey had come out as the acknowledged supporter of the employers. Ho would do nothing, although the head of the Government. All he could say was something about foreign leaders. Mr Massey, on those grounds, was a foreigner. A Voice: Born in Ireland. A Voice: Don't insult Ireland. In Mr Massey's statement there was one delightful touch. He had stated that if the Federation of Labour would only stand aside the affair would be settled.in twenty-four hours. That meant just this: if one man would leave the ring the other would win. Why, if the Employers' Federation would only leave the ring the thing would be bver in twenty-four minutes. The only policy the Government had was force, and it did a weak and cowardly thing when it gagged Mr Webb. Many opponents of Labour had admitted that. The imprisonment of the men in Wellington was a farce. Thcv were allowed to go free for many days after these so-called seditious

: utterances, and if they, were to remain in gaol for three months iit would be a gross injustice. ~ *■; MOTION CARRIED.: Mr J. M'Combs' denied the contention made by some : newspapers that the. strike followed upon the interfeiv 'ehce of the Federation of Labour. It was called in to settle,the dispute and it. had really secured the acceptance by the men of the employers' proposals, only to find that.''the employers had shifted their ground and now demanded something else—registration tinder the Arbitration Act. He reviewed the .negotiations and showed that the extra demand was really the result, of the interference' of the , Employers' Federation, which came in at a late hour. This action of 'the employers was in accordance with the announced policy of; their organisation,. and that policy was to smash the Federation. He moved:— "That this .meeting expresses its deep • resentment at the arrest of the Wellington strike leaders, as an abuse of the power of Government J'n the ititerests of the Federation and demands their instant release in the name'of fairplay and British justice." : The motion was carried practica'ly unanimously.. Mr R. M.-Spiers moved:— "That this great meeting of Christchurch citizens again reiterates its demand that the people of the city and. port shall not be insulted and •\ the, lives of men, women and children endangered by the importa--tion of an. undisciplined armed rabble from the country. It declares its confidence in the lawabiding character of the Lyttelton waterside workers and protests against the criminal and unnecessary waste of public money in the maintenance of an armed mob that will endanger the peace of the city." This motion was also carried and the meeting concluded with cheers for the imprisoned leaders and for Mr Webb.