The Star. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1914. TO PREVENT STRIKES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11029, 18 March 1914, Page 4

The Star. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1914. TO PREVENT STRIKES.

■ ■; ,A leading' Sydney butclier lias proposed a .new way to prevent strikes. The Government, he-thinks; should issue ballot papers members 'of H)ie union concerned, and should couVltfel the ballot instead of leaving'it >t'o the union officials. But every mar:i'i<?rl> man should receive two ballot papers, one for himself and one for ■'liis wife, and an additional paper for 'every child lie may have. The singlo Vfnn has, in very many cases, no one himeslf. to-consider. Ho. acts it'rpm selfish motives," and frequently Jo'ii. daring impulses. And too frequently it is the-fact that the vote •ef '.theso irresponsible young men outi the vote of older and soberer I .-men who have more experience of life, nland who hiive, besides, both women and 'children to consider. "When a strike foccurs tho younger men;probably know jre'ry little of Avhat it really means.. 1 -"rhey take an extra hour or two in ,Aed, saunter to the recognised meeting place, exchange ideas with others , like themselves, listen to heated oratory, and generally enjoy the excitement of the occasion and the unwonted i leisure. They can always indulge in i a snjoke, and, unless the strike extends ,!, over a long period of time, „ are not compelled to curtail their racals seriously. They are free, if the necessity arises, to inove about from place to. place, and in the majority of cases [„tll<sv have ' parents or- brothers and t Bifitej's who will not see them starve or go without a whilst the trouble is on. But the man with the family is lin a very different case. He is responsible for tho shelter and feeding ,of a woman and little children. Tho, fear that confronts him when low of i work occurs is not tho fear of physical discomfort for himself, but the misery of seeing women and babies going ' hungry. Ho cannot turn up at the. '■ houie of his parents or other relatives, I as ..his single brother, might, with a cheery request, for temporary food and shelter. He would have to ask for : niore than they could be expected to II Rive. His opportunities for saving !' have been less than the single' man's, and ihe probability of his '"tiding over " the time of stress is proportionately smaller. Only when there j is a very real grievance and the chance j of succes-; is good will such a man in- ) ' fiict.the hardships of a strike on those j dependent upon him. He will not bo carried away by specious arguments and ■ shallow reasoning, says an Australian jlaper; but, at the same time, , it also adds thatit is, of course, a " counsel of perfection to urge that the roting power of a unionist in reference -tp a 1 strike should be measured by the extent of his responsibilities for the j * lives of others; but it is perhaps a good j thing that the matter should have '. been placed before the public in this light. The .irresponsible itoen themselves, however cheerfully they may seem to laugh the proposition away, cannot but admit the justice of it, and they may find it less easy than before to. acquit themselves of selfishness, v There is such a thing as conscience, however hard men niay try to forget it, and some seeds of compunction may fee sown Which in time will bear fruit "