BLATHERSKITE A. J. COOK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17890, 5 July 1926, Page 7

BLATHERSKITE A. J. COOK.

MINERS’ LEADER SAID TO BE CAD, COWARD AND BLUFFER AS WELL. LONDON, June 18. “ The world’s greatest imbecile. When he rises to speak he does not know what he is going to say. When he is talking he does not know what he is saying. When he has finished he does not remember what he has said. ” That is how" The Seamen, the journal conducted by* Mr Havelock Wilson, general president of the National Sailors and Firemen’s Union, describes Mr A. J. Cook, secretary* of the Miners’ Federation. “Mr Cook, ” says the article, “ has done more harm to the miners and their families than any other man during the last half-century. He was elected secretary* merely* because he is a great batherskite, and continually promised a six-hour day and untold wealth. “ Now he admits that the miners are in a worse plight than ever. He. should resign, byt won’t, because he can only* satisfy his vanity by making a big noise, which is characteristic of lunatics. “ Since his election he has c aused continual trouble on the coal-fields. When he saw the prospect of a trade revival in 1925, enabling the minerfc to improve their conditions, he decided to nip it in the bud, thereby consciously or unconsciously playing the Soviet’s game —the destruction of British trade and trades unionism—causing untold misery* to millions, and enabling his Moscow masters to enjoy the sight of a glorious revolution. “ Mr Cook is a cad and a bluffer of the worst kind. He is the biggest coward that ever lived, although his speeches suggest courage. He has treated the Labour leaders contemptibly, especially Mr J. H. Thomas, who was largely instrumental in obtaining the coal subsidy*. “Mr Cook has falsely accused the Seamen's Union of blacklegging when transporting coal. The truth is the foreigners, over whom Mr Wilson has no control, are shipping the coal. ”