THE N.S.W. STRIKE.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XXXVII, Issue 7920, 18 August 1917, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE N.S.W. STRIKE.

Tn the matter of industrial unrest Australia is indeed an unhappy country. Despite the fact that the politics of the Commonwealth are to a very large extent shaped*hnd controlled by the representatives of Labour the brutil weapon of the strike is almost continually in evidence in one or other of the States. Just now the scene of conflict is in New South Wales, where a wholly unjustifiable strike on a large scale ’s in progress, paralysing the railway.? and tramways and inflict : ng suffering and loss upon thousands. And why? Simply because—according to the strikers themselves—the Railway Commission-

m s proposed to introduce the card system in order to ensure the cost of work being properly recorded. Apparently,

'*r. there is something much more sinister behind the trouble, involving the serious question as to who is to govern the country. Are the Railway Commissioners as the heads of a public enterprise which must he run on business principles to he masters in their own domain—within the limits of reason and fair play—or are the employees to decide the line upon which the Railway Department is to be run? The Commissioners are public servants, and Parliament for the people is their master. The Government ns the executive of Parliament is the responsible body when they are in difficulties; and consequently any fight, after all, must a* with the people. The Railway Commissioners in their wisdom have decided that a certain /liing must ho, done in order to give efficient control of their department, prompted by an alarming deficit in their accounts. The Government sees that this must he supported, since the country has determined to leave the management of the railways to men practically free from politic d connections or control. As was clearly pointed out before the men “downed tools,” there is nothing unreasonable in the card system which the. Commissioners propose to introduce. Tt has been accepted by British unionists rs •:air, anl has been used for years n private workshops in Australia. The result of the svatem undoubtedly wouKi bo to prove who nr the capable, conscientious workmen, and otherwise *t will afford an opportunity of obtaining for the increased general expenditure

some adequate return. That is to say, the slacker and the industrial thief would hare to go, for the man who does not give a fair day’s work for a fair tiny’s pay is a public enemy. The employees are fighting ostensibly against this reasonable innovation, in callous defiance of the interests of the community, and regardless of the fact that Australia, with the rest of the Empire, is engaged in the greatest war the world has ever known. On the other side rf he world unionists have, for the period of the war, surrendtred certain rights and privileges, and by so doing have doubly ensured cur safety. Britisn unionists have made it possible for the Allies to hammer Germany on the Western front, and they have kept th • British navy, upon which our safety depends, up to the highest notch •-/ power. Where would Australian unionists have been Imd not British unionist* fought and worked », they have done? This latest strike in New South Wales

cannot by any stretch ot imagination he regarded as ? revolt of men fightin

against some grea; son a I injustice---low wages or poor conditions. Its origin, we fear, must l o looked for in th' pernicious influences of the l.\N .'NY. It will indeed he a sorry thing if constituted authority, hacked by public opin ion, is unable to triumph over the forces of irresponsible lawlessness.