THE MARITIME STRIKE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXV, Issue 2853, 25 October 1890, Page 4

THE MARITIME STRIKE.

TO TUB KDITOIt. Sill,—There is probably no topic which absorbs so much of the public attention ns the great maritime strike, and 1 venture to say' that on no subject, is there so much misconception or misrepresentation. Few know the real cause of the strike, and still loss of those who do knoiv will caro to recognise it. Again and again have the labour leaders explained why they called the men out; and yet from every side, from pulpit and press, reasons are given, mid explanations offered which are not pertinent to the question, and which are for the greater part false, and misleading. Tho plain unvarnished statements made by tho leaders havo been systematically ignored, and oxplanations given in their stuad which havo no foundation whatever in facts. It is interesting to read the various letters which have appeard in tho papers bearing oil this subject, and to note their tone in regard to tho action of tho men, of course they donounco it, why shouldn't they? Organized wrong and timehonoured custom are always Btrong; and press, and pulpit, and the " many headed monster" invariably combine to crush any new moment; they always have dona so, and in all probability they always will, it would seem as though the action of the men was in itself too noble, had in it too much ot the spirit of self-sacrifice to be understood by the outside public; that men could voluntarily leave a situation in which thoy woiro well treated, and, as wages go, highly paid, merely to aid their fellows in Australia. without any hope of being benefited themselves is, to tho majority of men, incomprehensible, they refuse to believe it, and not being able to find any excuse for upbraiding the men, they invent one. They tell us that the men struck for higher wages, that they are compassing the ruin of employers, and other statements utterly false and without foundation. In a recent issue of your paper in ft leader oh the strike after detailing its effects the writer goes oil to say, " for this the strikes are responsible, but why is it that the men are always blamed for the effects of the strike, and the Union SteamShipCompanynevermentioned except in a tone of sympathy. Before blaming any one for the effects of the strike it will be well to inquire who caused it, and to this there can be but one reply, the Union Steam Ship Company were alone to blame. Had they been content to remain neutral, we would never have been embroiled in the dispute. The seamen in Australia struck against their employer! as to their condition before doing so there can bo no donbt, it was simply unbearable. The shipping c>mpanies refusad to concede to the men s do inanda for higher wages, and shorter hours, and immediately the Union Steam Ship Company joined them in an attempt to crush the Seamens Union. Now what was the New Zealand Seamens'Union to do? To judge from what we read and hear they should have looked quietly on and done nothing, They should have enjoyed their own good fortune and left one single union to fight the combined shipping companies of the world ; truly a noble action ! but the men were not guilty of conduct so mean and contomptible. They saw that their brethern were being oppressed, and they went to their rescue; they saw they required assistance, and held out a helping'.hand l it h for this that they are abused and reviled ; it is for this that men talk as though they were monsters who should be put down by government; as if such a movement ever was, or ever could be put down by force. Woe to the man that tries it: let all remember the French Revolution, and beware. The writer of the article I have already referred to tells us that there " is in these matters few better guides than wholesome public opinion."' But whoro have the public shown that love of justice he ascribes to them ; did they show it, when more than eighteen hundred years ago they cried " Crucify Him, crucify Him." Did they show it when not long ago, a few noblo men rose up against slavery and were reviled and hooted as enemies to society and disturbed of the peace, when the press ridiculed them, and the pulpit denounced them. I would like the writer of that article to point to a single great reformer who was welcomed by the public, or to a single one who was net denounced and persecuted. Against -vhoni has this " wholesome public opinhn been directed with tho greatest violence invariably, in all ages it has been directed against those who were most willing to benefit mankind. "As your fathers did so do ye," and now when a body of men have risen up against their oppressors and asserted their rights as free men, and another body of men have nobly sacrificed their own interests and gono forth to aid them in the struggle, press, and pulpit, and public opinion unite in denouncing them. There is nothing new in this; no mau acquainted with hi.ftory can tie surprised at it. But though it is true that the public invariably oppose such a movement as that which is now agitating tho whole of the civilized world, and persecute its promoters. it is also true that iu tho end they succeed; let not the leaders therefore bo discouraged, their cause being just they can have nothing to fear, "Sorrow may endure for a season, but joy cometh in tho mmning."—Yor.rs, ire. Julian.

Kirikiriroa, October 20th, 18' JO.