OCCASIONAL NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIX, Issue 3149, 30 August 1892, Page 2

OCCASIONAL NOTES.

Ik Mr Hnyle, n member of trio. *v>nv Smith Wales Vα'lument, whi.wae A sensible f-lictud 'in tli ! IVib'nir 1..M1 m:h t.u-.kel. hi.(l wiki i !ii'!i-t>!f .IIK.MMKU ii linn-, j.rrsi-ti in t-ilkiiiL' c.i nil ii .!•!■.,• as 1,... iwrnilv.li-i in :wl iiv.«-ii.-; .. o, ■ ti-itr lit. U-ilf.Tii, he will c.r'.iii.ly I"' tlni...-i>i. .■ ■ by itl.wwhiistvh' tlit'oi>.-lv.-.< "11 ■ m.»> ■••. " as a Twi , )' ! Tin; wi.nl "Tory' 1 iw iiml-r stood am] iHC'I by the aforesaid masses is expressive of tin; d»i!|)i!.*t hat", nnd oppr"briuin, ami i.i ai-plied by tliom to all those who do nut, believe that men lire hum niißeN without win«s, and wlm have no faith in quack pnlitioo-xochd nostrums for tin; hastening of thetiiMlminial nge, Uvn hunts -virk a day and the brotherhood of man. llig\]flown bosh iind nonsi'n-e have b<:en sn l-mg and persistent , y dinned into liii; n.irs of " the musses " {I don't like tliie.- term, but " the mas-us :, do, so I supposn I may nso it), that they havo been complntoly misled, and, following thedirectionsof their leader* they now begin dimly to see theiy have been wandering in the mists of error.

One of the means by which mankind was to be regeucriiited was by vew what is knoH'ti as " Now UNIONISM. Unionism." This is a system by which one lot of workers snntjht to exclude their fellows who thought differently from themselves fr.m obtaining employment. If a u.an objected to become a unionist, unionists would not work with him ; he must leave, the workhe could starve ! This jivas their fraternal method of hastening the time " when man to man ehall britlmrs be, aod a' that." Emboldened by the success of the dockers' strike at Home, the leaders of the labour party in these colonies imaßinud that by a union of unions, their pnrty had but to demand, to have whatever t;hey desired granted. They had but t" speak, and they could paralyse the trade and work of the world. The collapse of tile shearers' strike in Australia and t'be maiitiiue atrike in Now Zealand, however, showed the method was not so effective as.tho short sighted labour leaders imagined. The whole system was based upon coercion— coercion, in the first place aeniust the nonunionists, and coercion by th' 3 unions as a whole against the employers of labour. Tharo is a very creditable triiit in human nature that revolts against oppression and tyranny, whether such is exorcised by an autocretic potentate, an employer, or a working man, and the sympathy of the majority of inen is invariably extended to those who are sought to be brought into subjection by these mentis., By their ; methods, and the prfinosterims and ridiculouß demands mnde by them, the unionists lost the Bympathy of the public during the strikes referred to, and as we all know the effects of their hieadstronif and foolish actions have • lecoiled upon themselves.

In his speech, Mr Hoyle, referring to the various causes which had MK HOYl.e's helped to create the present apKECH distress am nng the workers

in Australia, said that one cause was that the workers tiad put at the head of their unions men who wore not fit for their positions. TJntr.l the unionists took by the throats tha :in-cal!etl leaders who went to the Domain and the statue and other places and howled " revolution " and " reconstruction of society," unionism would never be placed in :my better nosition than it was now They

would never make trades unionism what it should be until they had men of clearer brain and more exalted minds at t'.ie head of the unions. The unions that were least hearri of were rloinjj the bent work. But unfortunately there were men who talked reconstruction of society, who talked revolution—who talked damned nonsense—who placed before iheir fellows a. beautiful picture of the millennium, spying, " Louk what new unionism is goinu ;to do ! It is going to create a new state of thine*, where men won't work after they ore 40, and won't start until they are 21." Whilst gaxing on that picture and listening to these men, they forgot what st.ood between them and the picture—the harriers and mountains to be passed before it could l>o reached. They should get men who would look these barriers straight in the fac, who would accurately gauge the <; istancn, and who would devise a proper me ins of reaching that desirable state of thin js without telling them they were going to turn society upside down to do it.

Mr Hoyle's metaphor is somewhat mixed where he describe is the men A GOOD gazing tit the picture sepaI,liADßli, rated from their by moun-

tains and banners, and again where he Rays they must look the said barriers straight in the face. We> must not be too critical, however. Thero iis wisdom in the speech, and if the masses would but follow the lead of men of his sl.imp who seek to gradually improve the condition of the worker.-", and who deprec.il» revolutionary measures, the better 'twould be for all classes. The workers would lihen have the sympathy of all with them, in place of mistrust and suspicion.

The pseudo ex-Junior Art Master of the Salt Schools. Saltaire, as Yorkshire, who recently AjfBtTiONLESS honoured (?) the town of TRADESMAN. Hamilton with his distinguished preset! ce—opening a "School of Art" there, and advertising for pupils—in addition to Ibis superfluity of "cheek," evidently possessed a veinof humour. It will bs remenobered he left for Wellington rather hurriedly, pressing business of a public nasure requiring his attendance there, and to obviate any unnecessary delay on his trip to the Empire City, he was accompanied by a guard of dishonour in the shape of a policeman. Whilst the " gentleman " in question waN sojourning in Hamilton, a certain shop was being fitted up " regardless of expense," as a favourite advertising phra«e runs, and the Junior Art Master, happening to call in, cot into conversation with n tradesman then engaged in wood carving. In that patronising and 'igh and 'auehty tone of voice which he affected to convince ns groundlings of his arintocratic 'breeding , , the Art Master asked. "Who-ab, did yon learn engraving?" The tradesman informed him that his knowledge had been self-acquired, "Haw! Ithawtso. Your work is good ; but if you put in two or three terms with me, I could teach you a thing or two in designing that wonld be of great benefit to von." In the. lia;!at of the sudden and sensational termination ot the Art Master's Waikato career, I can quite believe tin; tradesman when hit states lie has not the slightest ambition to put in one term with him in the place where he has cone, let alonn two or three : and which the " thing or two in designing " which the artist could have taueht him, if acted upon, might have rendered compulsory.

"An apprentice (boy) is wanted ab this office. This is an opporthk tunity for a boy to leavn a DEVIL. trade by which he mav

mount to the very topmost rung of tho ladder of fame." This is how the Bay of Plenty paper announces its wante. The Americans advertise— " Wanted : A eood boy to make a devil of." This is a atrikinc. contrast, and for my part I prefer the American way of putting it— they state a plain fact, and undertake no more than they are well able to accomplish. There is a visionary prospect held out by the Tnuranea printer as a bait to thn boys that ha 3 perhaps not a thousand to ono chance of coining off, and thun aeain it is ill-advised, for one effect of the advertisement will be to cause the eyes of the Tauranga folks to be turned upon the "ladder of fame" with a view of ascertaining how far from the topmost runs their local editor is, and the consequence may be that he will have to stand a little good-humoured chaff. 3?USEK.