The Week in Review.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 21, 22 May 1912, Page 1

The Week in Review.

The Waihi Strike. THE strike at Waihi shows that the Federation of Labour is bent on coercing the workers as ■well as the employers. It seems that there was a difference of opinion amongst the workers as to the merits of the new unionism. The enginedrivers and winders, content with the old methods, had formed a union under the Arbitration Act, while the miners had affiliated their union to the Federation of Labour. In order to compel the drivers and winders to come into the Federation, the leaders called a strike of the miners, and work had to be stopped at the mine. It will be noticed that the strike involved no dispute whatever with the mining companies, save that the Waihi Company is charged with employing non-unionists on the field. It was simply an attempt to (force a body of workers to do that of which they disapproved. The weapon of the strike devised for use against the employers is to be used against 'the workers also, unless they subscribe to the policy of the Federation. The more peaceable and conciliatory worker is to be forced to side with those who are followers of syndicalism. This is tyranny of the worst kind. Syndicalism. The tactics pursued by the Federation go to show how little individual liberty would remain to us if ever the syndicalists have their way. The object of syndicalism is to break up the present state of society, and substitute what is called collective ownership. Mt. Upton Sinclair, the author of “The Jungle,” may be taken as a fair representative of the advocates of this new movement. He considers that Parliamentary institutions have broken down, and that they are too complex and too completely in the grip of “the exploiting class.” He looks upon compulsory arbitration as a device of capitalists to prevent the workers from striking. He defines syndicalism as the Landing together of all the workers to produce one big massed strike, which he says would mean an insurrection, and to forcibly seize all industries and run them themselves. The only alternative that he can propose is for the Government to take the industries and run them for the public service. He predicts that ths will take place in about five years’ time. In other words, there is to be no more private ownership, but the owners of industries are to be forcibly despoiled of their property in the supposed interests of the workers. J* -J* How Socialists Would Deal With Strikes. In all this there is no delusion. Mr. Sinclair frankly admits that there is to be no tinkering with higher wages or shorter hours. There is to lie no attempt to deal with industrial matters by legislation. He has no faith in Labour members or in legal remedies. He does not think that the workers of to day are one whit better off than they were fifty years ago, despite the numerous legislative measures passed for their benefit. The cost of living goes up with every rise in wages, and the lot of the worker remains the same. Curiously enough, Mr. Sinclair has a certain amount of regard for the Tories. He looks upon Mr. Asquith’s Government as dishonest and untrustworthy. On the

other hand, he gives the Tories credit for honesty of purpose. In speaking of the debate on the minimum wage, he said that to him, as a revolutionist, the Tories seemed to be the only ones who saw the truth of the thing and who dared to say the truth. When asked by a too inquisitive reporter how the Socialists would deal with a strike under collective ownership, he fenced with the question for a long time, and at last replied that strikers would be promptly suppressed. But he explained that under Socialism everybody would be so perfect that no stress of human nature or abnormality would act upon them or their behaviour. Human nature is to be transformed by collective ownership. If not transformed, it is to be suppressed. It is probable that a good many' people will be suppressed. J* d* I’nder Two Flags. Miss Malecka is in the curious position of not knowing to what nationality' she belongs. She was bom in England, her father being a Russian by birth, but naturalised as a British subject. The law officers of the Crown have decided that she is a British subject in the eyes of the British law, but a Russian subject in the eyes of the Russian law. Consequently in England she is treated as a British subject, and in Russia she is treated as a Russian subject. The question possesses more than an academic interest for Miss Malecka herself, as she has been arrested on the charge of belonging to a revolutionary association, and has been sentenced to four y’ears imprisonment. The “Daily Chronicle” insists that Great Britain ought to recognise the naturalisation papers granted to her father, and also her passport, and that steps should be taken to secure her release. Other papers contend that as Mr. Malecka had omitted to get his naturalisation recognised by the Russian Government he remained a Russian subject as far as Russia was concerned. While the matter is be'ng thrashed out, Miss Malecka is languishing in the ceils at Warsaw. It is probable that her four years will have expired long before the vexed question of her nationality has been settled. A Ckeap Drink. At an inquest held in Christchurch, touching the death of a married woman who was found dead in an outhouse, it was elicited that the deceased and her husband had been in the habit of drinking methylated spirits. The excuse offered by the husband was that methylated spirits was cheap, and it would appear, from remarks made by the coroner, that numberless cases have cropped up recently of people using this form of drink. Dr. Irving said that the constant drinking of methylated spirits made people mad. It also set up degeneration of the organs. The ease with which these spirits can be obtained, and the cheapness of them, render them an extremely’ dangerous form of alcohol. Mr. H. W. Bishop, the magistrate at Christchurch, said that scarcely a week passed without some degenerate appearing before him bearing unmistakable signs of being a victim to the habit, which seemed to be acquired easily, and had disastrous physical and mental effects. This statement was confirmed by a police officer and a chemist, the latter stating that many people tried to purchase the spirit on Sunday, obviously intending to use it to satisfy a craving

for alcohol. Prohibited persons were also known to consume it in quantities, along with other substitutes for alcohol. It has been suggested that steps should be taken to restrict the sale. This would not be altogether easy', seeing that the spirit is used for so many household purposes. Far better is the proposal that some liquid should be added that would make methylated spirits quite undrinkable. This would restrict the use to legitimate purposes. It is quite clear that something ought to be done to prevent the use of the spirit as an intoxicant. J* The Motor Bandit. France has produced yet another sensational encounter with bandits. It will be remembered that Paris has been terrorised of late by gangs of robbers who have made use of motor cars for the purposes of robbery and escape. One of the leaders of this gang was a man named Garnier, who for long defied all the efforts of the police to capture him. At last he and his valet and two women were tracked to a house at Noguet-sur-Marne, six miles from Paris. Here a siege was at once commenced and a huge crowd assembled. A sharp ftusilade was exchanged, and after a short interval the valet came out of the house and surrendered. But Garnier and the two women maintained a stubborn defence and fired several shots from the villa. One of the detectives was seriously injured by a shot in the stomach, and two other officers were less seriously injured. The building was then assailed by means of stones hurled from a railway viaduct, and the roof of the house was crushed in. Several bombs were also exploded against the building, but the defenders still held out. Meanwhile a force of zouaves, at various points round the house, kept up a hot fire to which the •bandits replied. CH A Sharp Fight. The fight between the three bandits, two of whom were women, and the two thousand troops lasted for seven hours, and was only terminated by the explo sion of a melinite bomb against the house, and the carrying of the place by assault. The police found Garnier dead, the valet died on his way to Paris, one woman surrendered, and the fate of the other woman iis unknown. There is an old saying to the effect that one man on the defence in a house is worth ten men attacking, but from recent experiences in France and America it would seem that one man in a house is worth a thousand outside it. That it should

take two thousand police and trained troops to dislodge three persons seems almost incredible, and goes to show the enormous advantage possessed by the defence. The story of the Kelly gang pales into insignificance before the fftory of the motor bandits in France and the outlaws in Virginia. J* Australia’s Peril. Put in round numbers Australia has an area twice the size of China. China has a population of 300 to the square mile; Australia has one and a-hmlf to the square mile. In two years the population of China increased by five millions; in five y’ears the population of Australia increased by four hundred thousand. The population of China is ■more than two hundred times as great as that of Australia, though Australia is twice as large as China. Every year China adds to its population a number equal to half the entire population of the Commonwealth. In these facts lies the real meaning of the Yellow Peril. Australia has vast tracts of unoccupied territory, and the increase of population is small. To begin with, the birthrate is unusually low. The last census revealed the fact that the natural increase of Australia’s population is tragically slow. Then again, many labour leaders oh ject to any large scheme of immigration. They fondly imagine that the more workers there are the less work there will be, whereas the contrary is the case, as every increase in population means an increase of work. And the fact remains that unless the population of Australia shows a decided increase there will be a distinct danger of invasion by a foreign foe. J* Which Is It to Be ? For its own protection it is absolutely necessary that Australia should best’r itself in the matter of increasing its population. The East is getting uncomfortably' crowded, and it will soon be necessary for both the Chinese and the Japanese to seek new outlets for their surplus population. The very' lowest number of men required to defend Australia may' be put at double the present number. That means that Australia requires a population of ten millions. It does not seem at all likely that the birthrate will show any material advance for some time to come, if ever. Some attribute this state of affairs to the prevailing economic conditions; others attribute it to the growing luxury and selfishness of the people. The only real remedy seems to lie in a policy' of immigration. And now is the time. As soon as the British Government establish