STATEMENTS DENIED.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14834, 27 November 1913, Page 8

STATEMENTS DENIED.

Strong exception is taken by Mr Arthur Smith, of Messrs J. M. Heywood and Go.j to some , of the statements published as from Mr Hiram Hunter, secretary of the Canterbury Drivers' Union. ■'. '■' ,'./' . '.' /: '■'■■ ■ '■ . "I Jim not," Mr Smith told a representative of "The Press," "the president of the Master Carters' Union and I was not present when the new union of drivers was formed. I have to thank Mr Hunter for conferring honours Voa mc which,; unfortunately, L do not, hold. I am sure, as I am so. well-known amongst carters, they cau take my word for it." ■/ In'further remarks, Mr Smith stated that so far as he knew there had been no cases of intimidatjon by ; strikers. '.!'!••■■-' have been around my own, hwp.

who are on strike picket duty at the stables, and have advised them to go home and be good boys," he went on. "And on Tuesday they gave mc a cheer but made no attempts at intimidation. The bulk of J. M. Heywood's drivers came back yesterday morning, those who came back being members of the newunion. The men who have not come back, though their sympathies are with their work, are members of the old union, and say that they intend to see the matter out, and to stand firm to their original resolution." The different firms of carriers in the city, Mr Smith added, are working each with the other until the present trouble is over. Thus the carts of one firm are transporting the goods for the customers of another firm when the second firm's carters are not able to get them. In short, the carrying firms are standing loyally by each other in order to get things back to normal. From other sources a reporter learned that in the case of employers who employ large numbers of carters, their men are going back to work en bloc. Some resumed their work yesterday, and more are expected to do so to-day. MR HUNTER'S EXPLANATION. Referring to Mr Arthur Smith's correction of inaccurate statements alleged to have been made by him, Mr Hiram Honter informed a reporter that the published statements were the outcome of a conversation over the telephone, which probably accounted for the inaccuracies.. What ho did say was that Mr Arthur Smith, manager for J. M. Heywood and Co., who was a past president of the Master Carriers' Association, and Mr Cooper, secretary of the Employers' Association, were the prime movers in the attempt to form a new Drivers' Union in Christchurch, and he did not say that Mr Smith was present at the meeting at which the union was formed.