CITIZENS' DEFENCE COMMITTEE.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14840, 4 December 1913, Page 7

CITIZENS' DEFENCE COMMITTEE.

ANOTHER STATEMENT. (raws .association tiju-O-sj-m.) WELLINGTON, December 3. A furthe; statement issued, by the Employers', Farmers',.and Citizens' Defence Committee relating to the present industrial trouble, say?:— "The committee has collectively and individually pledged itself to tbe elimination of tho United Federation of Labour, its officers, and representatives, from any futuro negotiations with unions of workers, and has done so for the following among other reasons. The committee emphatically states that there is now no point whioh led up to tbo existing strike upon which to treat, further. Means have been provided by law for the formation of unions under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act. Such unions have been duty formed and registered, and members of the same are now employed effectively in doing tho work of the ports, in wlriob waterside workers, drivers, and other workers were engaged before the strike on tho 6ame terms. As regards rates ol t *ay and hours of labour, the said unions are open to the men who struck to join, and they can obtain .employment through them. The Detence Committeo, being logally and morally pledged to such unions, can only meet workers through, them. In these cir-, cumstances the committee cannot recognise the Federation as having any right of intervention. The experience ofthe employers of the actions of the unions that have cancelled registration and have been allied with and dominated by the Federation, has boon more than sufficient to justify them in eliminating that body from any negotiations in future between them and the workers. The employers' relations with unregistered unions, especially with such unions as have been affiliated with the Federation, have been conspicuous for the frequency with which the workers have broken their agreements, and also for friction arising out of tbe Interpretation by the workers' representatives of agreements, when such have been nominally observed. "In the case of the Wellington Waterside Workers' Union,- tbe employers did not insist upon registration under the Arbitration Act until every proposal mado by them was rejected by tho Union through the Federation's representatives. These proposals included the furnishing of a guarantee against strikes, with reference first to a committee of representatives of employers and employees, and the taking of a secret ballot under the supervision of a Government official. The proposal of the Prime Minister to refer the dispute to the arbitration of Sir Joshua "Williams was also definitely rejected by the said Waterside Workers' Union, although it has now changed its mmd, and wishes for such arbitrament. Even while negotiations for settlement of the strike were in progress, and the j representative of employers and tho Federation woro conferring, the Federation would not give the assurance that an agreement would be kept, and it made no sign of discouragins the public speeches of its members urging disorder, intimidation, sabotage, and violence, and the complete paralysis cf the industries of the "Dominion. ."The preambles of the constitution of tbe -I.W.W. and the Federation are almost the same. Both open with the postulate, 'The working class and the em-; ploying class have nothing in common?'

Tho I.W.W. insists that 'no termmade with employers are final.' The Wellington.. Waterside Workers' Union, on tho showing of their president (Mr F. Curtice),, 'broke your agreement from A to Z,' and it was in consequence of the frequent and flagrant breaking of that agreement that the employers ro- - solved that they were no longer parties to it. Furtherrnoro, a few days after its signature on January 17th, 1912, Mr. Hickey, secretary of the Federation, publk-.y gave expression to the following views on the observance of agreements: —'Any agreement entered .into is not binding upon you for s single instant. No, not if it was signed by' a thousand officials and ratified by a dosen courts. Tho agreement is not sacred. Only a fool would regard tt as such. The moment an opportunity occurs to better your condition, break your agreement. Break it wherever it will pay you to do so. If necessary, let us toss every agrooment to bell.' Tho actions of the old Waterside Workers' Union in the past havo been in keeping with Mr Hickey's counsel, and in con-v. formity with the tenets of the I.W.W. Tho I.W.W. teaches its followers to look forward to tbe day when they will seise, by force if necessary, the ships, railways, tramways, factories, workshops, stores, farms, and othet property of tho employers as such, and-coud-cate all privato property. It is less an industrial than a revolutionary organisation in tho United States. It has proved itself to be a wilfully dangerous organisation, and a menace to society at large. As such it is regardedby both the federal and State Governments. "Of the I.W.W. operations, Colonel . Weinstoek, acting under the instructions of the Government of California, rocently mado thorough investigations, " and reported:—The evidence forces mc to the conclusion that it is tho org*".isod nnd deliberate purposo of the I.W.W. to teach and preach and burn into tho hearts and minds of its fol-. lowers that they are justified in tramps . ling under foot their own agreements. . in the confiscation of the property of. others, in disobeying the mandates of . tho courts, and in paralysing theindusk tries of the nation. If the men and women of the nation accepted and fol*lowed those teachings, it would make" society impossible, and would simply mean a nation of. thieves, liars, and scoundrels.' "The experience of employers during r the past ton yours with unions affiliated with tho United Federation of. Labour has fully justified them in re- •> Rardina that body as identical with the -RV\ .W., with which it professedly has so much in common. With an organisa-" t-on of such a frankly hostile character the employers cannot treat, evon if there wore now any dispute or disputes ■ to discuss, for the reasons above set out*, and for other and equally sufficient reasons."