THE STRIKES.

Clutha Leader, Volume XL, Issue 40, 18 November 1913, Page 9

THE STRIKES.

■ WORK IN WELLINGTON. i IS THE END IN SIGHT? :» "\ 'WELLINGTON, Nov. 14. ; At neon to-day t;:e numheiship ol the : -jie,v- Arbtration Vn.on tf Wh.irt Lar borers had reached a tatal ol 540. It is hiow eettainTthat some of the strikers rare included, m its lanks. f- Same of the Union Steam Slip Coin- : paiy's permanent whari hando i ruined and the proiparts arc that the ik.nl will be followed by others. I COAL SUPPLIES ARRANGED I OR. .' WELLINGTON, Nov. 14. r • Itepieseatatives of of i Labor have maide a point of the fact rthat thw p..5a55 vt-rv strong sfever to block the ii.duftj-ita <:i tho Do f.ciii'i.n through tho of coa :"WPi)'' e3,-aItULSt all tho m"nes bo ng row , closed. If is stated os authority. : hewever, that nogbUatißiis are a'rcv.th , -so iar advanced aj ta procticaMy aMur. ample supplies ot coal i om various ; sources outside of Australasia (Japan is ihe country named), and il nectary to mfet .the possible requirements oi tsuch industries as have made no provision for supplies and lor domestic piw- '' poses.

[ AGAINST -GENERAL STRIKE, f WELLINGTON, Nov. ] i. I The result oi the delibcrat oils of the t Doi.union Exeeutho oi the United Labor Party appears in a muirtento wh eh has been issued to all aifiiiatid un ons. The document, which is signed bv Hon J. T. Paul (prevdent) and Mr M'. RearJdon (secretary and treasure.-') is desig:nated the United Labbr.Party's.declaration on the present crisis," and is as follows:—"The National Executive of the United Labor Party ha.j devoted, much time and thought'to the pre?enL industrial trouble. We have made no .public declaration on the crisis. Our isilence has been prompted because oi -onr hopes of and attempts at mediation. We have approached the Strike fCommittee and the Executive of the of- Labor with offers of mediation towards a settlement. We have been repulsed .by the committee and the oerutive._ An attempt has now born raade to involve the organisations afiliatetl with the' United Labor Party. fOur unions have beon calle;t uujii to striko _ without consultation with your ■executive and in contravention of"our institution. In short, a policy of clis■mtegratiou has been followed and your executive and its jurisdiction ignoiei. Siis is in keeping with the pasf p.il'ev «f disruption instituted by the Ecderaiion of Labor. We desire to point out ,tkt under our.constitution the present trouble cou'd not have arisen. The con-

ititution of the Federation of Labor has ken treated as so much waste paper, fren the provision in the rules of the Wellington Waterside Workers' Union ipr a ballot precedent to a strike hateen ignored. The result is cha:)s,am! tends to _ work out immediate disaster to organised labor. The present fight C a struggle between the .Federation oi labor and the employers, beginning titli a trivial disagreement. The atfoapt is now made to involve organised kbor in a general strike. The United Wbor Party is opposed to the general fake as a weapon of waifare. Internal history has amply prr.ved its failure in other countries: There arcjan? additional reasons Why it must si!, ihereiore the executive strongly.

tppo.se> anv extension ct'-tho strike Ex*nson villi surely brin.c; nfrther disasfe#ai!(l arcontuote unnecessary sufferB?. We declare that the i>oint s involvy in the present struggle eoij,|d and told have been settled on eonstitujonal lines and without an appeal to roe.. As a party we stand for <onttutmnal methods and the present fcortiinate disturbance has tremendElystrengthened our position as a- conditional party. Onr chief and immeate ei.jeet m issuing this declaration, our .orgaii'Vations and momersno; t,> strike. To extend the strike «l miiict unnecessary .suffering on any individual worker:,, iniure the nseol Labor, and embarrass the Com?«:ty. We therefore urge tout oration not to st.iko. A full review "Jie vi-nole facts c f the present dispute "our proposals for the preveutnn of fw msasters m future will be is-ued «r.

r A BI'SY WATERFRONT i WELLINGTON, Nov. 14 j» liiisy was th. waterfront to-day P even the worklrss men in +lie Pre must have realised the futility idleness. Several vessels were P? worked and cargo carted to and fa tne wharves as though the strike pMiH-xistent. The vessels on which PM ns being worked wove the Athh.xtmuuaka. Manuka, Dorset, Hi«ni\L >'?'?• Raitoa ' Wakatu, Waver(fflci rutaki.

DISCUSSION IN THE HOUSE. t MR P. C: WEBB'S BILL. L. WELLINGTON, Nov. 14. £i the House of Representatives this Ron in moving for leave to introRw» Settlement of the 1913 IndusUkioH a ? d ' Lock-out Bill, Mr P» (Orey) said that ho was actuated 'desire to effect a settlement of the ««« industrial crisis and to allow Ministries of "tho country to con, f- He submitted that the FedorsLL " b01 ' 1 "; as a Perfectly legal gation duly constituted, in conS " ,th , tho } ;ure of tlie land - The M 4 not been infringed or broken in "»> by the strikers. The Bill sugg™ that strike or lock-out cases be i \un ?% m whose deci[M be final If the strike -con- * there would, be thousands of ••> and business men ruined and *»& of working people would he »*£,!• Va,lt -« If Parliament fared Ration, as Parliament should do, jW>ie would be ended. This week i>, + 0 -; i th ° us of reonlo were <>. to Parliament to effect a setshipping comnanies should to dictate to the workers b ' they should organise nor Sm wy be allowed to keen their ffll th « stream, holding'up the ito. f l ,' Dominion's commerce on

. , f,t nosmatjsm. fl (Otaki) spoke in sup-! fp'w motion. x | fe'JM s «"i it w«s time S « *erl V I ,n i h iV ld *l le settlement Cn Tr htnk< ? ew Zealand" j? ihotLer lie did not think it HW* fctate smanliko thing "to *C 'T 16 was di&ir- , j» IJl s This, disastrous thing to an WfiL\ Jhink the present Eft to?." , i sJ J9i-dx»nliimo for one | was Parliament's duty to step IT; We matter right on a righteE'% fl said that it BF» wfficnlt for #em to sit }a

A SENSATIONAL STORY. EXPLOSIVES ON RAILWAY. AUCKLAND, Nov. 14 A deliberate attempt was made 'Ol Thursday to wreck the Southward Mai fietneen Eilershe and Green Lane B. ;'!!r to »*' the "lot was dis 11 om the line a few. moments before the iol °„S aSSed ° Ver f Tuelve Pings o gehgmte were used to carry out tlu plan. Detonators were 1,1 position on irU' 1 , the /large, was bound to- £ ni"Y l b,,, 'f and ,¥" B was li,icl "w>n ww tl6 T ,s - , Had a locomotive passed over the explosive it must* have caused. There is ample evidence that to «wnWi, dellberatel y deigned either to meek the express or use it as an instrument to destroy railway communication .with the South. Cred t for the re

.'vention of its fulfilment is due to an elderly man whose identity lias not been Une by a tram which leaves tlv> city a quarter oi an hour ahead of the express He was walking along the railway and 1 roaeh.iig the racecourse platform when he saw in the moonlight a dark object alongside the lin e some distance ihnrThi A A- e / ipproacllcd he Perceived hat this object was a man, who sprang mpnt S ,Tv ind - run c ! flwn tho embank" meat and disapoeared Forumately 'his SUsD i t .j onR wre aroused, and he hurried along the line, < losely examining the rails. To his I astonishment he saw that something lav upon tfie nght-hand rail. At "that moment the express Was- travelling fast' on tne down-grade and was only a few .varus away but with great presence of mind he kicked the explosive aside and m .f n 1"? ?i aSScd safel y.iy. Then the man had the opportunity to examine tho obstruction and found that his tears were justified. Arrangements have been completed to guard the railways, and adequate measures have now been taken. The lines are being patrolled and special precautions are -being taken by drivers of

SENSATIONAL ARREST. AUCKLAND, Nov. 14 A sensational arrest took place near the hospital this afternoon, when a youth named Charles George Chatfield was arrested on a charge of attempting to discharge a loaded revolver at a special constable named Cecil Lvnch He was wearing a special constable's badge'.A party of "snecials" was coin" over Grafton Road Bridge when Chaffteld was seen. They had their suspicions as to his bona tides, so it was aetermmed that Chatfield 'should be sm-en -an opportunity of explaining his identity. l wo constables approached i le man and inquired where lie had got the badge. On replying that it was his. Special Constable Lynch asked Chatfield v.iiose company he was in. In reply he <hued that he had come from Mercer nJ e ? l 1? sa , tisfie d, Lynch informed UiatbeJd that he would have to go to

the Domain camp to be identified! 11 was at this juncture that an exciting in. eident arose which it is alleged, culminated in Chatfield drawing a loaded revolver and pointing it at Lynch. • He attempted to run away, but one of the "specials" caught him by the coat and placed his arms round him. When the constable did this he saw Chatfield raise his right hand, and be felt something touching the side of his head. Thinking it was a baton the "special" overthrew the accused and held him down on the ground. "While I did this," savs the special constable, "I saw some of the other constables relieve the accused of a revolver winch he held in his right nand. From accounts given by other constables it that Chatfield had the weapon—a fully loaded one—pointed at Lynch. Chatfield then olaced his hand in one of his side coat pockets. His hand was removed from his pocket from which Lynch abstracted another K-arlcn. revolver of larwr calibre than the first one. Chatfield then submitted tjnietlyand was taken to the Domain camp. On theeway there he handed over a number of loose cartridges. Afterwards he was removed to the City Police Ration, where he was charged that he did attempt,, td discharge a revolver loaded ivith destructive material at one Cecil Lynch. Accused is said to be only 18 years of age and is described as a horsehair worker*

INCREASING ACTIVITY; AUCKLAND, Nov, 14. A feature of the position in regard to the strike is the increasing activity of .the shipping and the handling and the transportation of cargo to and from tho -wharves.. '

At a meeting of the Seamen's Union this aftenoon. when there wem about 000 members present, a resolution was yarned unanimously appointing Messrs Jack and Macki© to' wait upon the Axayor, as representative of the union, to ask him to keep all hotels closed during the continuance of the present indusinal trouble. An of men.took up .w»k i$ foe. Exhibition buildlßgfl.thii

the House daj after tiav serinir un'im?greatest crisis kndtfn to the country existed. If tho strike were allowed to nzzle out the workers would go back in anything bub a peaceful frame of mind, and the trouble would b& by ao means over, The trouble wasone where two extremes had' dashed. had"ori ono hand Syndicalist unionism, and on the other_combined wealth, neither of which was m the interests of the'country. He asked what had the Employers' AsI sociation done to assist in the settle- ! ment. The whole cause- of the discontent grfnong the wage-earners was the fnU? n i°l, woal l hj ' monopolists." He submitted that there wore not three pelcent, of lawless people hiHhe'strikers, lie rest were decent working people, and those people were going, to go down unless Parliament took a stand ne suggtsted the .vtting up of a Par-

liamentary committee to a'rwvo at a l.ri' means of settlement. Mr Payne ([Grey Lynn) submitted that the shippuig combine was ' taking "P. an illegal attitudo, and was overriding law and Parliament by say in e ti'at tiie men should not be provided le3S A tJ ; e y "««wtered under the Arbitration Act. Ho beaded *or Z I ]" lation of ffhat h * termed the middleman ootopus, the Employs'!* federation, which rode on tl'ie oacks of farmers and workers." sjM that the penalty, for breach of eonmet provided.in the Rill was Just as efneient as an Arbitration Court Srd Jxpenenco proved that the ultimate rel thaf f stwke.wae of some benefit to the workers whether they won or lost He fwt convinced that wharf laborersconditions would in the future receive the -attention of the Legislature He was satisfied that Parliament could do something to solve the difficulty U e House divided on the inotion which was negatived by 45 votesTo 13

wraps in cftarga-reportiai a roll cull of between 40 and 50, inelu sire of carpenters;'painters,.plumber* decorators, and groundsmen. STRIKE COMMITTEE'S VIEW. - AUCKLAND, Nov. 14;. 'Jhere is not the slightest doubt,' sa.d the chairman of the central Strik Committee, "that these .statement about the number at work on the water iront and with the City Council are ab s'li'te fallacies. There never have beei 400 men back with tho Council, and <t i hardly hkoly that anything like tha number intend to go back. ,r So far a: conditions on the waterfiont are con corned the Strike Committeo states thairom reliable infoiraation received i' can say that every tiling is: at sixes ant seven.? there—there are 40 men workini and about 150 looking en.

HOTEL WORKERS BACK. AUCKLAND, tfov. 14. Ilio strike of hotel employees is at an end. Over 2QO employees of all classes have applied for reinstatement, and have formed a new union. The unionists intend to apply for registrat.on.

SITUATION AT LYTTELTOKI

CHHISTOHURCH, Nov. 14. m Lyttelton to-day was absolutely dead The :>meh is. being severely felt. It is , understood that the Maori' will resume her running by leaving for Wellington to-morrow n'^ht. The Citizens' Committee to-day forwarded a letter to the nresident of the Watersiders' Union, Lytteltoii, asking it the union will register under the Arbitration Ac.t and «<vree to resume work at once. The Strikers' Committee considered tho letter tor an hour and I a-half to-day. and then informed the [ press representatives that there was "No answer." The Strike Committee at the water front headed a manifesto i to the. press to-day that "We will win our fight, practically with our arms folded; and there will bo no violence." At Lytteltonyto-day a striker was charged with insulting behaviour towards a permanent employee of the Union Company. He was admonished' and«-ordered to leave the port before sundown. (Continued on Page 3.)