THE RAILWAY SERVICE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 129, 24 February 1908, Page 8

THE RAILWAY SERVICE.

AMALGAMATED SOCIETY,

• SPIRITED CRITICISM, , At a meeting of the Executive Council of , the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants,,hold last Friday evoning, a presentation of a handsome travelling bag was made to Mr. ff. J. Edwards, .who is. about to retiro ,from office, after eightosn years' service as general secretary. . . Mr. Walker, president, said that those who knew Mr: Edwards best were exceedingly sorry to feel that they wero about .to lose his services. Those 911 the Council knew* vory well that • this was not the result of want of energy or neglect of duty, but was tho result of a 'ceaseless effort'on the part of the "Railway Review" to damn the Council and all its.officers in.tho.eyes of.tho members, because, objection had been.taken to the''policy of the •"Review"- -in'assuming an attitude ag;ainst tho authorities of tho railway service, which the Council 'know andfelt was entirely outside tho functions of the Society, and prejudicial to tho best interests pf the same. It was a moral certainty that, if the Society's "paper was to bo allowed to. continue in its attitude of openly belittling and insulting tho General Manager in _tho eyes of the staff, destruction of discipline, and the encouraging of disrespect must inevitably follow. Tho fact that a large number of the older men of the servico wero retiring 011 superannuation, and that thoso coming in were younger men, with less experience in life, was responsible for the eager support given to the "Review" in its policy of sensationalism and insult. Tho Council had had reason to battle against this policy, but the power of tho paper was such that it had effectively damned the Council in tho eyes of the members, and Mr. Hornsby, it states, had openly advocated the expulsion of Mr. Edwards from his offico. Members had taken this advice, but, in doing so, tho Council was of opinion that the Society had thereby lost tho services of a very able man, and ono whoso vast experience in the working conditions of our railways was of inestimable value to .them. The Council had made this presentation as an earnest of the confidence and respect that tho governing body of the Society had in their General Secretary. Other members of the Council spoke in flattering terms of tho recipient, and expressed their regret at the Society's loss. ' Mr. Edwards, lii returning thanks appreciative of- 1 lie kindly act on the-part of the l Council, said that in many walks of life a man had to suffer for doing what lie considered' his duty to thoso ho' served; : Two voars ago tho Society gave over its paper to Air." Horrisby, with unrestricted' control, and from'that, timo 011 the Council'had had to contend i>gainst a foaming sea of trouble.' JSo.man ever spoke.'more truthfully, than their, respccted President, when he stated that, the attitude- taken up in the paper against Mr. Rohayne - and ■ tno departmental officers was, destructive of- discipline. It was more than that; it was shamefully unfair and undesorved, and the wretched farce was intensified the more seeing that the editor was a-'member 1 of Parliament, who ought to set a better- example. This was no mere let any broad-niinded inan take the Review" and-read, the open warraro and insulting references towards this bono.ral Manager, and he must come' to no other conclusion but that- discipline- and 'respect- must be destroyed. .The-railway* was a service that the'public dare not'trifle with, ™ r . I ?' , . e wero. so great and the responsibilities ao enormous. Who wero the best mends c f tlio. railwaymen—the Executive Council and, its, unfortunate small following who .could foresee .trouble between tho railway. • -nnd tho - Amalgamated oocioty if' 1. his,* farco . was', to ,b.e'.continued, or. that more unreasonable majority who-wero blindly following' a '-wild - leader? He (Mr.Edwards)- felt , it no disgrace \to have . been out-votod 111 tho Secretaryship' to make room lor the person: advocated .by. Mr. -Hornsby. under such- conditions., The. vast.'concessions panted, to tho service,,.amounting to over half.a ; inilhon of money.;in the".last eighteen yeai;s, and the splendid manner in .which each successive Minister for Railways,', hadrecognised .the Society, and done the best' tho Dominion, could afford to ineet': its demands, together with .the very, practical interest and assistance ever given' by Mr' Ronayno, demanded a better treatment than' •L«i at"the hands, of tho Society's, paper, the "Railway Thn'pn ' n t, i 1 Hornsby'a editorship, lho Council had pleaded witlr Mr. Hornsby 'ro+nf" S ° i* at 'j fc V do ' had received. in Tnr?toV+ n - 1' " hranclles had been openly' invited to show,an,open antagonism'towards the Council, an invitation which some had accepted with very little credit, and had pursued with, no credit .to themselves. All that lie (Mr. Edwards) could say was' that •timo would, show the men who their best friends were, and would show them that sensa-' nnwni'T r ? ' mb ' as , t v lad -no clfectivo pon er to do good, and that'if the Society r, csn .'°? 10 m/nntam tho respect of the'author.tie?iVand - the,-public,'; .'the ' sooiilr. 'it mlmtS ' ,aCC By ' •>*?: tter fo ' r . :tho