MR. TOM MANN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 206, 25 May 1908, Page 10

MR. TOM MANN.

SOCIALISM AND THE ARBITRATION ACT. ' " CHALLENGE TO DR. FINDLAY. Mr. Tom Mann was in a highly aggressive mood last evening when lie addressed a largo meeting in the Town Hall, his principal subjects beinr; Socialism and the Arbitration Act. Mr. J. Hogg was in tlio chair. Mr. Mann declared that Socialists had learned enough to know that tho social problems could bo solved,only oil scientific lines. Buskin had asked tho working men of Sunderland: Whoso is the wealth of the world but yours, whoso is the virtue? Do you mean to go on for over leaving your wealth to bo consumed by tho idle and your virtue to bo mocked by tho vile? Thero .was ah oven greater necessity for that question now. than in Ruskin's time, because the legalised robbery of tho workers by tho capitalist classes was greater. The world could pro-' dues wealth and to sparo for everyone without over-working anyone, yet there were tens of millions of people in social, physical, and moral degradation. Politicians and social reformers had failed to solve tho problem, but socialism could supply the scientific remedy by tho abolition I 'of the present capitalistic system, and. common ownership by all the people of the instruments of wealth production. Tho workers must obtain the samo rights in the economic field as tlicy had won m the political field. There must bo a resolution, which probably would bo quiet and pleasant, but its character would depend 011 the amount of. resistance shown by tho property class. The lecturer criticised in strong terms tho address given by tho Hon. Dr. Findlay at \\ anganui upon tho Arbitration Act. He stated that he himself, after being favourably impressed by it six years ago, had como to see that in the. main the effects of compul%. sory arbitration were: mischievous to .the working man. ; It had not caused him to orgauiso for the consummation of his highest ldoals. Dr.Findlay had attributed to the Arbitration Act improvements in tho wages of .factory, girls,, but these were surely due to tho factories Act. He had stated that until last year the Arbitration.Act had practically abolished strikes, and that it would do so now, but for the .mischievous behaviour of a workers, and especially of tho Socialists. After tins direct reference to themselves, lie 'felt that they, wore called 011 to roply to the Minister's remarks. Dr. Findlay had said that the-workers of New Zealand were so familiar with good conditions, that therefore they were beginning to think very little of what was very, valuable. He also. said that he was not disposed to press for fines by: imprisonment. This was rather remarkable, coming from Dr. Findlay, who, 011 July 17' last .vear, after referring to tho powers of tho Iliot Act in reference to public disturbances, had said, that "England had on many occasions repressed' those who had dared to riso against her, and if necessary wo are strong enough to enforce order, and as British peoplo we will do it." This Mr. ; Mann interpreted as a threat to call out .tH'o military ,to enforce order. (Boohs.) He;referred to the episodo of Peterloo, and .described the streets of Manchester running-; with the blood of the, -peoplo. Dr. Findlay had liad the effrontery, hero in New Zealand, to use language- like that. But now he said .that he was not prepared to call for, imprisonment.' Why? He knew that the workers would not stand it. (Applause. He knew that if they dared to start to enforce these fines by imprisonment, that would burst the wliolo' machinery. Dr. Findlay urged the workers of New Zealand to make tho best they could of; their wages system.-, (Laughter,;) ...He had said that generally the average of , wages was determined ;by the productiveness of labour. .Thoy could prove the opposite.a .thousand times'. All was well in New Zealand, according to Dr. Findlay : sweating'liad been wiped out. .The speaker had been round the North Island, lately. "Ho referred to tlie Taranaki farmers,so .embarrassed ■ with mortgages on- the purchase of-their''land'and stock that thoy could not pay tho wages of employees, and relied' 011 tlio day labour of their wives aiid children. Then there ,woro tho butter factories,' working sorcn days a week. What would Dr. Findlay call that but sweating? The stress could be relieved by increasing slightly the number of .employees'. During the last ten or fifteen years the price of commodities had incroased at least twice, as much as wages/ He hold that tho standard of living was lower now in Wellington than ten or fifteen years •ago, except among the capitalist classes. ;' Ho considered that tlio ■ challenge (thrown down by Dr. Findlay should bo taken up by the Now Zealand Socialist; party. .Thoy should'appoint a manto answer 'Dr.: Findlay on tho public platform; • in that hall, he would suggest, and Dr. Findlay might cut up: his arguments if ho could. ■ He himself was likely to be in .New Zealand for four or five .weeks to come, and tho Socialist party would know ; his address.,, (Applause.), Ho was..the ,man to accept the challenge, and if he could render tho slightest'-scrvico ho would ho glad' to meet. Dr. 'Findlay. (Applause:) To show , that there ..would DC., no' foolery about the matter, he would ask: tho chairman, and • secretary of the party, who were present, to give it their prompt,,attention.'; Ho thought ; that it was tho duty of .Dr. Findlay, since 110 had spoken of tho party in a derogatory : way and tried openly .to. bring them into contempt, to,'meet their representative on the platform. 'Mr. Mann also referred in scathing'term's to Dr. Chappie's book, " The Fertility of tho Unfit," and to the suggestions therein niado for dealing with . one aspect of the social problem. ' The plan of Socialists was to eliminate the unfit, by giving folk conditions fit to live in.. , *

11l the course of/his address,' Mr. Mamt also commented strongly on what lie called the utterly misleading picturo of the French revolution given in " The Scarlet Pimpernel." Tlio play, he said,was such an utter travesty of fact as to be postively: nauseating drivel to every well-informed mind. .'lt represented the workers of Paris as brutish louts,< and conveycd the idea that all those connected with the , revolution were not working ; in tlio interests of society, but against it. *Tho French revolution, ho declared, was not a workers' movement at all, but a capitalists' ' movement against the landed aristocracy. The Workers' revolution had yet to conie. . . .. , ,

Tho military parado which' took place yesterday morning gave pretext to Mr. Mann for a tirade against the Empire idea,-which, ho said, only meant tho consolidation of the plutocratic forces! Tho Empire was no.more to Socialists than the Empire of other States. He enlarged on "the Socialistic ideal of independent, federated States, all working in co-operation towards the • perfect goal. . '