WORK AT WAIHI.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1561, 3 October 1912, Page 6

WORK AT WAIHI.

The resumption of work at the Waihi mine yesterday must have proved a much more un pleasant thing for the misguided strikers than they anticipated, They had been buoyed up by the professions of their leaders, who had led them to believe that they had laid their plans so well that there was no prospect of the mine-owners being able to carry on without them. They had been told that they must win—that with tin; hacking of the Federation-pf Labour they could not lose. Many of (be millers, grown uneasy under the long period of unaccustomed idleness, and seeing no prospect of any advantage to bo gained by the methods being BiinuKHl, probably won I'd have, pro , . tarred to return to work long ago.

but' were deterred no doubt by the boastful talk of their leaders. Their own common-senso possibly made them doubt the prospect of over witnessing the "staggering" things that were to happen at the dictation of their noisy champions; but they hung out against returning to work in the belief, presumably, that after all there might be something more than empty talk in the promises and professions of the men in whose hands' they had placed the welfare of themselves and their families. To-day they must he a much-disillusioned body of men.. At no stage since the strike commenced did the strikers really look like winning, and least of all at the present time. Had there been any real merit behind their action, they might havo had some prospect of success, because then they would have had a chance of winning public sympathy and support. But instead they have antagonised th. , great bulk of the public, and the only support they arc meeting with is from those who are either ignorant of the full facts or are so biased in favour of the Federation of Labour as to be willing to do a grave injustice to a body of fellow-workers who decline to come under the Federation's banner and submit to'the domination of the Federation's leaders. According to the telegraphic news from Waihi, .the strikers and their friends made a hostile demonstration yesterday when the mon who had been engaged to work the mine proceeded to take up their duties, and this was renewed when the day's work was ended. No doubt these demonstrations will be continued for a time, but can any striker point t(* any occasion on which any material advantage has.been gained by such attempts at intimidation? The strikers have a perfect right to decline to work if they can live without working, or can get employment elsewhere ; but when they attempt by intimidation to prevent other people from taking up the work which they themselves navo rejected, then they pursuing a dog-in-the-manger policy which the public will not, in the circumstances, tolerate for one moment. The strikers have no complaint concerning hours of work or rates of pay; their only complaint is that a section of their fellow-workers in the employ of the Waihi Company —men who are not miners and who do a different class of work altogether—p'refcr to belong to a separate union of their own, instead of joining the Miners' Federation. And now that the places of the strikers are being filled, after 20 weeks of idleness and loss to all concerned, how can the Strikers reasonably complain 1 They had their chance to resume work, they have been treated with the utmost ' consideration throughput, and even nev most of those still remaining at Waihi could go back to work if they were willing to do so. Each clay that passes, however, will make it more difficult for these men to secure their old positions. Fresh workmen are applying for employment at the mine, and en long it is probable that most of the vacant places will bo filled. The wages are good and the conditions of employment satisfactory, aud no thing but the whim of an agitator section of the Federation has been at the bottom of the ivhole of this trouble, which has proved so costly to everyone concerned. The police appear to havo behaved with admirable judgment yesterday, as they have done on all previous occasions oiv which their services have been required in connection with the strike. It is to be hoped that now that work at the mine has been resumed the strikers will see the unwisdom of persisting in what must be a losing struggle, and _so relieve Inspector Cullen and his men of the necessity of remaining at Waihi. The police will continue there, however, and in- , sist on a proper observance of law and order, so long as it is deemed necessary for them to do so.