The dominion. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1912. THE OPPOSITION & LAWLESSNESS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1586, 1 November 1912, Page 4

The dominion. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1912. THE OPPOSITION & LAWLESSNESS.

.. Befoee the Waihi strike'is. 'ovei, and before the public have been able to 'forget tho simple facts- of the business, the Oppositionists in Parliament will possibly feel sorry, for .thefoolieh and repreheiisible.attitwdethey took up when the Government's defence of law and order was under discussion. yesterday.. The' jObvernmerit's attitude ancl its'duty arid :have.beeii, quite, as clear as the facts' of the strike. The strike , arose, riot out of any dispute between masters and men or out of any questiori of cdnditions and wagesj but simply out of. the .desire, of ■ a section oi -the Waihi workers to register, as a union 'under ithe Arbitration Act The Miners' Utiiori,. .'which is a strong unit of the- reckless'.Eedera-. tion of Labour, deterlriiiied to coei'ce these'workers into 'knuckling under .to the Federation, and ordered, a strike, .regardless ,6f its effect upon the. mines, the Waihi pub'l% . .arid thc'.mcn whbse crime', waS that 'they were a minority AVho disliked the Federation's 'principles and methods. For a little while thi strike proceeded peacefully eriOiigli, but at last the strikers started- to molest, insultj ■assault,- intimidate and boycott "people outside the Federation. In fear, at last, for their lives and pi'operty—their ■ peace and freedom nad long : befin : wefe made by the la\y-abidi.ng pepple of Waihi for protection> Police w'er'e sent, and proceeded to protect the. public, but the behaviour of the, 'strikers became,so:bivd. that.-many pf, them had to be pTpsecuted. Thai they, had established, a.reign, pf ter> ,rpr. was,clearly proved, butj '.s.ave.iri one.or two'-instances,, they were- iio.t; punished. ; They we're, seht. away: scot-free, being ordered only,to sign, what was. merely an undertaking; to refrain from insulting, ' mb,l6sting : and terrorising their fellow Creatures.' For the -most\part they'.i-e----fusedj and were accordingly committed to gaol,, whence,:they'cajjiemergp at.uny moment by-- simply, uiiderfciKihg to behave in : a National arid lawabiding fashion. These arc the nien whom over twenty members:-of the Opposition endeavoured yesterd-iy to : support against; the principles , , of law and order. < i. ■■_■'

No doubt soirie of those Qpppsitioniste who backed -up..Messrs. .Payne and Robertsoi? yesterday will 'deny that they. wero.■siippor.tin.g the men who prefer to st4y. : in gaol rather than give an. Unaeftakihg to behave otherwise thanas. ruffians, in. 'future.". But what; other intflrpreta 1 - , tion can be placed upon their willingness to oppose, and to attempt to , embarrass, the Gtiverriment J All that was in question : was Whether' pi , not the Government should turn traitor to its highest duty-; and opposition to the Government's attitude could be nothing but opposition''to .the law. That some memoei's of the Petitions Committee who. had decided that no. recommendatjo'n,'could he made Upon the petition for the release of the obdurate I'aW-breakcrs changed their mitids, and gave in the. House an opinion opposite to that which they gave in the Oommifr-:tee-room, is only, a tnihor item in the discredit of the Oppositionisti. The occasion was plainly one which should have found at. th«) Govern- . ment's back oyery member' of the House who did not sympathise with the.foul language, the .hat-pin, assaults, the baiting of cripples, the molestation of inoffensive men a'nd helpless women, that have been, going on in Waih.i. • Instead »f recognising that b. principle /of most importance .to society' was ifryolved, and that therefore party feeling should have been rigidly fopt under, a majority of. the Opposition decided that it would be an. excellent thing Jo vote _against the Government. If they imagined that by recording twenty odd votes in the Federation lobby they might per? suado the public, that there is a case against the Government's .refusal to bend , the law to the "Federation's will, these members: erred exceedingly.' An overwhelming majority of the pubjic is, simple are the_ facts—that' the. Government acted rightly and must be upheld, aild, furtliel , , that the , police and the Magistrate havci.acted-with equal, discretion and leniency. It is deplorable that the House should contain members so blind- to their duty as members, and so completely saturated with bitter party rancour, as-to give their assistance in the Hoiisc to _ a cause which most of them know ..in '.their hearts is bad and .anti-social. The credit of the Opposition ■ has , been dwindling rapidly to zero.' An Opposition nas a perfect right to. .oppose reasonably, and sometimes even unreasonably, but it has a right and a duty, on some occasions—and this was one—to treat.itself to.the privilege of supporting its normal antagonist. Party spirit is a good, thing,, and a'valuable one! and we doubt Whether any British, statesman of any real ojninence has ever held any ojj/,

posits view. But the deplorable per-, iormance of tho Opposition yesterday can find no justification in any respectable principle whatever. In view of all the fitcte—the impossibility that the Government should refuse tq protect the peace and safety of (.he citizens of Wftihi against the violent dupes of the lawless Federation; the impossibility that the law, which is higher than the Government, should be sofc aside by executive action; the fact that the Waihi rowdies arc keeping themselves in .gaol in furtherance of Trie policy of flic syndicalists—in view of these facts, it is astonishing that the twenty odd men who voted against the Government should have made 80 serious a blunder. Their names are worth recording for future reference: Messrs. Atmohe,' Buown, Cowin, CuitK, GnAiaiE, ,Ell, Glover, Hindmarsh, Isitt, Laurenson, MAOnONALD, . Ri M'KfiNZIE, Parata, Payne, Poland, Eanoihiroaj EussejSl, . Seddon, Sidey, J. 0. Thomson, and Veitch. It is proper to add that Messrs. Buddo, Davey, ■ Dickie, Forbes,- Hanan, M'OALLuif, Myess, Wi.lfoud, and Witty . voted with the Government. They apparently recognise thatthero aro times when party interests must bo subordinated to the interests of the nation, and it is to their credit that they cast their votes ta ensure a proper observance of lav and order.