The Dominion. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1912. PLAIN SPEAKING WANTED.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1604, 22 November 1912, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1912. PLAIN SPEAKING WANTED.

The deputation from the Federation' of Labour which waited on. the Prime Minister at Auckland and asked that a commission of inquiry should be set up to investigate the" recent rioting at Waihi met with a much better reception than it deserved. Mb. . Massey apparently was in a conciliatory mood, and wished to meet the Federationists as far as possible, with the result _that they escaped the rebuke they richly deserved. The Prime Minister.certainly did make passing reference to the necessity for preserving law and order, but so far as the Press Association report shows, he failed to direct the attention of the deputation \h the fact that they and those they, represented were responsible for the whole of the trouble.at Waihi. -It was the Miners' Union, backed byj the Federation of-Labour, that made life intolerable at.Waihi to those who desired to work in the mines, and who refused to submit to the intimidation of the Federationists. It was.to preserve the peace and protect law-abiding citizens against the terrorism of the militant section of the.Federation of Labour that police were sent to Waihi; and it was the tactics of the Federationists in heaping insult and injury on thoso who dared to exercise their right to work that eventually broke through the restraint of the workers and led to riot and disorder. The Prime Min-ister-could with advantage have made it clear to the deputation that neither the Government nor the public have forgotten these, things; and he should have made it quite plain also that the Federation of Labour will not be permitted to obscure the facts of the position by attempting to place either tho Arbitrationist workers or the police on the defensive. It is the leaders of the Federation of Labour, and no one else, who have to answer for the trouble at Waihi.

The Minister for Justice, it is satisfactory to notejhas a very clear grasp of the situation, and is not prepared to permit himself to be led into a false position by the specious claims of the Federationist deputation. In his statement of the position, which we publish this morning, he takes up what every responsible citizen must recognise is a proper and reasonable attitude. The present is not a time for paltering or weakness, and there has not been the slightest evidence afforded that there is any reason at all for tho Government setting up a commission of inquiry such as was suggested by the deputation to tho Prime Minister. As a matter of fact, the circumstances associated with the troubles at Waihi have been, and are still being, investigated by tribunals which have brought to light a mass of evidence which leaves no room for doubt as Ito who have been at the bottom of the disturbances which have occurred. We refer, of course, to the investigations made before the magistrate, at Waihi during the hearing of the numerous charges arising out of the various disturbances, and also to'the evidence given before the district coroner at the inquiry into the death of the man Evass. The facts disclosed o» oath, as distinct from the wild and irresponsible assertions of the Fedorationists all go to show that the originators of the trouble were the Foderationists; that the. police behaved with extreme leniency towards them; and that the outburst of resentment shown by the Arbitrationist workers, and which carried terror into the hcarts-of the Fcderationists, was caused by the insults of certain Federationi'sts.'Tmd was aggravated by the.use of firearms. No one can condone the rioting which followed, and the fact that tho police have taken proceedings against _ both Arbitrationists and Fcderationists who broke the peace is evidence that tho officers of the law are determined to bring to book any who offend, no matter what faction they may belong to. In the j state of feeling which prevailed as (he result of the shooting of the man Johnston and and I the throwing of a gelignite bomb at a cluster of Arbitrationist workers, it is not surprising if some of the Arbitrationists should have been so far carried away as to warn certain of the leading Fcderationists to leave the town. They had no right to do this, but the Federationists had no one but themselves to blame in the' matter t they had brought the trouble on themselves by their own conduct.

The police have done, and will continue to do, their best to protect the property and persons of botli Fcderationists and Arbitrationists. Whatever tho Fcderationista may say to the contrary in their endeavour to cover their discomfiture and win sympathy, they have been very leniently treated by the police, and also by the magistrate at Waihi. But they havo to learn that mob rule will not be and that they can look for _ very little sympathy from the public when they are called on to faco the consequences of their misconduct.