The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1913. A BREAKAWAY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1797, 9 July 1913, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1913. A BREAKAWAY.

3 4 3 While it must be conceded that there has been a good deal more . evidence of unity at the Congress of Labour delegates, now sitting here, than was generally anticipated, the secession of tho Railway Employees' delegates is a severe blow to the aspirations of the militants and syndicalists. The most powerful element at the Congress is undoubtedly the aggressive, fighting section, which pins its faith to the strike as tho most effective weapon which Labour possesses. It may, and probably does, see the more far- ' reaching and lasting benefits of independent political action; but the short-cut to immediate advancement, | so it thinks, is the coercion of the I strike. _ Political power is a thing j to be aimed at, but it belongs to j the future. Increased wages and I improved working _ conditions need i not wait on political action while j there is the strike and syndicalism j with which to bludgeon the community and place it under the heel of the Labour tyranny. So many of tho militants argue, although they, of course, do not state tho case in quite the blunt' fashion we have put it. Thus we have two factions at least at the Congress: (1) Those who place their reliance in political action with the strike as a last resort to meet the necessities of the moment; (2) those who placc the strike first, and political action as the second string to their bow. The believers in the strike as the principal weapon of Labour are for the most part the syndicalists—and the fools. Their ambition is to so organise labour that a little coterie called the Executive can develop a trifling disagreement into a universal strike. They believe that that part of the community which is represented by organised , labour can, at its own sweet will, intimidate and coerce the whole of the rest of the people of the Dominion by calling a general strike, and causing immense • loss and possibly intense hardship to thousands of innocent people. They imagine that the people outside their organisation are so lacking in courage and resource that they will tamely submit to this tyranny without re- : prisals; and they appear to be incapable of seeing that' their very unanimity of action cuts off their , own sources of supply, and renders them less able to sustain a struggle. The chief hope and endeavour of the syndicalists has been to secure control of the means of transport. That is to say, they have desired to secure a combination of workers en- < gaged in shipping, wharf labour, ' drivers of vehicles of various kinds, ) and railway employees. Given such , combination, under control of a cen- i tral executive, and they believe they ; could paralyse the whole of the , means of transport of passengers r and goods throughout the Dominion, t and thus bring the community to j its knees, and force it to accept whatever terms suited the Labour Trust. ' No doubt such an organisation might cause a great deal of loss and dis- t comfort, but the people who would suffer quite as much as anybody else would be the workers themselves. c However, our purpose in referring t to _ the matter was not so much to c point out the futility of the syndical- / Ist method of Labour terrorism with 0 its boomerang effects, as to congratu- h late the Amalgamated Society of , Railway Servants on its refusal to commit itself to the policy of the strike extremists. Mr. Wilson, President of the Society, in the course of an interview, said:

"Wo would, as workeTs engaged in a great State undertaking, like the public to know that as railway men we recognise our responsibility to the State, that is, to the community. AVe know that we axe engaged in an industry upon whioli the commerce of the country and the food supply of the peoplo depend. Therefore, wo are not willing to be a party to the chance of its sudden disorganisation at tho bcck and call of a central executive."

Me. Wilson expressed regret that he and his fellow-delegates had had to withdraw, but stated that other delegates had done the same, realising that a moderate programme was not likely to be presented at the Congress. So the Unity movement is beginning to crumblc. The breakaway of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, numbering 8000 members, is a disconcerting step, and will cncourage those who have been sowing dissension. Truly Labour's worst enemies are to bo found within its own ranks.