The Dominion. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1913. A CALL TO CITIZENS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1893, 30 October 1913, Page 6

The Dominion. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1913. A CALL TO CITIZENS.

It is quite time that the people of Wellington and the country districts faced squarely the position that has arisen as the result of the strike of waterside workers. The strike itself s a. matter of minor importance. Men, whether as individuals or as organised bodies, must be conceded the right to refuse work if they so wish. In the present case, it is true, that right was exercised in defiance of a written agreement not to strike without first submittingtho questions in dispute to a specified tribunal. To that extent the Waterside workers placed themselves in the wrong at the outset of the trouble. But conceding the right of unions or individuals, untramclled by agreements, to refuse work; conceding, further, the right to exercise that disastrously foolish weapon of industrial warfare, tho sympathy strike, or syndicalism; and even then the fringe only is touched of the great issue raised by the watei'sidi workers. They are not content to exercise their right to refuse work. They aspire to something far greater and infinitely more important and far-reaching in its effect. They have taken up tho attitude that not only will they do no work themselves, but they arrogate, to themselvek the right to proVent anyone else from doing the work they have rejected. They have, moreover, made it quite clear—they' would not even think of troubling to dispute this statemenl>-that wherever they find it necessary to gain the end they are striving for, that is the preventing of others doing the work they themselves refuse to do, they are prepared to override tho law of the land, and inflict personal injury and do damage to property.. Their leaders in many cases openly declare this as part of their policy, and tho events of the past few days have seen it put into actual practice. In plain terms, the Waterside . Workers' Union, spurred on by the reckless demagogues who have in- : vaded this country and promoted: unrest and ill-feeling, to the-' detriment of all classes, ' have openly adopted a campaign of lawlessness, callously indifferent to the injury they may inflict on the community, and blind to the retribution which must inevitably fall 011 their own heads. The position that has now been reached must bo intolerable to every , right-thinking citizen, whether ho be worker or employer. The monetary loss to all sections in town and country, great as it must be, is not by any means the chief evil of the situation. We have before remarked on the injury that is being dono't-o trade and commerce by the , enforced idleness in the Port of Wellington. In the country the primary producers are faccd ■ with the fact that their products are lying in the stores awaiting shipment to the markets of the world, and with no immediate prospect of .reaching their destination. It is not merely the owners of this produce who are put to inconvenience and loss. The Whole country must suffer, for our primary products supply the lifeblood of the wholo organism of our trade and commerce. In the city, trade and business is being steadily crippled through inability to secure goods and supplies which como by sea; and prices are rising in, consequence. The consumer will shortly be called on to pay higher prices for everyday requirements; while many of those outside the waterside- workers who are dependent for employment on the handling of inward and outward cargoes as carriers, storemen, and clerks must suffer in addition the loss of some part of their wages through lack of work. All this loss and hardship is bad enough in itself—especially- bad in cases of married men with families to support —but behind it all is the still greater evil of the consequences of unchecked lawlessness. The financial loss and the hardship can be endured under the fortifying knowledge that they will pass. But there can be no delusion respecting the after-effects of open and flagrant breaches of law and order, success-' fully perpetrated and permitted to pass unpunished. If the waterside workers, simply because they are 1500 Btrong and well organised, can set aside the law of the country justly provided for.the protection of Society and the safe and reasonable guidance of the everyday life of tho community, then citizens must recognise that the law no longc-r affords them and their- families that safeguard against intimidation, pillage, and personal injury which they have hitherto regarded as their inalienable right. That is the- state of things reached in Wellington to-day. The whole city and countryside are, more or less, placed in a position of having to submit to the sweet will of a body of waterside workers who unjustly broke their agreement with their employers, and have since illegally, pursued a campaign of in? timidation and terrorism. Thero is only one method of re-

'lieving this outrageous situation. Until the reccnt advent of a particular type of blatant Socialist agitator there was a law-abiding spirit amongst all classes which enabled a comparatively small body of police to preserve the peace and guarantee protection to the public. The liberty of free-speech permitted the prcachers of lawlessness and mob. rule has in a measure undermined the inherent respect for tiw law held in most British communities; and the result is seen to-day in Wellington, when the force of police available is insufficient to check the disorders which have occurred, and brine to justice the offenders against the law. That is the plain fact. The police arc not sufficiently numerous to handle the situation without tho assistance of citizcns who are willing to come forward and by virtue of tie moral effect of their presence and by their personal support, if necessary, ensure the restoration and maintenance of order and the upholding of the law. The situation is not one to be treated lightly, and no citizen, whatever his station in life may be, who has any regard at all for the lawful and orderly regulation of the life of the community., can afford to neglect his obvious duty in this matter, The authorities are calling for Special Constables to assist in the maintenance of order and in the upholding of tho law. Many citizens have already responded, but more are needed. The more that come -forward the more emphatic will be the demonstration to the misguided advocates of lawlessness and mob rule that Society can and will protect itself, when called upon to do so, against the throwing down of those safeguards which make it possible for our citizens and their wives and families to live and conduct their affairs in peace and security. - It is better to make that stand now, than to leave it so late that tho struggle to regain what has been lost may be intensified in bitterness and severity. Tho, question at stake is not the demands of tho wateraiders, but the- upholding of the law.