FACE THEM & FIGHT.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1893, 30 October 1913, Page 9

FACE THEM & FIGHT.

SPIRITED SPEECHES; ' THE FEELING OF THE FARMERS. (From Our Special' Beporter.) j Carterton, October 29. •] The attitudo of tho Wairarapa- Farriers is'clearly indicated by Mr. Hugh ] Morrison, who has just retired from ; the presidency of the Masterton A. and , P. Society, and is chairman'of the ex- , ecutive ot the Fanners' Union through- '; out. Wairarapa. Mr. Morrison said that this was an ■ ago of unionism. All classes of workers and capitalists aro organised;-.'and tho : last to organise are the farmers. There ' is one executive of the. Farmers' Union , for the wholo of -tho 'Wairarapa, and there are braoohes in every centre. He believed that the farmers of this country wero sympathetic'towards Labour. They did not want to see Labour down- 1 trodden, as it is in other countries, but when they found a lot of men blocking their main industry (men who are tho host pnid wharf labourers 1 in the world) for some teason which they could r.ot define, it was time to consider the. position. These.men simply wished to smash and revolutionise tlio country. "Before wo will give in." said Mr. Morrison, "wa will come down to Wellington and load the 6hips ourselves. I havo bee:i dowii to Wellington and I have heard what these men say. They say they are going to smash anyone who goes down to load the boats. Well, I say that if we from the country and tho backblocks cannot undo these men it is timo for us to throw ourselves into the sea'. 'The fiist who wil lsuffer is tho dairy farner, and if tho Btrike lasts as long' as it did at Waihi, tho first place to closo down will bo the dairy factory. ' Itching to Sail In. '• There , never have, continued , the speaker,' , been such good, prospects for any season, and tlie whole thing may.be spoilt, not only for us, but for' the labourers also, simply by 1600 wharf. workers. : We have pa3?.ed a resolution ..that: ..tho should apply 'to',all..'farmers. throughput the Wairarapi to, Voluntarily go to Wellington'.and w;ork tho wharves. We have passed, another.,resolution ~to get ; all tho. young'- fellows we " can to go* ' down, well mounted 1 , and protect us while we work. The Commissioner if Polico says that one mounted man is worth three on foot.. We can get hundreds of. young men willing to go down who are just itching to havo a -"go" at them, and if they go down and charge them, God help those wharf labourers. If we give in, wo are downtrodden and out for good. Let us make it .-a final .'go' arid we will win. Let us follow tho example of Timaru, whero tho farmers crushed the strike." Mr. Morrison wont on to say that he had heard of a man who said that he was in sympathy with the strikers because they , wore up against the fat man. "That," 'said' Mr. Morrison, "was a peculiar'argument." The only man who could stand this striko was tho wealthy man. 'What was going to happen to the poor dairyfarmer and to other members of the genoral' public?, Tho wealthy man should so throw in- his lot to help those who were going to suffer. "I have .headed tho list mvself," ho continued, ' "to co down on tho wharf and work. . . . If we have the British blood enough we will go down aiid face tho revolutionaries. Wo will do our duty." "Hope New Zealand Will Rise'ln its Might." It transpired that Sir Walter Buchanan had volunteered'for work on the wharf. He offered to the Prime Minister to bo sworn in as a wharflabourer or special constablo, or anything' else. "You can imagine my keen disappointment," he said, "at an ablo young fellow liko myself . being turned off as I was." (Laughter.) ■The example of ' the Wairarapa Farmers' Union was a good one. The question was.whether Now Zealand, was going to remain a free country, and whether men who were willing to work wero to be allowed to do so without interference. . Down at the wharves in Wellington there were men who were willing to work, but who could' not do bo because of the Red Federation. "I hopo and believe," Sir Walter _ said, "that New Zealand will' rise in its might and decide this issue. There is no saying how this trouble will spread. I came tip here the other day to sco how many horses could be got, and I was met with a ■ willing • response to my appeal. The Law Will Win.. thanks to tho Prime Minister (continued Sir Walter Buchanan), I wa3, told that tho Government is going to maintain law and ordor at, any cost. They were going to follow tho' same course as they, had followed in the Waihi strike. (Applause.) Wo have a practical revolution going on in Wellington.' Wo havo heard of dynamiting. This, cannot bo tolerated, and I am sure that the public Will riso against it. I havo been a worker alj my life, and any position'l have attained has been attained to by (hard work. L am sure the population as a wholo will not have any sympathy with lawlessness." (Ap- , plausb.) ." Cap In Hand to Lumpers. Mr. T. Moore said that, unfortunately for tlio farmers, they wero at tho mercy of tho people on tho wharves, who could hang them up for a very considerable time. And <ould theso people, by hanging tlierfi up, got any benefit out of it at all? It meant'that in a few weeks' time their funds would he gono, and then they would come to tlio fiirmors and those on tho land for food for their starving ones. Mr. .E. Hunt, of Wellington, said that up till a few days ago they had thought that a very fair season was in front of them, but, just now, there was a small cloud on the horizon, which thoy hoped would soon clear away. It was a sad sight to see tho mercantile marine lying idle in Wellington Harbour. It was a sad occurrence tho othor day when tho wharfinger had to go, cap in hand, to ask permission of tho Strike Committee to unload tho mails. "I am a native of New Zealand," said , Mr. Hunt, "and I havo always been proud of this country, but when I heard this I felt a littlo ashamed, His Majesty' 3

mails surely are abovo suspicion, and I would : havo said: 'Gentlemen, if llis Majestyis mails cannot land, His Majesty's warship is in t-lio harbour, tlio bluejackets will see that they arc landed.' The position in a nutshell is that wo are hold up by a band of men who want an agreement which will bind tho otlior side, and leave thorn free." (Hear, hear.) Tho great public wcro not a party to tho agreement, and it was about time they—and particularly tlio producers—had o voico ill such matters. Tlio trouble in Wellington liad been caused by a small band of irresponsible men, who had no stake in tlio country, but who, if tho country got too hot for them, could pack thoir carpet bags and leavo to-morrow. If they could not find some solution of tho difficulties between Capital and Labour thoy should manfully tackle the question of putting tho public transport sorviceß beyond interference. If the strike were not settled within the next few days tlio city would look to tho farmers to savo tho situation, as they had done at Already tho inconvenienco suffered in Wellington was simply appalling, Perishable goods had to bo sent Dade to the port from wliicli thoy were sliipped, and when tliey arrived they were of very little valuo.