THE DAILY WAR-CRY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1896, 3 November 1913, Page 8

THE DAILY WAR-CRY.

IN THE SQUARE ON SATURDAY. Saturday was a fairly quiet day in, the Square. The crowd was not so big as usual, although in the afternoon it was swelled by a. large number of curious onlookers. • Tliero wore no speakers in the morning, except the chairman, Mr. Bailey. Ho appealed to the men not to drink, but to bo as orderly aB possible, so as to impress the publio b.y their good behaviour. A number of speeches were delivered in the afternoon.

Mr. P. Hickey, secretary of tho Federation of Labour, said that the watersiders were not asking for anything new. All they wanted was that they should be allowed to work under the Bame conditions as prevailed before the trouble took place. They had demonstrated to New Zealand that along the. waterfront there was absolute unanimity of opinion amongst thousands of men. This was almost unique in the industrial history of Australasia. Tho miners of the country were behind the strikers. He had a cablegram from Australia assuring him that tho workers there would do nothing to defeat them. Ho was satisfied that 'Ellis was going to be one of tho grimmest struggles ever fought in the Southern Hemisphere. Mr. Stove, from the King Country, said that the fight had not been entered upon for gain. They were fighting to retain tho liberty and privileges which had been handed down to them. It was a peculiar thing that all tho men who were coming to town to act as special constables were of ono political colour Mr. Voyce, of Lyttelton, said that five minuteß after tho Lyttelton watersiders had received notice to coino out, not a boat waß being worked in the port. The watersiders had been dubbed the bottom dogs of society long onough. They comprised 5000 men, and they wero out for a fight to a finish. They might go down, but they would not go out. Tho battle was between the workers on the one side, and the employers and tho Government on the other. They had nothing to fear from Christchurch, and tho workers of Lyttelton would stand by them to a mnn. Mr. R. Semplo, organiser of tho Federation, said tliat a now chapter in the industrial history of tho country was about to bo written. It seemed to him that tile Government was determined to break the spirit of organised Labour in tho Dominion. If any cowardly tactics were adopted here, the unions in Auckland would cease work. A dispute sucli as this could not be settled by acts of violeuco.