MR. TRECEAR'S REPLY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1901, 8 November 1913, Page 7

MR. TRECEAR'S REPLY.

(To tlio Editor.) . gj T) —You hav-o dono mo. tlio hononr of addressing an editorial (>.ovember 7) to tho subjcct of a phraso winch yon assart I used in a speccli at the. Opera House. 1 feel suro you will havo the fairness to publish my denial. ( ihe phraso you assume to quoto is: tho. outcast seism of tho country brought down to bhidgeon eitizensmto. submission to tho Government. What i really said of the mounted specials was. that "among them woro outcasts como from tho country to flourish bludgeons over the heads Wellington citizens. That the words used wcro thoso t write I can bring as many and a;s crepblo tritliesscs to nrovo as you can bring lor your version; . r fliUt tho words tjuo 110 ono laio\va better than tlio rcnl jior among tlio .specials, fo'-r necessity has mado him "acquainted with strange bed-fellows" on this expedition; tlto sweep of tho mounted special net has been wido indeed. Is tho "Now Zealand Times' also "disloyal" because it- published nanalives signed, by dozens of. citizens disclosing scoiies of drunkenness nrid riotous riding by nioUijted 'special constables P It related how boys had been shot, IIOW decent men (names given).-, walking quietly homo with their wives had been batoned senseless. It- told bf a charge of mounted men in Post Ollico Square, not on strikers, htit p.n the general public',, nvaivy of 'tliem l'iidie.s waiting for tho trams. Tho greatest * disloyalty" is Sn wilfully suppressing the

truth. , , , ; lam loyal botli to the.Jv ln g and, to the law under him,, but I hate seeing theso names dragged fit the mud fit |hi) heels of the Employers' Federation. 1 lie City Of Wellington lias beeii"licld up —not because of' 1110b rule in tho .city itself, for, cxcept the usual trouhlcat tbo wharves . when strike pickets are- out, thero Vw'i.'; no disorder, but because tho Union S nppijig Company refused to par its shipwrights! an honest wage. No _ noting occurred .till tlio crowd were incited ai'id, exasperated to violence by tho wanton parado of imported troopers. _ Jilio ivholo ground of .tho troublo is unconsciously covered by a weekly con-, temporary, which, discus.sinc tho pioppsal I made that for a time tho liovernmeiik sliould work the wharves, says: "Tho shipping companies would never. permit their business to bo boggled ■ and messed tip by Government officials, just so ! The shipping companies wonlc never "permit"! That is where 1 anil my friends—and the fanner, too, if ho. opened bis «yes~are up agmns't the ertn of the matter. Tlio. Government doe.i 'wliat the great monopolies permit, it to do-so I am "disloyal" becauso 1 criticise tbo personnel of a largo bo«y; of men who unconsciously arc helping ■to "sweat" tlio servants of a. great, trust. If we Were not all somewhat exalted with tho dramatic character Qt tho situation your readers would sco tiio Iraminir of accusations of aaloyalty" in connection with such sordid degradation of noble names to low «n« m^rccniiry cmlS w,UU) feaEAB. [To tlio car "ou.tc.asts come" and "outcast scum" sound so exactly atiko that wo are not prepared to disnuto Mr Trcoar's ingenious explanation <vffh which lie seeks to lessen, the ex-. tiemn offensiveness of ta's ,jnsu .'; l "!r rcferenco. Mr. Tregfitir says tlio greatest disloyalty is in wiftuHs sl, Pf «t!® truth, Yet ho dares to Btale that no rioting occurred till f o Crowd were incited and exasperated to violence bj tho wan-ton parade ot imported troopers." Whether deliberate or no , that assertion is absolutely u tterb untrue. They had before that time broken down barricades., rushed the wharves, terrorised nven working on tlidre, and tan the steamer Rimutakn. a cowardly mob had biutallj assaulted tlio officers, who eiidea y O!vml to bar their invasion, and taken posSUfon'tf vlio vessel. These are tlio 3lambs that Mr. E. Trocar, J.I ;j State pensioner, city councillot, and nresident. of the Seciai-Demomt,c party -tlio political branch of the Rod -tton—suggests were quite harmless « til tho farmers and their sons caine ta Wei ington. Ml '" TwJ S CIUr the public in that war. Let lnm turn to the synopsis of strike events in i®io f wliich lms been c^pde,l; from dnv*t« day, <u'id ho will seo that US rioting legaii) days before "fiieciats" ari'ived here. As to the "Xwv Zealand Times" reports referred thev are almost SS .garbled and worthies* as Sir. Tregear's own recollection of evont-S-l