MISPLACED LENIENCY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1911, 20 November 1913, Page 10

MISPLACED LENIENCY.

Sir,"—l was very pleased to read your t leader, - "More Mob Violence" in this morning's' issue'. It is, of course, s easy to, bo wise after the event; but to my'certain' knowledge I'am not the oiily one was -wise. c beforo ■ the .bvbirt : > : an'd'"who foresaw in." .j the weak hau'dliug""6f the mob at i N beginning of the- Wellington outbreak , \ tbo seeds of the violence men an} still ( ' being excited to commit hero, and will y continue ..to', commit iiot only as at j Lyttelton yesterday, but elsewhere. If j tho Government does not publish—pub- t lish, I mean on the spot: a fellow with f good lii'tigs can,do it—the fact that tho ] lawlessness still .boiug'perpetrated/will f bo punished, not as a measure of pri- ] vate reprisal in special constables of \ exceptional courage, but as a measure < of public justice extended by constables \ of 110 •necessary courage at all, it will ( be doing tho public a wrong. Better t that one man acting lawlessly should \ suffer extremely than that fifty law- j abiding persons should have, to do so s in consequence of ?:?3' escaping tho pun- j ■ ishment.of, his misdeeds. The Lyttel- , ton trouble is the direct result of tho \ Wellington weak-handling—anyone can ] sue that with; half an eye. Tlio mal- ; treatment r ;of the' special constables on 1 that memorable <■• Wednesday ; tbo cow- 1 ardly figuro tlie.y).cut, by order; their .: running when they: siipuld liavo stood and dejended themselves like men, i when they would have stood and do- ] fended, .themselves like men if they ( ' ''had,', not ! been muzzled with pu'sil- < lanimous, •• mistakenly merciful i have been reported in Lyttelton, and : have provoked the rabble there to ( vent tliqir mischief at the cost of the ' , communities. The strikers axo worsted, ; and one pities them;..sooner or later < they must 1 'awake to 1 the pressure of i facts. Education will give them < courage;'and'education and courage i are what they mostly 'need, poor i wretches.; not tho'poisonous talk of i the paid agitators, whose occupation ; is gone when his talk ceases to be ' poisonous.' But these remedies are ' , not for the present. > The iiien.ha.ro 1 wrongs, deadly wrongs, bus they, are 1 not suffering from them in this dispute, o but from being ignorant, 'cowardly, and ! deceived. Not all of them are ignor- ' ant or cowardly or deceived. Walk < '•among them and see the good, intelligent; kind, thoughtful faces of many : 0? them .' Theso men, however', are ] not .the leaders;.vtlio poison • of asps is not under their'lips, but they have ' neither the numbers nor tho individunlityi to assert''themselves. And they '■ I 'do not make the riots. ■ '■ I was in the : midst of Wednesday's riot, aud say. that strikers were con- : spicnous by their absence. Goal- ' birds were common, if physiognomy goes for , aught,, "and of "the rest, ' the great compqimont was the cigarette larrikin, a brainless, bow'elless beast. So much for education! , So ltfncli for religion! So much for misplaced mercy! If the Government wants-to know what to do to. end tliis strike,' it lias to '• disguise itself and play Haroun al Bas- ' ichid in tho street, at a -crisis.like this morning's.—l am, etc., . "WAY- OUT., November 19. [There is not the slightest doubt. • that far too much leniency lias been shown ths cowardly ruffians, who, uii- \ der covor of their numbers, have attempted to -terrorise workers and tho public by threats and acts of violence.] AN APPEAL TO SANE WORKERS. y Sir—The meaninjj ~ of. tho word ''strike" as applied industrially is "to ~givo up work to securo higher wages or tho redress of somo grievance,"" and in the present crisis how can such a meaning be applied when tho poor xleluded 'worker in tho; majority of cases when asked what "is the cause/>f tho trouble replies that lie does not know, only that the Federation told t'hom to knock off , -work. .Small indeed is the power of conception to bo found in the average worker. He is as sheep in a flock; one breaks and the rest follow over the pre-' ' cipice, without a single thought of the fconscqueiices. The Dominion ponders over the magic words' "Federation of Labour," and asks what is. it, and. who invested them with such power over tlui worker that at their bidding men should cease work to he dragged down to tho lowest depths' of poverty and distress, and ciius'o misery and starvation to ilhose wlin s'hoiild be the nearest and dearest to them? Can it be said tin; leaders arc callous of their fallow be J jugs, or is it greed-Trgrecd of power and a desiro to- pose as martyrs', to the world at the expense of their comrades aud innocent women and children? Such a lino of action is murder in a lesser degree. Maybe, tho solution lies ,in £ B. d. going to the pockets of tho leaders, out of t'lie earnings of the .worker, who is taxed to the extent of 4s. per head of every member under tho jurisdiction of the F.O.L. Such a tax is monstrous, for the worker gets no leturn, except continual unrest, which is , inainly caused by the leaders, who no doubt endeavour to snow 'oliat they are 'doing something for their' pay, which amounts to as much as £10 per week. Then-, again, have the contributors boon presented witli a balance-sheet yearly allowing in detail tlio amounts received and disbursements, and if not, why not? Tho reason must be that.it would not stand tho light of day, and if the avcr- ' a «e worker.onco saw a properly audited balance-sheet ho would not again contribuo to build up such a shoddy aristocracy. Further, do these leaders live- . at,, and, travel the same way as tlio majority of workers" It eould hardly bo expected of tliem, for they must live on the fat nf the land, rilid stop at tho best hotels . and travel in a class superior to the W Howcanio.tho Federation to be invested with Buoh.-pmrerP Wasat achieved,

at tho recent gathering of delegates of j the workers during the recent congress, by wearing down any opposition by long and late sittings similar to the system [ in vogue during tlie Seddon and Ward uial-Aduiinistrations, when by late sittings and brow-beating, the so-called legislation was rushed through ? Being invested witli Such power as' tho F.0.1j. executive wields, shows at once .that it is an undemocratic body, and fcntirely antagonistic to tho best interests of labour. It is detrimental to tho worker, in that it takes away, all power from local unions and trades councils, and concentrating the power in a practically irresponsible body, and' such a policy can only bring disaster from which it will take many years to recover. It is a suicidal policy, without a shadow of doubt, tho giving of such power to about three mcn r 'which enables them to order any union to cease work, without such union having a voice in the matter, for each individual union should havo the right to conduct its own policy to 6uit local requirements, and being on tho spot, should bo tho best judges as to what course to follow in any particular circumstances. Unionism will never make headway by unlawful strikes, threats, and destruction of property, and endeavouring to paralyse industry, for by pursuing such a' course a reaction must immediately set in, and the righ'tthinking 'and law-abiding members of.' the community will not tolorato such methods. LKt tho "Unity Congress (or would be more propcrtly termed the disunity conference), it was strike first, strike second, and strike all tho time. : No'matter what policy was suggested,' and at' tho word "arbitration' tho F.O.L. leaders nearly collapsed oil each occasion it was mentioned, well knowing that to submit to lawful means through tho Arbitration Court, or Conciliation would at oiico sotuid tho death-knell of tho Federation, and as leaders it would necessarily mean their return to hard labour once more. So, therefore, can one blame them for fighting for an ( easy means ot obtaining their livelihood.'' Men can strike for whatever , they like, but they must not run'counter to ' tho law of the lanct, ami if they refuse the work that is offering there is no excuse for them to interfere with others who will work. Nor* is it justiliablo for the loaders to bo allowed to run. riot and threaten all and sundry. Surely it is tho duty of the powers that be to place such individuals in a secure building, where 110 harm will como to them, and tho Government caii pay men to stand, on. the walls overlooking tho building in which they are placed, with a rino to keep away all visitors-so that they will not be allowed to - contaminate others with tho disease which thoy must bo suffering from. If the law is powerless to deal with such individuals now, it is about timotliat provision was made to deal with such intemperate languago and dangerous men. Beiore the present Parliament rises, surely in the interests of tho Dominion a Bill, intituled The Eight to Work Act," could be enacted, whereby a heavy penalty could bo inflicted 011 any person or who attempted to influence any worker from continuing in his employment and where threats or intimidation is used a heavy term of imprisonment to be imposed. In the caso of assault,- the jninislimeiit should be more drastic than is provided by tho Crimes Act. If such provisions were enacted it would act as a powerful deterrent, and the leaders of tho men' would realise that whatever they aro going to obtaiu will only be attained by lawful means, and if their demands wero reasonable thoy would havo tlie support of tho general public. Why did 'tho delegates from the railway service retire from the congress! . J Because, as Mr.- AVilson, ouo of tho delegates, .stated: I 'Wo were in favour of moderate, not extreme, methods, and we aro not willing to be a'party to tho sudden chance of disorganisation at the call of a central executive. Wo as railway men know that we aro engaged m an industry upon which the commerce of the. country and the food supply of tho people depend.'"'.. Tlie watersidcrs of tho Dominion are in precisely tho same "condition, only they command; tho shipping in as far as labour is .concerned. As Britishers are we going to;aIlow a few men to hold up tliOj progress of this' Dominion? Tlie answer came spontaneously from the country, both far and wide, from th(> Jsorth Cape to tlio southernmost portion of the Dominion, in one word, lr No,' and with no uncertain sound. It was no idle word, hut immediate action on tlie part of thousands who have conic fonvaid to once again set the,wheels of progress rotating. It was not to be .done by means of deputations to Mr. Masscy as head of the Government, to introduce tinkering legislation to palliate botlr sides. Tho farmer, said: '\W have had •enough of this; our ports and commorco must be kept open, and if you, as workmen, will not do it, we have como for that purpose, and do not intend to be trifled with. You havo played with ns long enough, and when you havo realised your folly and entered into a binding agreement we will return to our homes, but not till then." "Workers, before it is too late, poncler veil over tho position in which ,vou find yourselves, and retrace your steps-, so that,the work of years is not lost. . Cast the sinking ship adrift, which has proved how-unstable and unseaworthy it has been sinco it was first launched. Build your own vessel, and with an able commander to control the helm, and ono who will be guided by tho compasses properly adjusted so as to steer clear of all i-ocksi and shoals and bring her safely to port. Tho greatest British iienerals a-nd bravestoorl r men have made mistakes, and beforo disaster has overwhelmed them have with honour diverted their line of action and gained the AIVOECEB . ■Westport.