The Dominion SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1913. THE REAL ENEMY OF UNIONISM

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1913, 22 November 1913, Page 4

The Dominion SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1913. THE REAL ENEMY OF UNIONISM

Two decidedly arresting utterances with reference to the present industrial crisis were published in yesterday's issue, one by an Auckland Baptist clergyman and the other by Mr. Ivor HazßLl, secretary of the Executive Board of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners of New Zealand; and in to-day's issue appears a statement by Mr. .Wilmam Belcher,, in which that old and experienced Labour leader expresses his views on the situation. In all three case? the question is dealt with from the workers' point of view by men who can fairly claim to have a sincere desire for the betterment of the industrial classes, and all three agree that the present strike is a huge blunder, When the strikers come to their senses again and realise, how cruelly they have been misled by a handful of glib-tongued demagogues, they will recognise that their real friends were those who had the courage to tell them they Were rushitfg to inevitable disaster, and to warn them against the wrecking policy of the Federation of Labour. As M n. Belcher puts it, an honourable retreat is better than an utter rout. When Mn. Bki.chkk_ declares that ''the whole struggle is hopeless," he is voicing the opinion of the vastmajority of the workers from end to end of New Zealand, and the wort experienced men in the industrial movement arc \ve-ll aware that' "violence can never win the- cause of labour, but it can give rise to antipathy." If anyone should be disinclined t-o accept this statement, the history of the present crisis must have set his< doubts at rest. No strike can be successful unless it is backed up by public opinion. The public certainly had no sympathy with the deliberate breaking of an agreement which signalled the commencement of the present trouble, but the methods of violence and intimidation which followed have aroused the indignation and active ■ antagonism of every law-abiding man and woman in the Dominion, Mb. Hazell's straight-out repitI dia-tion of the Federation of Labour and its revolutionary methods shows that there are men among the trade# unionists of New Zealand ; who do not intend to allow themselves to be kicked into line by the. tyrannical methods of the elin'ite of extremists who are endeavouring to ' set up a Labour dictatorship in New Zealand, and to silence all "criticism hv a system of organised terrorism. By means of' the present strike, the Federation is making a desnerate effort- to fccover the prestige, it lotf through the smashing defeat it suf- : fared at, Waihi. It- is now fight.imr | for its Very life, and it' has evii d-ant. from the time that the overi hires of the employers were first reiected that tho revolutionaries must be routed. The power of the Federation is already tottering, and if a few more responsible unionists follow the example of Sift. Hazelt,. and speak their minds openly, there would soon be a complete collapse of its evil influence. Mr. Hazem, declared that syndicalism and I.W.W, methods ''never accomplished anything but misery, poverty, discontent, and death," and he advised the unions to manage their own affairs "under the peaceful methods of the Conciliation Council and Arbitration Court." He also statedthat it was either the Federation of Labour or tho Amalgamated Socicty of Carpenters and Joiners that must go to the wall in Auckland. Those arc the words of a convinced and ■straight-out trades unionist, and they completely dispose of the hollow pretence of the strike leaders that the employers are endeavouring to crush the trades union movement. Mft. HAZEt-L sees clearly that the real enemy of legitimate unionism is not- the employer .but the Federation of Labour, which has been untJermifling the independence of every labour organisation in the country with the object of placing the whole industrial life of tho Dominion at its mercy. Every man who has the courage openly to declare these facts must exnecb to be called ugly names by the Federation bosses and their hangers-on, but the hostility of such men is really a compliment, and is completely outweighed by the respect and'confidence of the great majority of New Zealand, trades unionists. The straightforward and clearheaded views of tho situation taken by Mr. BeicUer and_ Mn. Hazel-l are in full accord with tho statewent, jnaite I>,v the Rev. W. S. Rowings, of the Ponson-hy Baptist Church, Auckland, who approaches the matter as au intelligent outsider who is in entire sympathy with the just aspiration of the industrial classes. It is because he wants to see the lot of the workers improved that he feels compelled to warn them of the dangers ahead, and one of the worst, of these dangers at tho present moment is the "despotic dictatorship" of the Federation of 'Labour. His address is characterised by mastery of tho facta, sound j

common sense, and a friendly feeling for the, labouring classes. Ho gives a decidedly interesting account of the manner in whic.li the Auckland watcrsiders were drawn into tiro strike against their better judgment Instead of being, the servants of tho workers these agitators, by securing control of the fighting machinery of the unions, have become most tyrannical masters, whose edicts the men dare not disobey. Tho power which the revolutionary Socialists have socurcd over certain sections of the working classcs is, Mil Rollings affirms, "a monacc to the social liberties and sanctitics of a free-born and free-dom-loving people," and "when working men calmly review this attempt at dictatorial and despotic tyranny they will repudiate it as insulting to the rights arid responsibilities of their self-respecting manhood." Such a shite of moral serfdom is "neither good sense nor good democracy." _ Ml?. Eollings'S Gracing utterance is a welcome contrast to the attitude of the clergyman who addressed of tho strikers' meetings in Wellington, and yet it would be tho Crassest stupidity to say that be is fighting against tho workers. Like Mn. Hazell, he is fighting for them, and against the Federation tyranny, which is probably about to receive its death-blow. Tho people of Kew Zealand are not going to allow the "mob orator and the platform dessjcrado" to harass the employer and. bully the worker, and it is becoming more evident- every day that the more intelligent section of the trades unionists are determined, to assert their freedom, and not allow themselves to he involved in tho approaching downfall of the Federation of Labour.