The Dominion. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1913. LARKINISM AND THE RED FEDERATION.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1919, 29 November 1913, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1913. LARKINISM AND THE RED FEDERATION.

Mr. Philip Snowdes, M.P., recently wrote sanely and forcefully ill the Morning Post on the true nature of strikes, describing them as barbarous, cruel, costly, "and ineffective. He was afterwards invited by the People's Journal, a Scottish weekly with an immense circulation, to address himself specifically to James Larkls, who figured so prominently during the early stages of the Dublin strike. Mu. Showden's communication to the Morning J'nst dealt with strikes from the general point of view; now we have his opinions on_ the methods employed by one individual and upon the evils and miseries those methods may iuJlict upon the community, hi alluding to' Mil. Ssowden's condemnation of strikes we reminded our readers that he for many years has been closely identified alike with the Labour and the Socialist movement. He, being an educated, an intellectual, and a thoughtful man, stands altogether aloof from Syndicalism. What, he says about Lamcix seems to be not inapplicable to some of the gentlemen who have been making themselves conspicuous of late in Wellington. In our midst v,c have at least one remarkable individual whose policy of social reform is first

Io hell with all agreements. ? ' Mn. ► 'nowdex writes of Larkin : "When tha_ delegation from tho Trades ljtiion Congress went to Dublin to try to bring the dispute to an end, Jln. L.MiKi's told them to go to ihe infernal regions." It is M'ondcrnil how imnds of a certain stamp agree. Mn. Snowden admits that Lahkin possesses "volcanic eloquence, boundless energy, and unllineliing courage. ' He proceeds: "He has other traits of character not so admirable and attractive as those which have ,l»st. been enumerated. He is reckless and unreliable. His nature is too impulsive, his energy too abounding, Ins mind too active over to give them (the employers) any peace so long as he has the command of forces which, can be used to make war upon them. l/ranfelv, it must bo admitted that with such a leader as James Uaukin the relations which generally prevail between Trade Unions and employers in Great Britain could not exist in Dublin or elsewhere."

The scornful disregard of all agreements entered into by employers and employed seems to be one of the outstanding characteristics of our modern revolutionaries. "Larkin," writas Mn. Sxowden, "could never be bound by any agreement, and omployers can hardly be blamed tea' declining to negotiate with a man who habitually indulges in language so provocative and rccklc-ss as Larkin does." Assuredly, Larkinism is fully and adequately rcpi'esented_ in !Ncw Zealand at the Present time, in Wellington, perhaps, more especially. But the Doapparently incapable of producing one Laukin of the Dublin type. It can but bring into view a number of little Labkins, every one of whom, however, doubtless considers himself as quite a terrible sort of a fellow. Larkin, according to Mr. Snowden, found his opportunity. in the material at his hand in Ireland. The Irish workers, he states, had been told that the superior condition of the workers in Groat Britain had been secured by Trade Union organisation. Their attention was first directed to Trade. Unionism through the strikes. They knew nothing of the century of effort which the workers of Great Britain had made to build up the great Trade Unions. "They knew nothing of the fact," he points out, "that tho strike is but an occasional eruption from the ordinary methods of Trade Unionism—namely, collective bargaining, Union recognition, conciliation, and agreements. They have learned their Trade Unionism from the strikes of tho last few years, interpreted in the picturesque and fiery language of James Larkin." What follows in Me. Snowsen's vivid article—which he entitles "Larkin and Larkinism"—is as applicable to Wellington now as it ever was to Dublin. The same kind of argument, the same poverty of ideas, the same freedom with tho truth, the same violc-nce of speech— these seem to be the principal, the inevitable, and the only, possessions of our ultra-Socialists of the present day, irrespective of where they may be found. It is well that even Socialism has advocates who, howeverfar wrong their theories may be, yet are endowed with 'the priceless gift of common sense with respect to the rights of the general community. The Dublin employers, it was said, were;.bout upon destroying Trade Unionism. Mr. Snowden considers that particular untruth: "If Larkinism be Trade Unionism," he comments, "then the statement is true. But there is as much difference between Trade Unionism as understood and practised in Great Britain and Trade Unionism as preached and practised by James Laukin and the Irish Transport Workers' Union as there is between the ballot-box and .the barricades." This expression of opinion is of particular interest just now. The lied Federation, it will be recalled, is sheltering itself behind the bulwark of legitimate Trades Unionism just as Larkin is doing. The Bed Federation is attempting to deceive the public and make it appear that tho present struggle is an attack on Trades Unionism, whereas, as everyone who lias followed events knows, the employers here favour and encourage legitimate Trades Unionism. Their antagonism is directed against-the lawless and dishonourable methods of the Socialist-Anar-chical Red Federation, which masquerades under the guise of Labour Unionism. The way in which tho workers of Great Britain were aroused to bitter indignation by the atrocities which took place in Dublin was a credit to their humanity. And it was good to see British Trade Unionists coming to the assistance of the Irish workers in defence of the right to combine. "But," says Mr. Snowden, "if tho Trade Unionists of Great Britain think that by helping to secure the triumph of James Larkin they are assisting Trade Unionism as they understand it, they ave labouring under a strange delusion." This is how the Labour and Socialist M.P. describes the Dublin organisation, and our readers will judge how far his words may be applicable in*Wellin£ton -

"Tlie Irish Transport Workers' Union is not a trade union as wo understand trade unionism in Great Britain, but a Syndicalist organisation, with a revolutionary policy and a revolutionary aim. U is Uio purpose of this form of industrial organisation to supersede all the jnothotls which 'old-fashion-ed' trade unionism uses. Its policy as described in tlio words of one of its foropiost advocates is to sight the employrrs all the time—no agreements. no truces, 110 conciliation, but frontal attacks, side attacks, rear attacks upon the capitalists without cessation. All is fair in tlu.-r war, and overy device must bo invented for irritating and goatling tlio employers." , Jlr. Snowden alludes in conclusion to the Livcrpol and Birmingham strikes being fomented by English Laricins, and to the men having-to resume work on the railway cornpanics' terms, and to the Irish railway strike, where tlio men were "humbled to the dust." For that strike nnd subsequent humiliation, says Mr. Snowden, the responsibility rests solely upon Larkin. Our readers, and Labour Unionists generally, will have no difficulty in perceiving tlio, likeness between the methods of Lahkix ant! his disciples in New Zealand who agitate under tlio ]{«d Flag. Here, as in England and Ireland, where such methods have been practised, they have always failed in their purpose. For local examples we Jiavo the Wailri and the present strikes. The legitimate Labour Unions of Use Dominion have been over-long in recognising that Iho Red Federation is as | groat a menace to their pcacc and prosperity as it is to tlie welfare of the country at large.