"SCAB AND ITS MEANING."

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1921, 2 December 1913, Page 7

"SCAB AND ITS MEANING."

Sir, —Permit me to give your readers a definition of the word "scab," as applied l)V the strikers to the men who are now working in llioir places on tin l wharves and elsewhere. Numerous correspnndents have endeavoured to define the word, and all of tliem have given as an explanation an encrustation over a sore, or such like term. Perhaps some of them did not want to do so, but, by their misrepresentation, heap coals of iiro upon the already muchmaligned striker. However. I am entering the arena, and 1 boldly challenge. the farmers, employers, and Citizens 1 Defence Committe to contradict mv deiinition of the. term "seab. ' as called by the 'I'be word -C.V is synonymous, and in its various meanings tlu'Ve are three which como under the heading scab. Tliese are .A infill], dirty. ])altr.v follow. 2. A nickname lor a workman wbe encages for lower wages than fixed by trnde unions. . ;i A person who takes the place of a workman on strike. Definition .'1 is the one that is apolie. duriw; ihe present crisis, and I say advisedly thai it is not wrou;; lo legally apply the t"rm. "My aiillmrity for quotitiji the above is ebsters TiueriHional Diciionary." it standard work Reference: Folio 13S1 I and f have. f)i:ot"d verbatim. This work is reee/uised bv such men as Mi 1 . Justice Edwards. ihe late lU. lion. 2?. J. Seddon. Sir .lolln Madden, and many others ol le K nl standing. Therefore, I see in reason why, when a man takes the place of one on strike, should expect any consideration for beinjj; called a "scab,'' and, moreover, this word does not constitute obscuun and I am sur-

prised that this authority has not- been quoted by counsel lor the delciice ill re cojit eases.. ' . lit Jn conclusion, I might stale tna»« I havo 110 bt'iof for the strikers or their methods. It is the leaders that are tu blame; and I hope that the dispute will soon be over, as the majority of the men now "out" arc very decent indeed; but as a believer _in honest criticism, I venture to explain the meaning of this word "scab," as it is intended iu its application to tho new Workers' Union.—l am, etc., A. P. LEVIN. i TOiir correspondent might have gono )i little further, and argued that- "scab'' was not an offensive term calculated to provoke a breach of the peace; but merely a term of endearment.]