SOUTH AFRICA.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2011, 19 March 1914, Page 6

SOUTH AFRICA.

THE STRIKE & ITS PAINS, , LABOUR CRUSHED. RAND JOURNALIST INTERYieWEO. Among the arrivals from Sydney by the Mauiigaiiiii yesterday was Mr. Win. Hutchison, of the staff" of the "Rand Daily Mail,", of Johannesburg (a brother of Mr. J. Hutchison, editor of . the "Otago Daily Times," and Mr. Gcome Hutchison, of.. Wanganm). Mr. Hutchison was a member of tho Fourth Contingent from New Zealand, and his co«neetion with that regiment led to his returning to South Africa, vrl ere 'he has been resident for the past twelve years. The visitor states that 'matters political in South Africa 'are in the melting pot. General Botha's party is at present in the ascendant, birt has beea weakened a little by the action of General Hortzog in leaving the Ministry, which brought about something in the nature of a split, in Botha's party. Hcrissog, though ho has not a. great following in Parliament, is strong in the back veldt through the attitude he takes in placing Soutli Africa before .Empire. South Africa for South. Africans, the Empire afterwards, is his Ofeed. ■ Botha and Smuts lead what may be called 'the Conservative Party, whilst tlio Progressives. (Opposition) are led by Sir Thomas Smartt, the successor to Sir Starr Jameson, but tho latter is not a very strong party, and whilst professing to bo keenly in Opposition pretty well do the behests of tho Unionists (Botha's Party). Another factor in the political situation is Mr. Cresswell, the lender of the Labour Party, a mining engineer and a great■ advocate of white labour.* "He would dp,away with alt black labour obtained outside.the Union, and has a big fight' on his hands its tlw bulk of the black labour now employed on the mines was recruited from Portuguese East Africa and Mozambique. ' Troublous Times. Mr. Hutchison was in Johannesburg right through the recent industrial upheaval, and has much of interest to narrate. He states.that the trouble at Christmas really commenced away back in July, when tho miners strijek at Kleinfontcin against conditions imposed* on them that wete contrary to the Act. The men appeared to be quite right in so striking, and after the usual haggle this was endorsed by the mine-ownors backing down. Then tho men, feeling strong, asked for further coilcessioHs, which the employers refused to grant, but the Botha Government at the point of the pistol almost [ got tho mine- * owners to take tlie men back, and to the -surprise, of many, cofflpejisated the free labourers who had been taken on dtu> : ing the strike—compensated them to tho tune of £40,000 out of the public funds. These men were clerks, and all sorts e-f out-of-works, some of them receiving as much as £250 each. Tltis action raised some resentment «i the part of the public. The Recent Bfg Strike. That business had started a foment -amongst the workers, which canto to a head when a few men .were dismissed from tho llailway Service, which incident l'outsma (lone ■■ of the deported men), the men's representative oil the Railway Board and a red-hot agitator, made..considerable use of, A report was circulated industriously that some 500 men were to bo retrenched ffwii the railways. Without waiting for the report of the' Commission set tip last year to go into tho labour question in connection with the .railways, tho Minister of Railways was approached by a deputation who wanted his assurance that tlie men were wot to be retrenched. Tho Minister received the deputation somewhat curtly, but-assured them that they were labouring tm-det a delusion respecting the rotreiiehinenfc of 500 men.- As this did not satisfy the m-eii the Labour Federation was appealed to and without any deliberation called a general strike. One would have thought that the raihvaymen, beiii" a powerful body, could have held up-the country, but nothing would satisfy them but a general strike, which was a monstrous error of judgment-, as he (Mr. Hutchison) knew that a large majority of the workers were against such extreme and improvident action. Even tho Typographical Union wai called out, ,and for one day tho 'Daily Mail" was not published. As soon as the strike was called martial law was proclaimed, and' the burghers wero mobilised with great celerity to preserve law and order in tho Mmiii'* centres.- With the calling of tijc strife all business practically eciised, aii-d after 8 o'clock of an evening Johannesburg (where the hotels do not close until midnight) became, as tho oily o£ tho dead. No one was allowed abroad except tho mounted- patrols, and tho enly sound to be heard was tho clatter of their horses on-the ps-veniarrt. That stato of tilings could not last long. Some of the unions met and vetoed the strike, and, seeing that tire game was going.against them, tlie Federation called tho strike off. Secret Deportation. In the meantime the labour loaders Jiad been arrested at tho Trades Hall. They wero brought before tile Coari* on a charge of sedition, remanded, and then secretly taken down to Durban aniTTJlaced. on board tho steamer Vmgeni. Tho rest is well known. . Counsel for the men made a special application to tlio High Court," asking that tho police be restrained from removing tho men, as they had reason to believe they (tho Labour leaders) were beitit*: kidnapped out of tlie Transvaal. The*: polico authorities wero called on to produce the men or stato whether they wero still "within tho jurisdiction of tlio Court," to which tho- evasive answer was given that it was believed that tho men had been taken to Durban, and wero outside the jurisdiction of tho' Court. The Judge remarked iii effect that if tho Government chose to do an illegal act tht* Court was powerless, which was an admission (also endorsed by Mr. Smuts) that tho act wns an illegal one. A Crushing Slow. Tho impression made on the public by-this extreme action, was a .mixed otto. Many applauded tha resource of the Government hi a dire emergency, simply because they were sick and tired of the eternal labour troubles. Without any doubt whatever tho effect <rf the strike, and the manner in which it was ended, meant that Labour had received a crushing blow and that the employers canie out on top. r Tho whole business was confined to a fortnight's time. It was a most peaceful revolution. Why martial law was proclaimed no one knew. There wereno riots —no serious trovible at all—but one could not say what might lmvo happened if tho steps taken had not been adopted. A good deal was msido'of the ■wonderful mobilisation of the burghers, who cnine out of tho veldt and took clmrgo oF things in the milling eeuttfiS, but Mr. Hutchison is of opinion, that they had been warned weeks tthetul to pro-, pare for an emergency. Many believed. that a native rising was α-niictiiatnr].

1 Certainly -they were- all ready for the fray, ami their sudden appearance paralysed 'the strikers, 'Five Hundred Men Gismlssed. To show how the men who struck have been treated, Air. Hutchison quoted the case of the Premier diamond mine, which employs 500 whites and between 16,001) arid 17,000 blacks. When the call went out tlio white .well —the best of the workmen in South Africa — Jilt went out, and the gates were there and then locked against them. Not one man was taken back—though each of them was a. picked man. This Action was taken because the men were, without a grievance, they were well paid awil Icokod after, arid were really in the boat employ in South Africa. Having struck they automatically ostracised themselves, and Mr. Hutchison states that many of tjio Premier men journeyed to Australia in the Beriiiua with him to s-c-ek work there. . There could ho ho mistake in saying that the lesson of the strike had been a salutary one, and, in his opinion, it would mean a reduction of wages all round oil the Bund.