THE EFFRONTERY OF SIR JOSEPH WARD

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2120, 11 April 1914, Page 4

THE EFFRONTERY OF SIR JOSEPH WARD

It is sot at all surprising that Sir Jos?i>a WaJib sii&si-kl very anxious- to eevei , up, the dubious pert lie played during the- lato strike. He tto doubt .realises; well enough now that he' was vci'y indiscreet arid that his action at "a critical juncture was calculated to have a> very harmful effect and. materially inoreiiss the difficulties of those who were endeavouring to eope with a d-jingeroiis. situ ati on;_aild tts protect peaceful citizens against, lawlessness, rioting, and disorder, the attitude ho is now adopting is quite eharae* tcriatic Ho is endeavouring to confuse the issues and to divert public attention from the real ground of complaint agaiiist him.. At his raestiug in the Wellington, Tovra Hall on Wednesday even-ing last he stated, as he had stated on tnany other platforms, that he had been charged with being responsible for the strike, No one, so fay as we have seen, has over attempted to place- such a responsibility on Sir Joseph Ward, and the leader of the, Opposition knows perfectly well that Such s, cha-Tge would not h&. given credence by any but. the blindest; and most igflerant pai-Msan, That is to say, no one who knew 'anything of the circumstances under which the strike originated could -say that Sir Joseph Ward personally was responsible for it, Therefore he drags in this obviously foolish eliargc; and by psctaidi jjg to treat it seriously seeks to cover up his actions in" other■ directions less easily o&plaincd ' away, But even on this point on which lie can claim that no direefc #r' pWßofl.al responsibility lies at his; door, he is nofc altogether on sueh : safe grounds as ho appears to : imagine, so fa.v as his party is con-cei-ned. While *c do nut believe Uv'. one moment tliat cither he or any. of bis parly was directly responsiblefor the sti'ite, tiiore eaiinot' be the least doubt that tlie weak and vaejllilting attitude of ths Ward and M*cKEßzie Administratiofts at diffetent times had a dangerous effect in tmcpuragitig the idea that the law was of very littlo use- against anylarge and organised body of strikers. We merely refer to this ai-afetot, howe-vc-r, in order to direct aitentioii to what is plainly aft endeavoar to wake- it. appear that one of th.e ehargfta laict at his door is that te was directly responsible for the strife;, 4iiid to_ point cmt that his ■purpose in d:oing this is to obscure tho real point at issue* It is an old political dodge, and the deader of the OpposStien fa very fond of using it, The rfuei grmin-ds of «ompla.int against Stn Joseph; Wabd in con.ncctioii witli tjjo strike have nothing to do with tto origin of tlio sMkOi as he well knows* Jio is very glib now and vei'.V boastful, in stating wliat he cotild havo done to settle the strike, Ke coul-d. havo eftde.d it, tells us-, in two days. Wft htird <ili'«ady pointed oiifc the ridictilousflesa of this assertion wlich plnce€ alongside the only suggested means of ending the ti-atibio - which he has ventured to put foi-ward. His pawaeca for nil the ills that flesh.is heir to appftars_ to bo the passing of an Act of Parliament. Ho sconis to labour under .the delusion that an Act of Parliamont j-K/ssesses s.omo peculiar virtue capable of tfaiis-formin-R human nature and of smoothing Away all the tronWes of mankind. It is a eennfortnlik stjrt of belief ti> cliltg to, but his expei'ijenofe of tho Arbitrstioii Act should [ hiA-e taught hinj long ere this that

the prohibition of strikes cannot foe accomplished by Act of tartinment, ; He mnst know that he- cannot- take away tho right to strike—tijat in one form or another any such Act could and wotild bo avoided—ancl that equally ho.could not by Act t>l Parliament make men go back to their old employment if they did not desire to do so, How then wotild ha have enforced his proposed legislation to end the strike t The 'only possible means of attempting to do so would have been .the very' means which he blamed the Govertmimri for usitig in eoMqcfbu with the preservation of law and order during the strife?. But most people know that .Sib Joseph: Ward's bombastic talk about ending the strike in two days U the veriest humbug. On the other band, whatdid he actually do? How did id and his party assist , the Government during that critical time when tlio ports of the country were closer! to trade, the products' &f tho farming coffiimitiity were held back from tho markets of the wofld, and husiMess in ijur cities aticl towns more or less paralysed? They assisted by decrying the special constables who Itad gallantly come to. the defeats of tho community against lawlessness, and by embarrassing Ministers by blocking the business of tho House of Representatives with one of the njosfc: stapid and degrading stonewalls ■over witnessed in the Parliament of this country. If the people o.f New Zoalafid could have hewed the loolish and inane rubbish talked by ; m6ra*i tmrs of the Opposition for hour after hour .and day after ctyy, at that critical period, simply with the object of wasting time autl lileekbg business., tha.\?AhD party ftssm-cdjy eould never dare to hope toAgftia hold ; office ift Now Zealand. After a. time: Act pretejicc Wfts made to discuss the merits of the Bill before fte Sousfe,! but ineiribcTs o.f the Opposition o:pen-' ly tafed against time with a view; to wearing down the ■GoVCTrimeirfc-* and the Governmsiit at that time was striving its utmost to grapple ..successfully with the heavy task' of relieving the' country from tlio paralysis of tacjo and industry get up by the Bed Fedorations asd safeguards for law-abillng eitlxefls , afeabst tho. terrorism of mob rule. Yo-fc Bje : JoßEpjr Ward now has tljie effr&fttery: to go rpu&d : the couatry .talking. ■about what ho cqultf. have done. But'that is net all. In his tp\m. Hall, as in other of his sfieeeheSj he tried to bluster put of. his an-. happy, utterance in Payljamojit on the night of the sioblng ie Past Ofiice Sqiiiiro. It is uwwoeessary to recount the whole t .pf the e'ireum-' stanees of that affair or , to quote Sin Joseph Ward to it. It is sufficient to mention that after : several days of tertf&risia on tho: wftterlmnt, including the lnishing of j steamers by strikers and the mh treating of a nufiibeir of people, a. small contingent : o| mounted special J constables arrivod in th? citj*.' f his : | was inn October 3.0. Oh the afternooii ef that day & small body of mounted regular p-eliee and special .constatten I were parading tho wate-i'frort.ii, and when in Post Office the;y werb '■ attacked in a dastardly lashlto i® a largo bq;d : y of rioters.' gtorl.es and lumps, of iron Were hurled at thcm> ■detonators were thrown dottn at their horses' feet, >)kl a fflosi; bfutal 'and ■cleter , nfited"'aji : i}'':Uit3o¥ovaked onslaughi; .was imuin.- on them. T : hey eventually charged tho ijiojb under' a bonlbardment oj missiles, Iri.cli4d.ing mere tha,n. ; one revolver shot, and disporsed il Several of the ycgular: jjolico atttj special eQiistfthles received painful injuries, and some sf the crewd Were kp.oqfod down, but so' far as we reeafl ne one was ift any way seriously hurt, fbftjb same evening in the House of Rc»re,senta,r tivos fejß JosEW. Ward, adniittcdlv on hearsay evidence, attacked th.o police on the false assumption that; ■they . had wantonly charged the crowd and acted in * manttQv calling for the strongest censure. He- called the special oonstablcs' !C p»va.lrJiiteii from, the eoufitry, s '' plainly wjti tho intention of placing thoni in an ■unfavpurablc ligivl, and gener-allr speaking took up the .gMtsde :tha't ; ■tho pplieo and special constables' weire- entirely in tho wro/ng. Sir Joswh Ward's wflefttjmja: on the poliec and special constables,' based as thev ( lysro on heafsfty evideuee, were quite bad enough in themselves, but tho irea] danger' behind his action was the tiiiic atwlikh ifc oc- ; eurrcd. Whatever may have teen his motives, it was a glaring indiscrctien for an. ex.pcrifinced p'lt-blie jnan IJpssesscd of aiiy real sense of Responsibility. Ooming from him as ficflc! of tho Opposition 1 and an exPrirne Minister, his speech and afeti-. tude must naturally have had the- e;ffecfc o-f discoiiraging those who were at that time striving; against sueh odds to suppress the rioting and order prevalent in the epmniunitj , ., and must h-avo eprrcsppndingly eftX couraged tlio rioters. Wo do not s-ug--gest that Sir, Joseph Wakd meant his i'e.niarks to hare this tjftcot, but undoubtedly that was t;h<j effect they were Jikely to have. It is quite on ,1 par with his otter stafko ■references afe his rewJiit meqtiitgs that Ije shauld; noAv Ijfrldlj'. praelaim that his speech an Ootobca'3o bad the reA'Orse e,f£<jqt k> thatstakdabove, AtfteT«vvnSailljitf rematked that "next day and the day after it did not occur again 1! sxnnaMy meaning_ thereby the trouble ■between the special constables aiid the rjetcrs, It is Vcally .amaziiig thatBiii Joseph \?Aitip can so-fiouslj , ask the public to swallow this sort of tiling, Sis speech in Parliament was made on the evening of^Thursday,■ Octobsf 30, and was published n.qxt: day, Oet'ober 31. On the da.y following, Saturday, there wero eijiy minor attd. on the Stinclaj', With prospects of a setitoidjjt in sigljt, matters wero Gomrja-rativfily qtiiet. On the Monday. night, howevor, what was probably the nioal serious disturbance of the whole strike took place, when tho crowd cf rioters attacked the special cob* stables at their barracks in TWaftJwi ■and Buckle Streets, revolvers being Used by several of the rioters, gittat ; damage being; deno in the way of. window4rea : kii!g, and so vera! persona being ifijured—tlireo seriously. ■' Again, two dnj's iivtc'r, in Fcitlieif' ■ton StrcE-ti edenrred the eowa#].y attacks oh th*s special constables bj' I sto ; nc4hrowi,i.m aiid the hurling of lumjo of flrcstal and skbs of timber at ■ the mounted m©n. Again .and again on both ttese occasions the, speteb}; constables bad tp flhafge tho erotvd in self-pi'otecti&n. And Sw Joskmi Wab» has p\o effrontery ljoff to suggest thftfc his attack on tlio special constables ie Parliament did good He may attempt to get the public to swallow his story about settling the strike in two days, ailcl ho try to bluster the people into believing that- In?, has been misrejn'csentcd over his actioiis during tlia-t trying pet--iotl: bat so long as the facts of tliQ strike are fj-csh hi tho memory of the public his_ lia»siin.g a-nd bis btustfcv atft ittore likely U"> arouse rcsMituieSitthan to do liiiit soi'viw, :