THE SLAVERY OF THE WORKING MAN

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2699, 19 February 1916, Page 14

THE SLAVERY OF THE WORKING MAN

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—Does tho, working man. realise in what abjcct slavery lie exists at the prcneut day? Does ho realise his downtrodden state? Does he realise he has lio freedom of action—ho can hardly call his soul his own, and ho is a veritable slave to his union. By whom are tho unions ruled:-' Chiefly by tlieir secretaries and professional agitators, who are recruited chielly l'roui a class of men only half educated, men who in many instances are too lazy to work at their ordinary occupations, and who have attained a certain proficiency iu "gaboratory." By these sort of men is the working man led bv the nose, and with the help of the loafer he is dominated, and enslaved. One of the chief clap-trap cries of the union stump orator is: "Tlio right of every man to work," but this is the first thing the unions withhold from the workiugman. No man (according to union leaders) should bo allowed to work unless he is a member of a union and pays his quota towards the maintenance of his rulers. A capable worker is not allowed to earn moro wages than a loafer or waster. A man who has brains, physique, and encrgy, aud wants to mako the best use of tiiem is not allowed to do so. No; lie is debarred from obtaining the just and full price of his capabilities, and is only allowed to earn as much as the incompetent loafer. Take bricklaying as an instance. A first-class man can lay as uuuiv as 5000 bricks, but a man is rarely allowed by tho unions to lay more than a very much lower number. Why should he not bo allowed to exert the full 6trength of his manhood and be paid accordingly ? It is a common thing for labourers to be warned not to work too hard. . A man lv ho is physically weak is debarred from accepting less wages than the man of full vigour, and as it is palpable he is unable to do the same amount of work, ho is not employed. Not being allowed by the unions to work for less wages than tha best and most capable man, he is squeezed out. The Socialistic axiom that all men aro equal is an absurdity. There is only one way to level the human race, and that is downwards, and this is what union leaders are trying to do, with.the result that they are curtailing the production of. the wealth of the country, both individually aud collectively. AVho creates the labour troubles? In the majority of cases not the real worker, but the union leaders, for their own selfish ends, to justify their existence and keep themselves prominently before the unions. It is genorally conceded that strikes have cost tho workers more money than they have ever gained by tiiem. Tho worker is led by the nose by these agitators, who are the hole timo trying to create strifo between labour and capital, with the result that in most cases labour suffers.

Labour and capital must go hand in hand, both aro equally essential to one another. As an example of the harm that arises from the constant agitation caused by labour leaders, take the case of the Thames shipbuilding trade. In 1880 the Thames was the leading shipbuilding centre in England, and had, I am informed, over six large j-ards. The labour unions, for various reasons (chiefly' the. eight-hours a day business), struck The Thames Iron Works conceded their demands, the re.st_of the companies re- ; moved north—to null, Glasgow, Newcastle, Barrow-in-Furness—what was the result? The. Thames Iron Works, although of the most modern equipment, owing to their concessions, were unable to compete with the outside world, and gradually went under, till, in about 1913, it- had to go into liquidation. The works were offered to the trade unions at a nominal figure, and would have been a grand chance to try tho co-operative system, but the offer was refused, and tho unions preferred to migrate north, and accept tho nine hours a day clause and other conditions which they refused in London.

Again, six or seven years ago the Italian Government used to give large contracts to Armstrong's, but owing to labour troubles Armstrong's started works in Italy, and did the work there with Italian labour, now tho Italians produce all they require, and no longer come to England, to the great loss of tho English worker.

-Many, many more instances like this can be quoted in regard to other trades in England, where trade has been driven out of the country by the stupidity of- the leaders of the labour unions, and this sort of thing is%etting worse every day.

In New Zealand the money that lias teen diverted from investment in different industries owing to the labour troubles can be counted in millions. It is not only the monetary loss- the labourer has to suffer through the actions of the leaders, but the opprobrium lie has cast upon him by their actions, particularly in tlio present war. It was largely owiiijj to tho miners and engineers striking iast spring in England that the Allies' offensive hadto stop where it did, as the supply of ammunition ran short. I was one of a house party in Ireland at which General Sir Robert Baden Powell was also a guest, imd he told me he had just returned from a visit to the front, where he had had a talk with tho Welsh Fusiliers, who had been so terribly cut up a few weeks before, owing to want of ammunition to defend themselves. This regiment was almost entirely composed of Welsh miners, and they told him tliey oonsiderod they had been practically murdered by their own mates at home. This Sir Robert agreed with, and in the course of his remarks told him that the way t'ho Welsh miners had behaved made him almost ashamed to call himself a Welshman. They all yelled out "Same hero. Send tho s over hero. We will straighten them up."

The way' certain of tho labour, unions iu England have behaved during the war lias earned tbe contempt of the whole nation. They have <lono nothing but bleed the country for every penny they could get, and by curtailing tho output of munitions they have been guilty of base treachery to their own mates in the firing-line. I am sure from what X heard while in England that this state of things was not by the wish of anything like a majority of the individual workers, but is attributable to their blindly following their leaders. This is borne out By the result of tho Merthyr-Tydvil election a short tinio ago, when Mr. Staiiton, . a strong coinpulsionist, was returned with an overwhelming majority of over 4000, and this in a constituency almost entirely composed of labour voters, and after a strong pronouncement by .tlie labour leadors against compulsion. At the present time there has taken place a general amalgamation of labour unions, engineers, iron trade, colliers, dock and shipping labourers, postal, railway, and textile trades, and if it were not for patriotism, which I am sure tho British labourer really has at lieai-t, the position would cause grave disquiet, and the country would be in a very parlous state. As it is, I am in great hopes that the good sense and patriotism of the British worker will not allow himself to be led by tho nose by the professional agitator, to the destruction of his country. There is one good effect, I think, that the war will produce, and that is,a better feeling between the working man and what are known as "the nipper classes." Before the ivar, the worker knew nothing of this class, except what he had been told by socialistic stump orators, who never lost an opportunity to foment illfeeling between the. classes. The war has brought the working man into close touch with men of all classes, fighting and living side by side in the treuches. mingling their blood together and dying side bv side. The worker has seen tho much' vilified "upper class" volunteer almost (o a man, he has seen him suffer the same hardships as himself, and both classes have learnt to have a mutual respect and liking for ono another, and when the war is over tho feeling between tho classes, I have no hesitation in giving, will have altered very considerably for the better. I think when all is over and tho working mail gets back from tho front, the labour agitator will not have tho rosy time he has been accustomed to. and with the knowledge ho lias gained the v.-orker will no longer allow himself to bo dominated and hoodwinked by tho irresponsible professional agitator. It is au awful thought, but it is no less a fact, that at one time last Spring in England it was quite "on the cards" if the strike had gone 011 much longer and snrwid much further, that liugland would liavo been unable to continue taking her proper part in tho war, to the possiol® downdali of tho jaatioß, At thai time, through

strikc-o and silly qiuTmles' about hours of work, employment of non-unionists, etc., the Army was so hampered for want of munitions that it was unablo to advance further than it did simply from this cause alone, and thousands of lives were needlessly sacrificed through tho men not getting sufficient ammunition to defend themselves with. Thank God, the worker has at last come to take a more sensible view of things and removed all restrictions on output in time. Given no more interference from labour agitators, the Army in Flanders will bo in rjuite a different caso in tho coming Sprrng than it was in the nasi. The following extract of a letter from a friend of mine, datpcl November 15, is of interest in this connection, and t the more so as be was one wlm was .inclined to bo pessimistic, and is himself an engineer. He says: "You will bo pleased to hear that I have a more hopeful feeling as to the outcome ol the war. principally on account of the Government waking up at last, and also on nceonnt of the output of munitions being simply marvellous. Eighteen hundred iactories, in addition to the large permanent ordnance works (these also enlarged), and apart from tho twenty-two new shell and heavy ordnance factories now being erected. arc being worked full twenty-four hours a day, Sundays included. We shall soon be Quite independent of the Yankees and be ablo to snap our at them. I am in close touch with the engineering part, so you can take this as gospel truth, and not optimism without anything substantial to warrant it. One firm I know has a very to rye order for Maxim tripods with everything m proportion—the figures make you gasp. All civil stuff is knocked on the head, everything is subordinate to war needs." Let us hope, therefore, that the working man will Throw off the yoke, think for himself, and be no longer ordered by tho Socialistic agitator. Let him realise that the Empire is fighting for its vory existence, that the war is no fool business to be played with and gone into half-heart-edly but requires to be carried out with the 'full strength of the nation. Every man and woman should work to the utmost for the desired end, so that the fu* turo generations shall live in freedom, and tho Hun relegated to an obscurity from which lie can never moro lift his head.—l am, etc., H. D. YAVA?OTTR. I ■ —=