TIMBER WORKERS

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 94, 17 October 1940, Page 13

TIMBER WORKERS

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MEETING

REPLY TO MR. McCAUL

Commenting on discussion at Tuesday night's meeting of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, reported in "The Post" yesterday, Mr. J. Read, secretary of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Timber Workers' Union, issued the folio wing statement: — ->At the meeting of the Wellington Qhamber of Commerce, Mr. McCaul is stated to have said that, this union (the timber workers) that had made so unbalanced and venomous an attack on Mr. Nimmo was the one whose com- «, mittee wrote a highly-critical letter to the Chamber of Commerce in August last There is no truth whatever in this, statement. This union has no record of any such letter having been seiit to the Chamber of Commerce over' several years. i'Mr. McCaul then goes on to make another.mis-statement, which is a libel on this organisation. He is reported as saying: 'Here I would like to congratulate the Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, upon the" firm stand he has taken, with that same committee and certain of its recent activities. I share the beflief of the Prime Minister that the Wellington Timber Workers' Committee \is not truly representative of the views of its members, who, in common with the great bulk of the unionists thrcktghout New • Zealand, are patriotic 'citizens anxious to help the war effort,,but hindered and misrepresented by scheming leaders who have fell purposes of their own to serve. "This remark was applauded by. the chamber; but I have the authority of the Prime Minister -for.saying he has ' made no such ireference to this organisation, and certainly there is nothing of the sort on record anywhere. With regard to the Sast sentence, there is not the slightest vestige of truth in the statement that the officers.of this organisation have schemed, hindered, or misrepresented the position to the members in any particular. WORKERS' WA\R SERVICES. "It may be information to Mr. McCaul and the Chamber of Commerce generally that the workers in the line of industry under review have, been called upon by the Home Government to give their specialist: services in the war, and' from the Idlest reports .received were rendering' most valuable service in assuring timber supplies for the Government and genSeral purposes. Its addition, I have information showing that many of our members are in other special branches of; the Forces; While they have responded spendidly to" the call in general, and pirobably as high a proportion of our members are doing their duty in every way as from any. section of the industrial community; while Mr. McCaul is> ur.justly criticising them and-their unioss. officers they are carry ing. out their duty to the full. I defy Mr. McCaul to, show where or when any- officer Qf this branch of the New Zealand Timber Workers' Union has tried to prevent the men doing their duty. He makes &'gross and unjust attack on people without the slightest; -vestige of : \ evidence, 'as* "in the case of '■ the^suppoeed letter to the Chamber of Commeroe; ";■"! will now deal with the matter about which the discussion took place. In the 'Dominion' of September 26 appeared a report of a speech made by Mr. Nimmo before the Returned Soldiers'. Association monthly luncheon, in which he. made the. following statements: '..., theFuhrer had giver.- a lead to.'.'the world. He had built up a maryeilous organisation—lacking, however, the essential, foundation of religion.' . Mr. Nimmo appealed to the Returned Soldiers' Association to, launch a movement to organise the youth of New Zealand in. some, such way- Mr. Nimmo emphasised that Hitler made . this compulsory, . and that something similar .should be done in New Zealand instead of our youth 'leaning up against verandah posts' as they were doing and thus 'frittering away their time.' STATEMENT RESENTED. "It can be definitely stated that the timber- workers disagree with Mr. Nimmo in his contention. In the first place it may be pointed out that there is a large proportion of our youth today taking various courses of higher education than was ever the case beiore and it is thought to be a libel oh .pur youth to charge them as Mr. Nimmo had done. The accent, too, is an., compulsion of the youth and the implication that, they should be got ready for military purposes. .."The idea of compulsion for youth training offends the spirit of the Labour movement generally and particularly with the military objective in view. One., can understand the fire-eater, advocating such a thing, but it is undoubtedly, a fact that if our.youth are exercised in such a way, sooner or later they will be expecting to exercise in reality what they have.trained for. The Labour movement in normal times has.never stood for undue stress being laid on militarism; we. do stand for the defeat of Hitlerism and have given all help in that direction, but the timber workers cannot see how we are going to benefit if we are to adopt the practices of Fascism or Nazism, and .that is the reason they passed resolutions condemning the attitude of Mr. Nimmo.

■ ■ "Another phase of the matter is that pertaining to payment. Mr. Nimmo is reported as follows:—'He had seen the young men of Germany between 20 and 25 years of age serving their country for six months in the year, for no. pay whatsoever —and they were proud to do it.' Needless to say, neither the timber workers nor any other section of workers would stand for the most vigorous section of our population being withdrawn from their rightful position in the economic life of our .community, the younger receiving the .final touches to their training and the .older giving'the best service in the community. It is just as dangerous to have .people trying to impose. on us Hitler's way. of life as it is to have anybody in the community trying to block the successful carrying on of the war."