MAYOR CRITICISED

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 54, 1 September 1944, Page 3

MAYOR CRITICISED

CHAIRMANSHIP OF MEETING

The Wellington Trades Council ex-. Pf essed concern over the attitude of. the Mayor in presiding over the meeting organised by the supporters of John Hogan," said Mr. F. P. Walsh; chairman of the council, yesterday. Mr. Appleton was reported to have sa, ld ?"»* it; was his duty to place himself at the disposal of citizens' meeting! publicly called for lawful purposes. What he did, in fact, was to give the colour of his support to an agitation against the law of the land. "John Hogan was properly called up for national service after considerable leniency had been shown to him. His appeal was not allowed. The facts recently disclosed by the Minister of National Service prove that Hogan was not singled out. John Hogan defied the law and properly constituted authority, and engaged in a campaign to gain support for his behaviour. At the meeting he said that a review of the Man-power Regulations was long overdue. What a state of anarchy this country would be in if any citizen were free to disobey a law he no longer agreed with. The effect of the public meeting was to condone such an attitude. "Surely the Mayor should have dissociated himself from the purpose and effect of the meeting. In any case, from his own experience as a director of companies which avail themselves of the national1 Service Regulations and know their value, he should have protested against an irresponsible attack on the need for their continuance.. . "Certainly he should not have put himself in the position of presiding at a meeting, the only object of which was to support disrespect for a law which is a necessary part of our war effort. If the Mayor, is indeed of the opinion that the direction of manpower is no longer necessary, "then this Trades Council suggests that it would be appropriate for him to convene a meeting of employers and this council, in order that joint representations should be made to the Government." MAYOR'S COMMENT. ■ Mr. Appleton, in reply, quoted this report of his opening remarks at the meeting: "I am acting as chairman because I believe that a Mayor, wherever possible, ;should place himself at the disposal of citizens meeting publicly for lawful purposes. I am not here to take sides. I believe, however, that persons feeling a sense of injustice should have the opportunity to express themselves fully within the law. That is, or should be, a fundamental of democracy." It appeared that Mr. Walsh did not subscribe to this view, said Mr. Appleton. Had the meeting been for an unlawful purpose the authorities could have prohibited it. It was advertised as a meeting to protest against the abuse of wartime powers, and was held on July 25, but the Trades Council protest was not issued till August 30; The protest merely reiterated statements' concerning Mr. Hogan which had been fully publicised by the Minister recently. It did not, however, concern itself with matters stated by Mr. Hogan in reply to the Ministerial state-t ment. While Mr. Walsh spoke of; flouting the law he did not mention that neither he nor his council had seen fit to protest at the 108 industrial stoppages for the year 1943-44, resulting in a loss of 41,299 working days. These stoppages were actual breaches of wartime regulations designed to pre- • vent interference with the war effort for which Mr. Walsh professed such concern.

A meeting of the Engineers' Union held in Wellington passed a resolution wholeheartedly supporting the action of the man-power officer in directing Mr. John Hogan to essential work, and urging that the direction should be enforced at the earliest possible moment.