CONTEMPT OF THE LAW.

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 3, 19 January 1937, Page 6

CONTEMPT OF THE LAW.

In the interests of the law-abiding oommunity there can scarcely be too much stress laid upon some of the aspects of last week's strike— — in essence, if not in form, it was nothing less of the hands employed in various freezing works in the Auckland district. That, under persuasion from a Minister of the Crown, they have resumed work makes very little difference to the principles that are involved. At the outset let us assume, as may very well be the case, that some section of them at least had a just grievance that called for remedy. That being so, both the award of the Arhitration Court and the Statute law — adopted and amended by the present Government — under which it was made provide methods for dealing with it. Instead of taking this recourse, the men, failing to have their demands at once granted, not only downed tools but atso took what appears to have been exclusive possession of the premises in which they worked." The effect of this was to create a complete hold-up not only in the meat operations regarding which the grievance s were alleged, but also in the use of the freezing chambers for the storage of dairy produce awaiting shipmenf. According to the accounts we have had the men themselves would seem to have made something of a "roughing-it" picnic of the whole proceedings, No thought whatever was given by them lo the serious losses that were being imposed upon the farmers producing the material — meat, butter, and cheese — from which the wages of the men themselves are drawn. Nor, so far as yet reported t>o us, does the Minister appear to have touched upon this, one of the gravest economic aspects of the case. What boots it to the farmers that the marketing of their produce is being organised on the other side of the world if its dispatch can at any time be held up by organised labour on this side ?

The Minister, as well as the member, Mr. Lyon, who in the first instance deputised for him in apealing to the men, would seem to have been mainly, if not exclusively, concerned for the, prestige of the Government. Now, the average citizen is not very deeply concerned about the prestige of this Government or the last or the next. But he is very seriously concerned with the observance oi the laws by which he regards himself as being bound, by whatever eolour or tint of Gove.rnment passed. Here he sees certain of these laws being treated with the utmost indifference by those in whose special interest they were passed, and seemingly without apy fear on the part of the transgressors that any penalty will' be imposed. If they prove correct in this assumption, then, of course, the whole body of the law is being brought into contempt and, in particular, organised labour is being offered every encouragement to disregard it. This oi course, is a matter of special concern when we have a Government which practically precludes all workers in our main industries and callings from obtaining employment exeepting as members of trade unions to whose "fighting funds" they have to contribute just so much of their wages as the controllers of the unions choose to exact. As has been said before, by far the ugliest aspect of this particular hold-up is the adoption from Parisian C^mmunists of the "stay-in' ' strike. If that is allo wed to go without some very decided check, then it looks as if we were going to have repeated here labour troubles of the type that afflicts Continental and American countries. Its logical developmet means that dissatisfied seamen will take possession of our ships, malcontent watersiders of our wharves, warehouse hahds of our warehouses, and the newly unionised clerks of our banks and qur mercantile and insurance pffices. This is the kind of malignant fever that is highly infectious and quickly spreads once it gets a hold. What is our Government going to do about it?