The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, December 10, 1912. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1037, 10 December 1912, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Tuesday, December 10, 1912. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

In the course oi an address at Adelaide, dealing with the economic conditions of England, Bishop Julius said that his recent visit had showed him enormous changes for the better in Eondon. Since he left, the dens of the East End and elsewhere had been replaced with great buildings and broad streets, but the conditions were really no better. Two things forced themselves upou his notice —the inordinate luxury on the one hand and the miserable poverty on the other. The luxury of the American type was mostly ostentatious, and was provocative of every kind of bitterness. The poverty was the same as ever only a great deal more bitter than formerly. He expected the lime would come when it would be difficult to secure the interference of the military in industrial strikes. Eillle shops and small institutions had come to an end in England, and the great concerns were swiftly taking the bread out of the mouths of the smaller tradesmen.

The Federation of labour has a very strong backing among the flaxmill employees at Tokomaru —in fact that centre is the stronghold of the “red feds” in this electorate, as was evidenced last week when the VVaihi Arbitration delegates went there to be present, the “other side” of the picture concerning the Waihi strike. The threatening conduct of some of these misguided individuals to throttle free speech is characteristic of such extremists. It is self-evident that

the champions of any reform who will not allow full discussion by opponents, can never hope to win the sympathy and support of an enlightened people. Intelligent New Zealand workers want nothing to do with the ancrchial methods recently practised by the leaders of the Federation of Labour party at Waihi, and the blatant, threatening, and vulgar utterances of Messrs Semple and Co., have aroused the indignation and disgust of New Zealanders. The more enlightened section of the flaxmill employees favour the settling of industrial differences in a lawful and constitutional manner, and are amenable to reason and believe in British fair play and are disgusted with the conduct of the Tokomaru extremists. It is satisfactory to kuow that the ‘' red fed ’ ’ faction of the Flaxmills’ Union constitute a noisy minority who will shortly become a minus quantity in the affairs of the Union.