The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, November 13, 1913. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 1171, 13 November 1913, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald. Thursday, November 13, 1913. NOTES AND COMMENTS.

It is a well known fact that a large number of flaxmill employees are not sympathetic with the extieme measures and false doctrines advocated in order to belter (?; ‘.he condition of the workers. It a secret ballot were taken tomorrow to prove this point we have no hesitation in saying that a two-thirds majority of the workers would cut adrift from the syndicalists. Had the bederaiiou ordered the flaxmill hands out as a result of the Wellington Watersiders strike, a number openly stated that a new union would quickly come into existence,_ and they would gladly cut the painter from the extremists. Objection has also been taken by a number of flaxworkers to their paid organiser being an active factor in the Wellington bungle. While the men on the whole have contributed their quota of financial support to the strikers, such support vyas prompted from a feeling of genuine pity for the unfortunate wives and little ones, who aie compelled to suffer, than with the strike. Again, the flaxmill employees as a whole have been compromised by the criminal conduct of those men •ho smashed the windows of the special train carryiug special police to Wellington at Tokomaru and Shannon on a recent Saturday night. The better class of flaxmill hands are lovers of fair play and desire to uphold law and order. Yet they are compelled to have their names blackened because of the lawless acts of some of their fellow workers. As a whole the flaxmill employees are loyal unionists and conscientious workers, and have no desire to be mixed up in other unions’ quarrels, and it would be wise for the officials of the union to keep this point in view. Any extreme steps on the part of their leaders may result in the shutting down of the industry for two or three years. The union officials, therefore, should do all in their power to win the confidence of their employers, and to clip the wings of the mischief makers in their ranks.

Thk most sensational news in connection with the strike occurred on Tuesday night and yesterday, when six strike leaders were arrested and charged with sedition. The five Wellington arrestees were brought before Mr Riddell. S.M., and remanded for a week. Bail was refused. It is rumoured that further arrests are to follow. The question is asked: what effect will this step, on the part of the authorities, have upon the strike ? The strike executive, in a manifesto issued last night, states that the battle will still be waged. Other leaders will step into the positions occupied by the arrested leaders and the rank and file are buo>ed up with statements to the effect that cargoes worked by the Arbitration Unionists will not be handled at their ports of destination. This in part is true so far as it applies, for the tune being, to Australia, but it is pure speculation to talk of holding up our produce in the Home ports. The strike executive state that numerous applications have been received from all parts of the Dominion from men willing and able to carry on the work of the strike executive. That sounds alright, but what are the true feelings of those men who see splendid positions slipping from their grasp. What are the feelings of the unfortunate strikers wives ? Is is reasonable to think that they approve of the continuance of the struggle? It is all very well to talk about the splendid spirit of the women who are compelled to suffer, ialk is cheap, but it doesn’t butter the litttle one’s bread or clothe them. is work in abundance for all who desire it and the talk of crushing labour and unionism is so much bunkum. But about the arrested strike leaders. Will they be exalted as martyrs and heroes ? Yes, truly, if constitutional law is to be trampled in the dust and anarchy to remain supreme, but ijot otherwise. Some people object thaV these men have not said anything more goring than Sir Kdward Carson’s utterances on the Home Rule question. To make such a comparison is to evince a total ignorance of the two causes. There is absolutely no analogy between the causes which led to the utterances of Sir Hdward Carson and those of the

arrested sti ike leaders. The time has arrived in this country to define the limits of free speech.

Thk secret ballot is the correct method of ascertaining the feelings of unionists on strike methods, and we repeat that had a secret ballot been taken by the waterside workers when the present trouble was brewing there would not have been a strike to day. But Ibis doesn't suit the book of strike promoters and agitators who prefer open voting, and in fear of the consequences the majority vote against their convictions, and are drawn into the vortex from which they subsequently find it so difficult to extricate them°elves. When the Federation of Labour played its “trump card” by ordering a general strike in the large centres—which by the way, found such poor response—the Auckland Tailors Union ordered a secret ballot to ascertain the feeling of its members. What was the result? For a strike 32, against 112.