The Waihi Strike.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 66, 14 June 1912, Page 10

The Waihi Strike.

The Daily Round—Holland's Arrival.

No fresh developments are taking place in connection with tho strike, with tho exception of preparing demands for the future working operations in case such should be required. * * « The men are awaiting the result of the proposed conference between the Mine Owners' Association and the Federation of Labor, which is reported to take place at au early date. * * * Sports, dancing, and other entertainments are being still carried on, and provide a most enjoyable way of spending the holiday. Talent which lias hitherto been unsuspected has been found amongst the strikers in many instances. * * » Tho general feeling of the men is one of grim determination, and also a determination to enjoy to tho fullest extent the respite from slavish toil. The enforced spell has undoubtedly been the means of adding many years on to the life of a goodly number of miners and battery workers. * * # "Never felt better in my life" is the general opinion expressed in regard to health. • • • • Of course, you don't find that statement in the capitalistic press. They only report "growing dissension among strikers," "discontent rampant," "men realise their blunder," etc. The wish is father to the thought. They would dearly love to sco discord creep into our ranks, not because they love us, but because thoV material interests would be bettered. Half their reports are concoctions, which have to be corrected the next day, but it all makes copy and fills the paper. You can't blame the importers of the capitalistic sheets : they have to provide news for the papers or receive the dismissal notice. They aro wage-slaves, the same as the strikers, but unfortunately they don't realise it. We sell our bodies; they sell their brains. It is tho cursed system that is wrong —the individuals aro but tho effects of a damnable disorder. H • • How the mining companies love to throw dust in the eyes of the workers and the world at large. They havo no connections with the dispute: it is only two rival unions squabbling, and they aro the innocent victims of a dastardly strike! Because a little over a score of them wanted to degrade nearly 1600 men, and because they have not succeeded and a whole industry lies icllo as a result, is it not "stretching" the joke a bit too far to want to make out the mining companies aro "victims"? * » * Indeed, it is freely reported (and comos from a reliable source) that the enginodrivers and firemen uf the now union are receiving strong financial support from a revolutionary body known as the Employers' Association of New Zealand! * * * You don't want tho keen sense of smell of a starving fox terrier to find a cluo to that, fellow-workers, do you?

OfficiaS Report from the Scene of Action.

General approval has been expressed here as a result of the .Federation deciding to organise on I.W.W r . lines. The Federation has succeeded in the past only because it has been the leading and most militant organisation in New Zealand, and in order to ensure its existence it must also keep up to date in tho future. We must hold no sect, creed, method or constitution sacred if it has outlived its usefulness. We don't want to take a fortnight to reach a certain point if wo can get there in a week. We want tho best there is of everything, especially organisation. * * * On Tuesday evening, June 4, Comrade Harry Holland, of Sydney, who is under engagement as lecturer to the Waihi Socialist Party, arrived in W r aihi, and was met at the railway station by quite a littlo army of revolutionaries. * * » On Wednesday afternoon he delivered an address under the auspices of the Strike Committee on "Arbitration Acts of New South Wales." Notwithstanding a misunderstanding in connection with the time of the lecture, the Union Hall was well filled with an eager and attentive audience. » * « If ever any section of the workingclass wanted a "finishing touch" to their decaying belief in arbitrationism, they ought to hear Holland on this subject. 'He traced the visit of Judge Backhouse to New Zealand in order to study New Zealand labor legislation, right through its adoption by the See Administration and its amending and administration under various governments since. The penal clauses are such that a man could easily imagine himself in Russia. But the most damning indictment of the whole procedure was that it remained for a so-called "Labor" Government to amend it and administer it even wor«" than their Liberal predecessors. Political influence in connection with unions and industrial warfare was laid bare by the speaker in all its nakedness, and elicited many exclamations of disgust from his audience. * * * Tlie speaker possesses a very sweet and clear voice, and every word is delivered with a sincere force that is heartily appreciated. One cannot fail to be at once impressed with the sincerity of this son of tho slave-class. It is the sincere wish of every wage-earn-er in Waihi who understands his economic interests, that Comrade Holland's visit to New Zealand will serve a twofold purpose: that of educating the masses and restoring himself to health. * =• « Comrade Holland spoke on "Strikes and Politics in Australia" on Friday night last, and on Sunday evening he delivered an address on ''The Stor'v of tho Ages."—O.S.