In Our Opinion

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 71, 19 July 1912, Page 1

In Our Opinion

TINDER the imposing title of the Employers and Employees' Defence Association, a Fat-and-Scab combine has been formed in Melbourne to oppose "union tyranny." Tho tyrant ter-rem-bles. STUDY the tactics of tho press for yourselves. Just note if all the points against the Federation are not glaringly paraded and all the points for it not slurred or shoved aside:- -» — FTUIR Methodist Church of Huntly 1 sends £3 14s. to tho strike and lock-out fund. "Inasmuch as ye did It unto the least of these My brethren ye have dene it unto Me. ' -» — "ISTiIEN travelling per boat, ask the ** seamen since when did they become slayers of strikers and so piously particular as to whether fellow-workers on strike were angels with boss's wings. « Tl/f RS. DALE., the "poor young lady" -"pianist of Waihi. received this telegraphic message: "The Wellington Waterside Workers desire to forward you a small present. Will you accept same ?—(Signed) Stapleton, secretary." The union did not desire to make the present (as inferred), nor is Stapleton secretary of the union (as inferred). Fake suggestions of this sort, ought to bo heavily bumped. 4 A T present on the Lib.-Lab. "Times" T. Mills is, as much antagonistic to Massey as he was favorable to him when on the Auckland "Voice of Labor." The Auckland branch of the Labor Party was Masseyian at the general elections and after, but tho Wellington branch of tho same party was Wardian. The "Professor" doesn't mind obliging both. » fjMIE first court-martial (at Gisborne) has been held tinder the Defence lAct. The significance of this fact must not be lost. It does not matter wheiher the sentence is a fine of five shillings or six months' imprisonment. The essential point to remember is that for the first time in New Zealand some, youths have- been tried by a military court under whose jurisdiction they bavc been eompulsorily brought. It is »no of tho inevitable encroachments upon our civil liberty necessitated by the Defence Act, 1909-10. Tho maintenance of our liberty demands the tegwal of tho Act.

TT is a curious fact, says •*■ London "Truth," that the death rate always sensibly lessens in a mining district during a strike. A Labor M.l. for a mining constituency attributes the decline to the following causes: Drink naturally diminishes amongst the miners on strike pay ; there are no accidents in the mines; and lite parents being both at home, the children are better cared for. It is something to discover that a strike .is not OfcfV/d entirely without merit from -i domestic point of view. TITHE Christen it reh "Press" editonA ally handles the Federation and its i organiser. Says it of Semple: "Al-to-ether he cost the Federation lor eight months nearly £350. Organisers of his type evidently 'come Ingh. Fancy that! Now., what does tho editor of the "Press" cost his employers I" lie gets £1000 per annum salary---plur. books, writing materials, travelling expenses, holiday allowance, and all sorts of expensive odds and ends. He doesn't ; "come high/ of course! *. • if ever or never is the time to pass along The Maoimi.vnd Wohkk.h to all workers who arc being "tillc<lup" with lies, half-tiuths and other -things regarding the Federation of Labor or the strikers or the locked-out. "IT'S no use saying Semple should be 1 this or tthat. We. must take him as he is. If he were this or that he wouldn't be what he is—and it's what ho is that makes him the distinctive expression of his class and the hated of the master-class. . « rarillLE stipends for clergymen were tinder discussion at the recent Anglican Synod in Brisbane, the Rev. E. Davis "calculated that a stipend of £200 for a country rector left not a penny for clothing, the education of his children, sickness or emergencies, and no pocket money for tobacco." This is valuable evidence for the rank and file of Labor regarding what should be a minimum living wage; and in considering this question Dominion unionists should bear in mind tlio fact that the cost of living is higher in New Zealand than in Australia. _ « TN the Timaru "Post" editorials ap- -*■ pcared of the usual sort against tho Federation of Labor and all its works. Mr. A. M- Hall thereupon entered into a controversy with the paper, and very ably defended the militant workers' organisation against calumnies and misrepresentations. Readers everywhere ought to try and gain entry to the columns of attacking papers, for only by reaching tho people will the people come to know the truth. They have to be reached, and every word said for the Federation is a word for working-class emancipation. Get on and hustle. Don't let the rascals have all the say. _ . TF any further pxoof is wanted of the nature of the runaway Waihi en-gine-drivers—a minority of the occupation—this Tress Association telegram ought to convince oven the most duped: "The Auckland Chamber of Commerce jr«oeived from the Waihi Cfeambor of Commerce a letter inquir-

ing whether any proper organisation had been formed in Auckland to assist the engine-drivers at Waihi to maintain the position taken up by them in connection with the strike. It was urged that these men were bearing the burden of the fight on the employers' behalf, and that unless financial assistance from outside were forthcoming, they might abandon their position." Bearing the burden for the EMPLOYERS!—the cat out of the bag. « Tft/M-fEN the Wellington Waterside Workers are someday "up against" the ship-owners as the miners are "up against" the mine-owners, how will they take it if the miners mako a collection for the wives of the waterside blacklegs, and have it trumpeted throughout the land that wives of fighting strikers for working-cless advancement arc "turned-down" by coFederationists? ■ «■ ffMilS is a remarkable happening. Robert Blatchford, who not long ago was crying out for three times as many battleships, and a largely augmented army, was completely cured of his Jingoism during the coal strike. Writing in th© "Clarion" on April 5, he said: "I was asked last week to speak for the League of Universal Military Service. I replied that since the employment of tho troops as blacklegs, I feel it my duty to refuse any countenance or support to the army, the Territorials, or the cause of universal service. I am against all forms of militarism whilst the military power remains under the control of the ruling classes." Now, where mc the "quoters" of Robert? » ■ riMIE five recreant Liberals who "turned their coate" —or, in polite parlance, "sec«died fnem" the Machon-

zic Party—on the occasion of the fateful vote on the want of confidence motion were Messrs. J. A. Millar, the "arch villain" of the political tragedy (Duiiedin West), E. It. Clarke (Chalmers), Vernon lined (Bay of Islands), G. Coates (Kaipara), and T. W. Rhodes (Thames). The Eon. R. McKcnzio refrained from voting, but he was a passive, if not active, participator in the down! all of his party. Previous to the crucial division he had .made a bitter attack upon the then Premier, "Tain" Mackenzie, whom he considered "as big a Tory as Mr- Massey." The speech was altogether a rare washing of dirty linen, and evidenced that "Roddy" was a bitterly disappointed man. Beautiful party of woathorcooks 1 « — . TTN:i)E. r J the heading of "A Selfish Body," the "Hutt and Petone Chronicle" thus deals it out to the fatuous futility, infamous inanity, and apologetic asininity known as the Wellington Trades Council: — "Tho Wellington Trades Council is enthusiastic in advertising the fact that it has refused help, sympathy or assistance to the miners and their dependents at Waihi. It is a proud boast. They are welcome to tlio glory of it, deserved or undeserved. It f"s only a few weeks since the 'N.Z. Times,' in opening a fund for the relief of distress occasioned by strikes in the Old Country, called upon the Wellington trades unions to contribute a union's mite out of their accumulated funds. The appeal was totally ignored. of this paper also have, recollection «$ a distress fund which originated in Petone, and realised a total of £3000, of Vfliich the Wellington Trades Council's contribution was a paltry halfcrown. The Dunedin Trades Council's ooßrtaibution was £'180 D. The nsercen-

ary spirit governing tho Wellington Trades Council is evidenced by the fact that, out of the four centres of industrial organisation, it is the only council that has made no attempt to build a trades hall. The Wellington Trades Council need not advertise the fact that it renders no assistance. The workers -of Wellington are too conscious of tlio fact already." npHJS should be done. Every Social ist meeting should be reported to the capitalist press. The little meetings at: well as the big meetings, the outdoor meetings as well as the indoor meetings, should be reported to the local papers for publication. These reports will ,sometimes be printed in their entirety. They will sometimes be given no more than three or four lines. They will sometimes be thrown iuto the wastepaper basket. But no matter what happens to them, they should be sent in. They will educate the editor, if nobody else. These reports should contain (1) the name of the speaker; (2) the title of his address; (3) a synopsis of his remarks; ('•() the place'where, the meeting was hold ; (o) the approximate number of persons who were present. The reports should bo brief and to the point. They must contain news that is interesting. They should deal with current issues. It is no m:e describing what the speaker said about the Middle Ages. The only thing that will stand a chance of publication is something that pertains to current events. —W.R.S., in "Justice." « npilE secretary of the New Zealand Federation of Labor in rejoinder to "G.V.W." /'-Bulletin," 4/7/12). Sir — One cannot object to highly imaginative, deductions anent the practice and policy of the Federation of Labor in connection with the strike at AVaihi, but obviously mis-statements of fact in the "Bulb-tin" are a bit over the odds, even respecting the- hardened and iron Federation of Labor. Allow mc to deny two specific untruths in "G.V.W.V epistle. (1) The levy of 1(1 per cent, has not been turned down bj all but one of the affiliated unions. (2) The Auckland Tramway Union has not refused to pay a bean. Actually (1) not one of the affiliated -unions has refused to levy itself, and as a whole the branches of the Federation are "paying lip" in a spirit of magnificent loyalty and enthusiasm; (2) the Auckland tramwaymen are paying a weekly levy of 2s. per head. Over £4000 has been contributed by the affiliated unions in five weeks. Subject, of course, to the customary insurgents of any levy period in all unions, the F.L. lias no cause to grumble at its membership, though it has a quarrel with some of the outside unions, who have, in effect, joined hands with the. mine-owners to break tho strike. This is the shame of the industrial class war, a.nd we do not think many unions in Australia will endorse this amazing repudiation or unionist ethics.—Yours faithfully, J. GLOVER,, secretary.

Professor Morton Barnes. 8.A.. who was formerly a Unitarian minister, has opened a branch agency for Tub Maoihlanb WonKKn at the Htitt, opposite the statiom We hope, that our readers will support bis efforts.