In Our Opinion

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 73, 2 August 1912, Page 1

In Our Opinion

I I;,ST whore the frenzy of flamboyant militarism is landing us is aptly if sadly illustrated by our review of a book written for Lucretia Borgias —beg pardon, girls. « . YES, watch it growing! Turn to the strike and lock-out statement of receipts. Obviously, Trades Hall Councils' degeneracy has not smitten all unionists. 'fiOD knows the London dock strikes badly need help. Do the Dominion Trades Councils think tho London strike "right" enough to send aid? They have no "trouble" on hand like tho Federation of Labor, and will surely respond to iihc dockers' desperate appeal. * {GENERAL GODLEY says "it's a difficult tiling to get recruits for the i'oi'raanout Force, because employment is plentiful and wages good in New Zealand I" It does not seem to strike him that the murder game is about played out, but he is also wofully astray regarding industrial affairs itt "God's own." 4 iTT is authoritatively stated that for every 2s. 6d. spent by the Dominion Government en education, Is. is spent on defence, and New Zealand's army is barely three years old. In 1910 the cost of the defence scheme was £205,----€00; in 1911, £101,000; and 1912 oxpenfcituro is estimated at £450,0001 How liiany years will it tako at that speed before the cost of education will be exceeded by' the cost of armaments in this Country? « rpHE following is from a Sydney paper: "Applications will be received by the Municipal Council of Sydney from persons for positions as laborers in the service of the Council. It must be clearly understood thai only those applicants who are able to fulfil tho following conditions need apply: (a) Height, sft. Bin. to 6ft.; (b) age, 25 to 30 years; (c) absolutely robust in constitution." If the Council were advertising for horses instead of wageearners it could not bo any more brutal than the foregoing, and yet wo are civilised (?) and talk about "our glorious freedom" and other rauseating patrifrottie piffle.

/COMMENTING on the fact that 400 New South Wales colliers havo refused to work in "wot places," the "Grey River Argus" writes: "Nothing more unpleasant to a coalininor is conceivable than working under a leaky roof or in a bord that is wet from any cause. The miners havo quite as much right to object to work in a wet place as to work in a gassy or dangerous placo; and no one has a right to object to their refusal to endanger their health or life. Mine-owners have no right to ask or expect men to work in places that aro inimical to health or dangerous to human life, whether there are other places or not where coal can, be won without personal risk of any kind." Neither have tho goldmine, owners any right to ask men to endanger health and life and limb in operating single-handed any tool of their trade if tho risks attendant on. the working of same in such manner are thereby largely increased, particularly • when the ground is of tho crumbling and, dangerous character as that in tho Reef ton mines; and in tho safeguarding of their health, limbs and lives the minors have every right to object to so operate tho "popper drill, and thus prevent tho introduction of any additional risks to tho hazardous nature of their employment. God knows the dangers besotting the minor on every side are numerous enough already without adding any further ones to the list. — ■ —« ■ —- QOME homo truths for pressmen from tho pen of W. Wallis, of Melb. "Labor Call': —"Under our present system it is a matter of kow-towing to the capitalistic newspaper proprietor or go hungry. A Tory pressman has no soul of his own; he is the tool of tlio capitalist. He writes what ho docs not believe. Ho lies and slanders at the will of this society pariah. Woo bctido tho scribbler that excites the iro of this press monopoly. Ho is tabooed from every quarter of cliquoism. That is why so many men havo become Socialists. A man may be a journalist and writer, but who will buy his wares? Tho journalist is the worst off of all workers, because he cannot pick and choose, and has to work for a journal with whose policy he is at variance." 4 rjTUE youthful anti-militarists of Christchurch arc agitating for the removal from Victoria Square of the gun captured from tho Boors in tho infamous war waged by Britain on behalf of tfli© gold-bugs of the Rand. Now, an inscription on this gun supplies tho startling information that it is of British manufacture, tho production of tilie well-known firm of Victors, Son and Maxim, of London. In, short, it was built by British workmen for British capitalists to the order of a foreign nation, and was used by that foreign nation to maim and kill follow-coimtrymcn. of its makers. Therefore, as pointed out by Mr. E. H. C. Ridder in tho course of. correspondence- in the columns of the Christchurch papers, not only is tho gun in question a regrettable reminder of the South African farmbwnjng blunder, and of New Zea'aud's paiticipaiion therein, but it is also a monument to flritaVs commercial de-

pravifcy and the b ■gus patriotism of its money kings. In this light, instead of its "capture" being a matter of pride, it only adds to our shame; and the time will assuredly come when it will bo so regarded, and memory of its associai tions will be drowned along witli the gun in the waters of Lyttdton harbor. * CTIIIE cables this week reported that in the Imperial Parliament Mr. O'Grady, a Labor member, in disgust at increased expenditure on armaments whilo workers' families were starving, threw his papers on the floor, exclaimed "It's a damned scandal," and quitted the House. In that terse phrase Mr. O'Grady truthfully summed up prescutday militarism. That millions should be spent in all civilised countries on preparations for wars which all declare they do not want, whilo at the same time millions of people- are literally dying for want of the very necessaries of life, is nothing but ''a damned scandal." " rpHE unrest of Labor is the hcalthi- | est sign of the age," said novelist Jerome K. Jerome in a recent speech, j "Blind in itself and maddened by in-' justice, Labor can, like Samson of old, i shatter tho temple- in its despair, bring j tho whole Bocial structure down in ruin and in dust. But, given hope, it will build up, not destroy. Myself, I have no fear of Labor. The social revolution has got to come. Tho duty of every thinking man is to help to prepare the way for it—that it may come upon us, not armed with anger and wiib. hatred, but clothed in reason, bearing promise in its hand."

ACCORDING to the Cost <.l Living Commission, who B&ade the examination iv Wellington, a 21b. tin of bis-

cuits contained lib. 70z.; lib. tin of jajn, 130z.; lib. tin of baking powder, 140z.; ton of pepper, 2£oz. And yet the master (and manufacturing) class has the effrontery to accuse the workers of breaking agreements! Apropos, the following analysis of one of tho best brands of "strawberry joll.v" was once clipped from tho Sydney "Bulletin": — Apple juice, 45 per cent.; corn syrup. 48 per cent. ; granulated sugar, 0 per cent.; coloring matter, 1 per cent. The "Bulletin" natiiraJJy a«k<?d: "Where is tho strawberry/" but it is still waiting for this iiiii'ormation. Good old moral Commerce, which builds and endows churches and is the bulwark of the lamilv circle.

WONDERS will never cease! Even in New Zealand —tho land of wonders. "Wo'vo been waiting these many weeks to meet in the '■pliuiuis of our contemporaries a good word for tlu: Federation of Labor. And at last it has appeared. Nob editorially, of course "Nay, nay, Orlando." That was too much to expect. And what the consequents would have- boon in sncli event no man kuoweth. Even Bob Scmplo would Jiavo been unable to withstand such a staggering shock to the system. The Federation as a body would have yielded up the ghost with a smile- on, its collective dbivychase. And its epitaph would have read: "Killed by kindness! It was an unexpected blow; praise God from whom all blessings flow." Editorially of course not! Still, wo livo in hopes. No, it wat per medium of a special article in the "Petonc Chronicle" by an unknown champion signing himself "Bon Adhcm." The aiticl© was entitled ' 'A Defence of the New Zealand Federation of Labor,' : and was goad stuff. Here's to you, Ben I; May your tribe increase!

i npDE vexed questions of the colonial twang and tlio alleged degradation of our mother tongue as she is spoken in tlio Dominion were matters that ooni skierably agitated the members of the Education Commission, sundry wit- ! nesses and divers othor interested persons in Wellington. One Commissioner, curiously enough, with a name lilso unto that oi' a l)ago ke-cream merchant, was greatly concerned about t-)io pronunciation ;ainong the so-calk*! "upper" classes of tho vowel "i," as "fauio" for "fine," "taiine-ta<ble" lor "time-table," antl so forUi, quoting about 50 iustanuos. Another gontlc- ' man, whose, "moniker was also un- ; English, being redolent of tiic aroma of lager-beer and sauerkraut, agreed that this was a distinct vulgarity, nioro common among avoid en than men. Ho thought it might be due to a desire on Iho- part of tho "classes" to get away in tho pronunciation of "faint;"' as far as possible from the corne.sptMKiing vulgarity of the "innssos" in "i'oiu*-." Besides tho given in stances of mispronunciation—cr, as in the first example, affected pronunciation—ihcro arc several more glaringly general corruptions of the English language that can bo quoted, such as the dropping and misplacing of (he aspirate, the cutting o(f of '•»"' in the termiiuition "ing," a«d tiie rendering of the vowel "v" into "oo," e.g., "dooty" lor "duty." The vow«l "a'" also eonn-s in for maltreatment, and as pronounced in certain words by certain people, as heard on tlio stage and in the toney "uppah" circles, is frequently the source of not altogether innocent merriment. Take the word "ass," for instance. How often have you been eogi nisant of a suppressed titter pervading the thcatro when some "c.ultuivd" actor or other has given utterance to the donkey's alias on tlio stage. It should be pronounced to rhyme with "lass," , but does the actor sa.,v it soi' So, as ho speaks it, it sounds like tho name of — well, you listen carefully next time. ai;d you'll understand. Apropos, a Chicago man in London was inviied to a bail, where everybody but himself talked with an exceedingly broad "a." The accent was puzzling to his Chicago ears, but the guest did his best, lio danced, a walta with Iho wii'o of Iws host. Tho lady spoko with an especially broad accent, and slit , ran somewhat to flesh. When they had linish<.l I the round of the floor she was panting in a repressed and well-bred way. ''Shall wo try another whirl: ' inquired the Chicago man. ".Not now," she said; "I'm daaiced out." "Oh. m. ' said the Chicago man, "not darn aott —jnst nice and plump."