Parliament and Imprisoned Strikers

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 87, 8 November 1912, Page 2

Parliament and Imprisoned Strikers

A SCORE FOR RELEABE. OVER FORTY FOR THE JAIL. A VOTE TO NOTE. In the House of Representatives on Thursday of la9t week, Mr. A. S. Malcolm (Clutha) brought up tho report of the Public Petitions Committee on the petition of R. E. Dunn and 524 others, of Timaru, praying for the immediate release of the Waihi strikers now in jail. The committee had no recommendation to make. He moved that the report should lie upon the table of the House. i We '"'lift" the following report of the debßte from the "N.Z. Times":— ' Mr. J. Payne (Grey Lynn) pointed out that the petition was not signed by a body of red raggers, but by a very representative body of citizens of Timaru. TT<» hoped the action of the. petitioners would b" followed by others throughout the Dominion. Tho men should be given their frwdotn. and if they .subsequently committed any breach of the law they could then be punished. Mr. J. Craisjie (Timaru), who presented the petition, moved that the report be referred back for further consideration. This was seconded by Mr. J. C. Thomson (Wallace). ! Mr. L. M. laitt (Christchurch NortM said the petition <xrald not 'be considered-by the committee. It was] a question for 1 the House. Mr. A. S. Malcolm (Clutha) said , the committee 'had done all it could, and it was no good referring the report ' back. J Tho Hon. R, McKenzie (Motueka) I said if the committee were of opinion | , that the men should be loft in jail j ( for 12 months they were quite right to I bring down such a report. If they i, thought the men should be released. \ ] then they should have referred the' ( petition to the Government for favor- , . able consideration. Mr. H. Poland (Ohincmuri) considered the committee should bfive reported in such a way that the petition : i would have gone to the Government. He thought the penalty was too preat. j . Ho contrasted the punishment to that ! , metod out to a man who had brand- : , ishod n revolver in a train and threat- '■ ] ened to Bhoot men who did not sub- ; scribe to his opinions. That man had i , only been bound over to keep the peace for three months. The Waihi miners ( who had been imprisoned were suffer- f ins: an injustice by the long sentence imposed. NO HARDSHIP. Mr. J. H. Bradney (Auckland West) j \ said there was no hardship inflicted . on the man. They could be set free tomorrow. It was a question of whether they would obey tho law or break the law. They wanted to pose as martyrs "with a view to enlisting public sympathy, so that the House would cancel the decision of the magistrate. Mr. A. H. Hindmarsh (Wellington > South) said the Government should as- j ' sort the law. The law had been vindi- j , cated now and the men should be re- j leased. There was no need to keep the men in jail. They should take a sane and charitable view of the case. If the men were let go it would not jeop- j ardise the position. Would more troops | or police bo needed if the men were re- : leased? The example ,of England in j regard to the imprisonment and re- j lease of suffragettes should be follow- ■ cd. The Government . should say: j "Has the law been vindicated? Have : these men been taught a lesflon?" j Mr. F. H. Smith (Waitaki) hoped ; the Government would not back down, j The men chose going to jail to finding j ' security and they should put up with j it. Ho hoped tho report would lie on j "the table and stop there. J Mr, J. Robertson (Otaki) said that ! it was an unwise way of showing • strength to keep the men in jail. He was quite sure that public opinion j was to the effect that the punishment j was out of proportion to the offence. | Mr. A. Harris (Waitemata): Don't j yon believe in the law being upheld ? j , Mr. Robertson: The piffle about tho I law boing upheld, especially coming from tho member for Waitemata, is nauseating. It must he admitted by everyone that the law ha? been asserted and upheld. The public as a whole would not take the view that the men could release themselves whenever they : wanted. The longer the men remained in jail, the stronger publio opinion would form in favor of their release, and it would bo very damaging to;those responsible for placing them there. Af- , ter tho first batch of men had been placed in prison there was no more law- i lessness than before. MEN SUFFERED ENOUGH. Mr. J. Calvin (Buller) supported the , amendment. In his opinion the Government would be wise to allow these men out of prison. The men had suffered j enough. When Tom Mann was arrest- , ed in England, the Government, arter I i a while, allowed him and his men out. ' The law had been vindicated, and the men should be released. Mr. J. Vigor Brown (Napier) said if ! the men had been convicted and ordered to come up for sentence when ; called upon, the law would have been vindicated. No doubt the men, who were excited, had made mistakes. The \ time had arrived when the Government should release the men. They had heen incarcerated for three months. i Mr. W. H. D. Bell (Wellington j Suburbs) said the court had merely ( asked of these men a promise that they i would not break the law again. The ! men refused that promise. All they ; now had to do was to admit they wero j wrong and undertake to obey the law j they had broken. Thoso men had not i j been imprisoned by the Government.. : I Tho members for Grey Lynn and Otaki ! J did not represent the truo position to j 1 the country. Mr. Payne denied this allegation. Mr. J. H. Escott (Pahiatua) understood that not & single member of the

Should Strikers be Released?

committee had that morning objected to the ceurse the committee was taking. LAW MUST BE ENFORCED. The Hon. A. L. Herdman (Minister of Justice) thought it was a great pity that members of the House were not fully aware of the condition of affairs leading up to the strike. If they were going to have men protected and allowed to follow their ordinary avocation without being molested, the law must be enforced, and so long as he occupied the position of Minister of Justice he would make no distinction between man and man in this country. Breaches of the law would be proceeded against. He read a letter which had been written by 28 residents of Waihi, under date September 5, 1912, to thej Prime Minister. This was as follows: INTOLERABLE CONDITION. "An intolerable condition of dtidus- ; trial warfare has arisen in Waihi, due lamely to the failure of the Government to adopt measures calculated to repress the'dissemination of seditious, and revolutionary doctrines. ! "We. the taxpayers, look to you and to the Government of which you are the ! head for protection in the pursuit of our peaceful callings, and wo feel that; v*e shall not look in vain. Our town is faced with 6nancial ruin. "The Red Revolutionary, 1.W.W., and other pests which have brought things to this pass fancy themselves masters of the situation, and, with reason, as up to tho present tihey have been allowed to patrol the streets of Waihi and Waikino mobbing, threatening, and insulting those who fail to see eye to eye with them, using art; the same time the foulest language conceivable. "Carefully schooled in the tactics of the I.WW. by an emissary of that body who recently escaped tho consequence of his wrongdoing through the tardiness of the authorities in taking action, they now feel the time is ripe to put into execution the lessons in which they have been so carefully trained. Tho conditions which at present obtain both at Waihi and Waikino lead us to conclude that the lawless methods adopted by workers in America to coerce employers to accede to the demands of their employees are about to be repeated at any moment in our midst. "We respectfully wish to bring under your notice that we cannot calmly sum it to seeing— "Firstly, men who are willing to Work being prevented from doing so. • "Secondly, interference with the freedom of movement of citizens going to places of amusement or using the King's highway. "Thirdly, our womenfolk being terrorised by groups of hoodlums watching their dwellings and spying on their movements with field glasses. "Fourthly, the threat of boycott of all people who venture to disagree with the revolutionary tenets of the Federation of Labor workers. "We respectfully submit that we are but claiming our just rights as British subjects in asking the Government to adopt such measure as shall ensure us an immunity from a continuance of the intolerable annoyances to which our district has been subjected." GOVERNMENT DETERMINED. Before this letter was written, said the Minister, extra police had been sent to Waihi, and it was arranged i that more should bo sent if any disturbance arose. The Government wasj determined to see that men who de-1 sired to go about their avocations should be allowed to do so without beh ing molested, and would see that tho ordinary law which Parliament had passed was enforced. Let them suppose a man used obscene language in the streets here, and the magistrate had ordered him to find sureties, otherwise to go to jail. If an application were made ; to him (Mr. Herdman) to release such ! an offender from jail, and he acceded there would be a howl throughout the . country. He would make no distinction between strikers at Waihi and anybody else. The allegation that a special magistrate had been sent to Waibi to deal with these strikers was absolutely unfounded. The magistrate had been 1 there three months previously. Three ( possible courses were open to the mag-j istrate in dealing with these men. He J could have committed them to prison;: he could have fined them; but the smallest possible punishment he could have inflicted was to order them to i find sureties, and immediately tihey ; found sureties they would be released, j This form of punishment was regarded as the mildest possible. Mr. Brown: Could tho magistrate not have convicted them and ordered them to come up for sentence when called upon? THEIR OWN WILL. j Mr. Herdman: He could, but that is lno punishmen at all. As the law stood, if a man could not find the bond, then he had to remain in jail. These men were not being kept in jail by the Gov- : ernment, but by themselves. The bond could be given by anyone, and they 1 were being kept in jail by their own will. All they had to do was to get some of their friends to furnish the I bond. Every right the men were entitled to under the regulations they had j received. The story that 20 or 30 of tho men had been crowded into one room was absolutely untrue. The Government intended to see that tihe law ' was observed in the interests of so- ! ciety and proper order. Members would j I admit that nothing of an unfair char-1 j actor had boon done. ! j Mr. G. W. Forbes (Hurunui) did not I I think it was tho right course to send ! beck the petition, which should simply !bo referred to the Government. He i believed in maintaining law and order, I and nothing should be done to weaken that. The Government might review tihe petition, and consider whether the time had arrived for clemency.

"PIECE OF IMPERTINENCE." Mr. Russell understood that the privilege of receiving literature sent from outside had been stopped; and 'the men were allowed only to use the books in prison. 1 Mr. W. C. Buchanan (Wairarapa) interposed with some remarks. Mr. Russell (warmly): I am addressing my question to the Minister, not to tho member for Wairarapa, and 1 regard his intrusion, therefore, as a piece of impertinence. Mr. Buchanan: Is the hon. member entitled to use such an expression? The Speaker: I think the hon. gentleman was justified in using the remark. (Laughter.) EVERY POSSIBLE RIGHT. The Minister explained that he had given instructions that every possible [right that could be "granted the men under the regulations should be given I them. Under the regulations, they I were not entitled to tobacco. He had given instructions to the Justice Department that every concession should bo given them. Complaint was made that they did not have enough exercise and he bad given instructions to enable the men to have exercise in jail. If they could be given work in jail, it would be done. Mr. E. Newman (Rangitikei) thought overy member of the House should assist the Government to carry out the law. He urged Mr. Craigie to withdraw the amendment. Mr. Craigio said he would be willing to withdraw if he could move a further amendment to the effect that the petition be referred to the Government. Mr. Payne 1 (who had seconded the amendment) objected to the withdrawal. AMENDMENT DEFEATED.' A division was taken, the amendment being defeated by 44 to 21. .' Tho following is the division list: — Ayes (44). Noes (21) Allen Atmore Anderson "Brown Bell Clark Ballard, R. P. Colvin Bradney Craigie Buchanan Ell Buddo Glover i Buick Hindmarsh < Davey Isitt » Dickie Laurenson i Dickson Mac Donald 1 Forbes McKenzie, R. ! Fisher Parata i Fraser Payne i Guthrie Poland i Hanan Rangihiroa Harris Russell Herdman Seddon Herries Sidey Hine Thomson, J, 0. Hunter Vedtch i Lang Lee McCallum Malcolm < Mander Massey Myers < Newman, E. i Nosworthy ■ Okey Pearce i Pomare Rhodes, R. H. " . ] Rhodes, T. W. Scott I Smith, F. H. Statham Sykes Thomson, G. M. Wilford Wilkinson Witty Young i Mr G. Witty (Riccarton) moved tthat the petition be referred to the Government for consideration. This was seconded by Mr. J. A. Hanan (IrrvercargiU). J Mr. L. M. Isitt (Christchurch North) said there seemed to be mem- , bers in the House who had no political • or any other principle. He did not : want to embarrass the Government (Laughter.) He wanted to see them do ' the right thing. The time had come when the Government ahould exercise , the. quality of mercy. This could be done without endangering the safety of . the people. The men should be released now, seeing that the Government had shown their determination to uphold the law. If the offence was repeated ! the men should be imprisoned. If the ( Government acted in the way suggested they would be doing the wiß© thing. Mr. Bradney said Mr. Isitt's advice would be "cod if they were dealing with boys. They were, however, dealing with men. Mr. H. Atmore (Nelson) said the Government were not using tact. They had shown their strength Tby putting the men in jail. Let them now show their strength by releasing them. The law had been vindicated. HOW TO GET FREE. The Prime Minister denied the inference from certain speeches that the men were in jail because the Government wanted to keep them there. These men were bound over to keep the peace, and as soon as each one entered into a bond for £10 that he would show good behaviour and obtained a friend to provide a similar bond, the prison doors would be opened and the men made free. It was no pleasure to the Government to see the men in Mount Eden. The Government had had to do a very unpleasant duty; it had taken its responsibility and had done its duty. Mr. R. McCallum (Wairau) said the Government should consult with the magistrate who imposed the penalty, i with a view to ascertaining whether he would have imposed the sentence of 12 months if he had beon assured that the offenders would not have found sureties. The amendment was lost by 40 to 22. j It was decided on the voices that the I report should lie upon the table.