A Visit to Waihi

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 87, 15 November 1912, Page 8

A Visit to Waihi

A Testimony and a Tribute

The oilier Saturday 'Vipanwire" and !n friend bonrdeu the train at Auckland I station bound tor that r,0t0 ,- uius town !in flic Oliiricmuri hills by tlio name of Wailii. i'lii route we wore much, edified iby the c!asr--cons.ci(ius conversation of ; some emii'ient. enek.-vtoos. who wero de- ' ploriug the awful weather and the. still ! mote awlul "Red fed.," w'hic.-h was '•■'dining the country and all that in it is. | All was quiet at Huntly, where a union meeting was in progress, and •excepting for the exhilarating sight of 'Mayor Parr, of Auckland, stretching i his long legs, there was nothing to reiport. Tho nearer we got to Waihi :the more hushed became the tones of .the carriage philosopher! At all stations between Paeroa and 'Waihi there I were stationed some of Cullen's "Blowj flies," who were anxiously awaiting the I arrival of any new acquisitions for "Wirlh's Circus." which now has headquarters -in Waikino. At Waihi. after tea and a brush up, - we sauntered forth to see all those wild ; and woolly scenes which the extremely i truthful Auckland press serves up to ! the people. Imagine our surprise when ■we found all quiet, nobody evidently ! worrying, everybody happy, bright and i optimistic. Down the main street ! stroll three loudly-dressed young | bonndahs, sporting red, white and blue rosettes. There is no need to ask who it'hey arc, as they come along under ! police protection, pushing women, • children and prams on one side. These | spindle-shanked, vacuous youths are I not diggers! Nay, nay, Orlando —these 'are the paragons of pressdom, they are 'the boon companions of the Blowflies, they are the patriots, yea, they are | so.abs. Of all the contemptible forms of [ life that infest our earth to-day the scab is tho most detestable. Can you wonder that honest men hold their noses, that women pull their children away ? j Over in the Miners' Union Hall coui pies are stepping the liiht fantastic, jenjoyincr themselves as only people can when they are fighting for the right. On Sunday we had a wander round this glorious country of ours that we are told we have to fight for —and it seemed to mc as a casual observer that a gigantic claw had fastened its hold on the countryside. All the hideous, iuglv-, sordid grasping of Capitalism is ! evident here. The mountain torrent | turned into a murky filthy river, the | landscape obscured by grimy shafts and i discordant heaps of spoil, rails and j pipes and cuttings and rubbish. ! Before I went to Waihi I knew that '■ the men nnd women were solid, but I never conceived such invincible power, i such unconquerable spirit, and such effective co-operation as I saw. ; o-i c.mdov pifh+ I went to the Minlors' Hall. The hall was packed, with Inerambulators before and behind, with I children, with men and women, old and

youm: Fellow-worker H. Kennedy was in the chair, and I thought 10 myself, virile he was speaking, what fools the Government were to jail the leaders, thinking that it would break the strike. They jailed them, and on came more leaders, and they jailed them, and still the invincible host came on, and still the strike went on. Ye?, they can take H. Kennedy and Wesley Richards to jail, and all the Strike Committee, and the strike will still go on, and still a hundred more will fill their shoes. The New Idea' is abroad, messieurs, and it is all-con-quering and unbailable. Early on Monday morning "Spanwire" and Co. got up early and went out to gaze upon the scobs and derelict;;, who are the hope of Barry and the pride of Rhodes. After the looal crawlers had crawled his we waited for the train from Waikino, which brings up the Maori pah. the Costley Home and the ambulance. This variety entertainment is known as "Wirth's Circus," and over it flies the Union Jack and a ,Maori flac; made out of a cover of the "Voice of Hard Labor." Mr. Barry's heart must pink when he beholds this motley crew for which his pimps and hangerson hare scoured every pah, police court and back-block camp in the North Island. But the miners don't worry any—a crew like this will do their case more good than harm; labor of this variety is a very unprofitable item for the mines trust to employ. When you hurt the chequebook, you hurt the boss every time. It is very pleasing to see the solidarity and spirit of both sexes in Waihi, the way they get up early to greet the scabs is a sight to remember. It must be costing Bill Massey's country a pretty penny keeping the bluecoats. I understand that all their notebooks are i full of names, and that the union will shortly be requested to supply them with a copy of tho roll in alphabetical order, so as to spare the over-worked cops much fatiguing brain work. I had tho pleas are of attending both a miners' committee meeting and a rjeneral meeting, and the tone, the clearness, the business procedure and co-operation was undoubtedly a revelation to "Spanwire" and Co. The men of Waihi are not weakening, they are growing stronger; the work of Fellow-worker J. B. King is telling; the education is shifting the cobwebs of ignorance—they are the workingclass militant, they have the intelli- ! gence and optimism that- wins. j And a word for the women of Waihi j—those self-sacrificing women, who ihave been defamed by the lying press ifjnd by innuendo and suggestion all through the country. They are Amazons in the fight, they are fighting their husbands' and children's fight, and will continue to fight in spite of ! filthy lies, in spite of the base and conitemntible suggestions and statements iof CuTlen's bluecoats, i I was in Waihi five days, and right in 'the middle of all the excitement, and I jiiever b.eird a curse or a swear or an unwomanly expression from tho lips of a woman during my rtny. And suro,lv it. was a test when they were gazim:* ■ upon the contemptible creatures who ■ wpt'o attempting to tnk? the work of their husbands and +hr> bread from the mouths of their children.

" Worker" Writes 8 Sees Things for Himself

On Tuesday afternoon wo journeyed down to Wa'ikino, where the pickets are in good trim, and here we had a meeting in the'hall which was attended by 3o young revolutionists wiio will be thorns'in the chequebooks of tho ! proiitmonger of the future. j On Wednesday we had to depart from the scene, having regretfully to miss a : gathering and conversazione of the i Scarlet. Runners, who were to take the j trail in a scab hunt. I The lesson is this, people, and if . you don't believe mc, go and see for \ yourselves. The Waihi Union is invincible ; it can never be beaten by the : master-class. It depends on tho work- ; ers of New Zealand. Three more ! months will lose the company, will dej feat them. Keep up the 10 per cent. When tho Waihi men have won we will fight a general fight and win when the bosses are not wanting it. I must thank H. Kennedy, Peter Fraser (real militants) and all those who made our stny a pleasure and an education. Men,women and kiddies of Waihi, here's to you! You and the Revolution. Keep believing.—SPANWlßE.