Lawless Law and Order

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 90, 6 December 1912, Page 2

Lawless Law and Order

MORE CLIPPINGS AND COMMENTS ON THE WAIHI SITUATION

"The anti-Home Rulers," says'the Balelutha "Free. Press," "have carried their boorish tactics into the Imperial Parliament, where Mr. Asquith has been Jiowled down and missiles thrown at Mr. Churchill," adding that "it , must be a hollow cause which requires such violent methods to support it," and that "the attempt of a minority to coerce the nation must fail." No need for the "Free Press" to have gone so-.far away from home. We have a case at Waihi to which its comments are entirely applicable. It must be a hollow cause : which required such violent methods as practised by the Waihi scabitrationists t<x support, ii; and. the attempt of a minority:of the.local*enginedrivers to coerce the majority "of their fellow-workers on the field should have met the strongest opposition and condemnation of the "Free Press" if it possessed any consistency and believed in the governing rule of democracy. •

A Balclutha. blitharer, under the heading of "The Onlooker/ airs his brainlessness in the statement that "so long as. we have amongst us working men so swaddled in ignorance and conceit of themselves as these Waihi men appear to have been, so long will there be men offering to ameliorate their condition of lift' by the performance of impossibilities." Shylock's "A Daniel come to, judgment" is too insipid to apply to this phenomenon of profundity. He's the Epitomo of All Wisdom —Solomon Solon,, and Socratws,.. the Wise Men of the* East, the soothsayers and the sorcerers, the pundits and philosophers, tho quidnuncs . and , cognoscenti of .all and any time embodied in On« Omniscient Oracle.

In the course of his recent address at Christchurch, Mr. Semple dwelt upon the hardness of his lot as organiser for the Federation of Labor, saying that he got much trouble and few thanks. A voice interjected, "£lO a week." Mr. Semple silenced him with the curt remark, "You're a liar." At the conclusion of the meeting he rose to make a personal explanation He received £4 a week he said, and for ifhp first 1(3 weeks of the Waihi strike his pay had gone to others. He had not touched it. Out of the.£4 he paid the 10 per 'cent..levy like the rest of them. "Vlml a wif'o nn<\ five children to keep. For two years before he took up the potitiou of organiser he. had averaged in fhe tunnel works beyond Springfield more than £5 per week..The Federation, he added, would give him more than £4 per week, but he was content with that. . :

Describing himself as "a strong opponenu of the aims and methods of the Federation of Labor," "An Old-fashion-ed Farmer" wrote to the Christchurch "Press" in terms of disgust and disappointment at the "very bitter, gloating tone" exhibited by that paper in its leading articles and special correspondents' letters dealing with the Waihi strike and strikers, and he propounded the following questions for the consideration of the Government: "(1) Why the police could not control the Arbitration ;sts as easily as they controlled the Federationists:' (.2) Why were the Arbitrationists allowed to forcibly take possession of the Miners' Union Hall? , (3) AS" ill the Arbitrabionists be bound over to keep the peace: i-l) What right liad'tina'uthdrised 'persons; including the "Press 1,1 correspondent," to ■'"read and publish-' {lie correspondence' of' the Miners' Union?*(o) Why were the leaders of the Arbitrationists allowed to read out in a public-meeting a list of citizens who were to be ordered out of the place!' "It seems to mc," he commented, "that if the Federauionists should be bound over to keep the peace for following up and abusing the workers, the Arbitrationists ought all to b< packed straight off to jail."

The following resolution was passed at a recent meeting of the Dunedin Drivers' Union: "That this meeting records its sympathy with the Federation of Labor in its fight against police, scabs, capitalists, press, and pulpit, and note* the deliberate failure of the police, tlie willing tools of corruption,- to prosecute the 'arbitrationists' for violent conduct and wholesale breach of the peace and destruction of miners' property, and the co-operation of the mineowners in granting a holiday for that purpose, and the gloating and applause of the press over acts of violence, lawlessness and destruction, under the eyes of the police,' in the interest of the £li> ploying class,, and reaffirms the terms of .tte. resolution passed on September 2~~j> '"' '" "' - "' ■■'-'■■' ".-

In its "Ou Dit" column recently, the Balclutha "Free Press" opined that "the telegraphing all over the Dominion of private letters found in the Miners' Hall at Waihi was a 'bit below the belt,' that even the 'bottom dog' should get a' share in.the 'square deal/ and that the private correspondence of Messrs. Seuiple, Parry and Co. should, in vhe interests of fair play, he rigidly respected." What —"below the belt:*' . Impossible! Surely the Balclutha paper is. mistaken! The Dominion press h&a such a high sense of honor and regard for uprightness that it'couldn't possibly say or do anything that was in the slightest degree against cither the written or unwritten canons of truth, justice, and fair play. We have cried "Foul!" against the press repeatedly, but it has simply brushed aside our accusation on each occasion with a condescending "Pooh! pooh!" and arrogating to itself the kingly claim, has retorted tvith an air of lofty disdain: "WE, the magnanimous, the .highminded, the truth-loving, the all-wise>-r-WE can do no wrong!" But the referee is the People, and the People have replied: "Away with it. It is unclean. It has fought a foul, treacherous fight. It should have been 'sent out' , in the first round. We hereby declare it. disqualified for all time."

"Ex-miner" "to the editor of the "Lytteltou Times": Sir,—The Arbitration Union at Waihi dealt out 48 hours' notices to quit to 55 of the strikers, with more names handed in. The Mayor .viis present, and at the end of the neeting, complimented the Union upon its action. A couple of days later issued a manifesto stating that the strikers were nut being interfered with. Again, there fs this backing and tilling about the groceries and the strikers', stoTe. Of course, the new union and the police took charge of the store to save the perishable goods. How considerate I First- clear out the owners, then take their property. Now, if. the Federation Union had acted in thia way, giving men- notice to leave, and all the rest, would there not haveheen an outcry for justice? On the contrary, from the first until themselves attacked, the Federationists were guilty of no violence. They called-a spade a spade, and a. spade it will, remain. -

Replying to a spiueful attack on Federation officials in the . "West-port Times" by a corespondent signing himself "Argus," Messrs. J. Pricw and Clem Smith said : "The fat-fed agitators he talks about are doing what we workers desire them to do, and so long as they satisfy iihe workers who pay them no one has the right to'make any remarks about the value of the workers' bargain. The men whom we have chosen for our leaders and to express our voice are indeed keeping the ball rolling/ They would be absolutely no use to us if they did not, and we assert here that,, whatever faults Webb.. Sempie and Co. may possess, insincerity is certainly not one of them."

Here's a screech from the "Feilding Star." which not only vilely maligns the Federation organiser, but contemptuously insults the entire body of the intelligent workers of this country—indeed, of all countries: "The notorious Mr. Semple states that he is only paid £4 a week and travelling expenses for protecting the members of the Federation from the wrath that is coming to them Anyone who knows Mr. Semple would place his value at a much lower figure, for he possesses neither pluck nor ability, and it is simply his unscrupulous cunning which enables him to play on the susceptibilities of those who provide him with the sinews of war It is amazing to a looker-on to notice how easy it is for these so-called leaders to fool the workers to the top of their bent, their one qualification for their position being to be able to lie with efficiency and seek shelter when a storm they raise breaks.": If any of the "Star's" readers can find the slightest particle of evidence of either pluck or ability in its columns, it's more than we "can. It's like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

A. J. Day to the editor of the "Lyiiteltou Times" : Sir,—lt is very interesting to notice Mr. Sullivan's views with regard to the feeling on the West Coast towards the Federation of Labor. He states in an interview with, your reporter that speaking generally he found the Federation unpopular on the West Coast except among the miners, who are "red flaggers" to the core. To my mind, the miners are the most important section of workers on the West Coast or anywhere' else,- but they are considered to be the bottom-doggers., and they are in every,sense, of the word except intelligence. They are intelligent to their own interests; they know that the Federation of Labor is the only organisation which can do anything to improve their working conditions. On account' of recent proceedings at Waihi the Federation of Labor is reported to be dead, but I venture to say it is very much stronger than ever it was, in spite of misrepresentatio'ts.

■ The Dunetlin branch of the Socialist Party at a recent meeting passed this strongly-worded resolution regarding Waihi: —"That this meeting of the Dunedin branch of the New Zealand Socialist Party expresses its sympathy with the Federation of Labor in its contest against the self-evident corruption and lawlessness of the police at the bidding of capitalists and the Government in collusion, for the purpose of breaking up a perfectly legal strike, and the persecution of Federationists for the perfectly legal'act of picketing, and further directs t'he public's attention to the extraordinarily peaceful and orderly conduct of the Federationists for 16 weeks and until the arrival of the police, and contrasts that conduct with the brutality and lawlessness of the scabs under the protection of corrupt authority, and trusts that the meaning of a Massey 'square deal' will now need no further explanation."

The whistle at the Kaitangata mine on a recent Saturday morning sounded "No work" for the day shift on the ensuing Monday. This was the first time the no work signal has blown since the evening of the Federation holiday last July. The reason Kγ the whistle on the later occasion, we learn, was not because the men "took a holiday," but to finish some repair work; but ■■'this doesn't alter the fact that the bosses can put the employees off for any purpose and on any day when it suits their convenience to do so, and the workers are powerless to retaliate by victimising their employers in the contemptibly currish fashion of which the directors of the Taupiri Coal Company are' such bright and shining exponents. ]

The following resolution, subsequently forwarded to tfoe Attorney-General; was moved and carried at a meeting of the North Canterbury Labor Representation Committee: "That this meeting is of opinion that inadequate police protection was afforded the members of the Federation of Labor at Waihi, resulting in the death of the late miner, Frederick Evans, as well as serious injury to Constable Wade. Whatever justification might be urged for the retaliative methods of the arbitrationists, viewed from their standpoint, there can be no excuse for the officers of the law discharging their duties in Waihi othe"r than within the domain of strict impartiality. We, therefore, are of opinion that either the police in Waihi were inefficient in the discharge of their duty, or acquiescence to assaults was shown. Furthermore, it is the duty of the Government to hold an independent inquiry into the whole affair, and if any blame is attachable to the Commissioner of Police, the widow of the late Frederick Evans should receive compensation from the Government and that Constable Wade's case receive equal consideration, inasmuch as of police should be held equally responsible for the life of the public and the men under his charge. We sincerely trust that the Attorney-General will give this resolution serious attention coming from a body that stands for arbitration against the strike."

• The Balclutha "Free Press" waxes sarsactic: "Police Commissioner Cullen, if the Press Association is to be taken as a reliable guide, would seem to have covered himself with glory in handling the mob that wanted to hostilely greet Mr. Massey outside the Auckland Town Hall the other night, and might well be hailed as entitled tp the proud post of Commander of the Forces. The Owinmissioner is credited with masterly tactics —worthy of a Yon Moltke, the reader is inclined to exclaim. We read of his 'masterly generalship' in dealing with the mob —in one place indicated as composed of Red Federatkmists, and in another credited with a numerical strength of i>ooo. We are further told that the mounted constables made a lane through the 'hostile ranks,' which later burst into 'frenzied boohings,' and that for a while matters 'looked ugly.' That was after the 'checkmated mob had stood sullenly back on the footpath and waited for Mr. Massey's motor-car to come past.' Commissioner Cullen 'formed up his men, mounted and afoot, the whole force marching steadily towards Queen street, and through the assembled mob.' After hearing of this gallant mov#'and 'rush after rush' by the police, it is something of a come-down to be told that there were no heads smashed. In fact, the rushes were so effective 'that in 10 minutes, and without a person being injured, the mob was diminished by onehalf." .

The Christchurch "Press' quotes The "Worker headings to Herb Kennedy's narrative as a "sample of it a style." We have quoted in previous issues the headings of various of our capitalist contemporaries, and here are a few more "samples of their style": "Red Fed. Hoodlums. A Campaign, of Calumny. Fed. Snake Yarns." These are from the "Grey' River Argus." which is no modern incarnation of the creature of Greek mythology, but a one-eyed, obhque-visioned monstrosity that seeseverything Federationist with twisted, distorted view. And here are some from the Christchurch "Evening News": "Federation's Cunning Dodges. Scares its Womenfolk. False Telegram Leads to Panic. Many Lies in Circulation." We could quote similar "samples" till further orders, but that dose is nauseating enough. We would, however, like to ask the' "Press" if it' can show us in The Worker anything in which "the misrepresentation is so palpable and the animus shown by the coarse and bitter language employed is so apparent," as in the article in the "News" of November 16 entitled: "Watchman, What of the Week?" "Many Lies in Circulation!" That editorial emanation was chockful of lies. And the "News," our readers must remember, is owned by the same proprietary and issued from the same office as the extremely virtuous "Press." "Birds of a feather" —you know the rest!

Strikes are barbarous; but* some employers are hardly better than barbarians.—W. J. Hodgetts.

,From "A Toiler 1 r Tale," in reply to the spleen vented by "Argus," in" the correspondence columns of the "Westport Times":—Bob Semple and Paddy Webb are fighting vested interests, the whole of the money-lending parasites of London, the police force, Parliament, a horde of strike-breakers and tfie almost intolerable ignorance of a section of the public who are smoodgers and bosses' lickspittles. "A smile from a lord is breakfast for a fool" has been aptly said. Semple and Webb are in their present positions as the chosen of the Federation of Labor. They are fearless, true men, who, because they have been brought up in the hard, master-govern-ed world of ours without a college education, and call a spade a spade witfc.out fear of contradiction, are subjected to the unprincipled and lying venom of those who have not the courage to question either one of them when speaking, but resort to the press with their silly effusions. * . * # Writing to the "Otago Daily Times" in reply to its leader on "The Waihi Aftermath," "M.S." says: One remark in your article is worthy of special mention. In referring to the "48-hours' notice affair," you say, "It was not only illegal —it was a distinct blunder in tactics." This sentence is full of significance. If blundering tactics are worse thaii illegal acts, then our Government stands self-condemned. Not only has it failed to formulate a policy to settle the strike successfully, but the tactics it has adopted have been a huge blunder from beginning to end, Net only Imm it

The leaders of the Federation of Labor have expressed their disapproval of the actions of the press in no uncertain terms during the progress of fhe Waihi strike, and have laid the charge of bias' and publishing untrue stateI ments against the press. The FederaJ tion officials contend that only news favoring the mine-owners has reached the public per medium of the press, and the other side kept in the background. This may or may not be true, but all fair-minded people will agree with.us that the press has.no right to publish correspondence of a private nature that has passed from one official to another. When the Federationiste Were driven from the Miners' Jjallat Waihi the Arbitrationists seized the correspondence and eagerly sc.anned it for information that might be used against the Federation. This in itself was bad enough, but to allow a press representative to make extracts and telegraph them all over t'he Dominion is nothing short of a contemptible action. The action of .those responsible for interfering with private correspondence deserves the strongest condemnation.—-"Petone Chronicle."

Writing on "Labor's Mistakes" to a Christchurch contemporary, "Kerei" says : "Doubtless in the world there are perfect people, but rarely do we meet a man who has not- blundered. Are the Legislatures of any land perfect? Do they not blunder '; If not, why repeal or substitute new Acts for erroneous ones!- . No, despite the seeming split in the ranks of organised Labor, Labor will ere many years pass be really soliditied and will neither be bought, bribed nor bullied. A divine discontent is abroad, and. eliminating "scabs," all toilers swk the better conditions which their labor entitles them to here on earth, and few now heed the dictum of the skypilots that the poor and oppressed will gain their reward in the next world, wLiLt the sweating employers gain theirs in this and pay heavy premiums <m Sm insurance for the next."

The following resolution was carried after o recent meeting addressed by Organiser Seinple: "That this meeting of waterside workers of Lyttelton tenders it's deepest sympathy to Mrs. Evans, of Waihi, whose liud'tmnd met) his. death in defence of unionist and indue* trial' principle*."

failed to settle the dispute, but it) has absolutely failed to maintain law and order.

In conversation with a reporter at Christchurch a resident of Reefton expressed the opinion that the suggestion that it would take two years for the West Coast gold-mining centre to recover from the effects of the strike was a foolish one, and he felt sure that within two months of the men starting work things would be aa prosperous as ever.. Prospecting was going on, arid there would be plenty of work available. During the strike the conduct of the men had been very good indeed, a state 01, affairs which was in some degree dUe to the splendid work done by Mr. Fagan, the secretary of the Miners' Union.

In a letter to the "Otago Dailj Times," Mr. Arthur McCarthy made this statement: "Now, Sir, anyone who knows anything about the United Labor Party knows that many thousands of copies of the constitution of t/he party were spread all over New Zealand. Fifty thousand people know that section 2, clause 4, states that their whole power may be used (if need be) in industrial revolt. . . There has never been any secret about it." Commenting thereon, another correspondent remarked: "1 am doubtful if so many people know this. Probably many of the copies of the constitution have been mislaid. I believe that any outsiders who think about the United. Labor Party,- judging from the published speeches oti its leaders, are under the intpresstoii that- they -expect to get all they want-through the -balbt-box-, that th&y aie : dead 'against- strikes- and- all their abominations.- But it is well that the truth should be known."

J. Grey: A good deal of the law and order piffle is but) the parrot-cry of those whose watchword is "Divide and govern." The employers can fight their own battles without the help of any section of workers. Yes, but the "law" must be obeyed. What said Sir Thomas More.: "Society is nothing but a conspiracy of the rich against the poor. Its .economic legislation is nothing but the carrying out of that legislation by process of law."

-■•■ In a letter headed "Arbitration-" in ■the "Lyttelton Times," J. Grey opines that the leaders of the United Labor Party would be doing more good if they were urging the justice of the farm laborers' demands instead of flinging mud at Federationists, be these latter right or wrong. The farm laborers, he states, are the "worst paid and housed workers in.the Dominion," and of their opinion and experience of the Arbitration Court he writes: "There are hundreds of country workers who look upon the Arbitration Court as a sham, with any amount of law and technicalities, but no real desire to grant the farm laborers their just due—fair pay, fair housing and fair play. The Farm Laborers' Union has for nine years tried, and unsuccessfully, w> get an award granted regarding wages and accommodation. And the farm laborer must obey the law, wear cotton pants and sleep in! hovels, though his employer ,r may own rasehorses, motor-cars and up-to-date J mansions."

. The Nelson "Colonist" prints some of the Professor's stodge under the heading of "Sound Advice to Miners." It's sound all right—all sound.

For close on 20 weeks fifteen hundred miners obeyed the law and kept the peace. For the length of that time no member of the Miners' Union was proceeded against for any offence against law and order. Then the Government intervened to assist the Gold Corporation. Up to that intervention Waihi, as a mining and a prohibition town, had a clean record. Since the Government helped the name of Waihi throughout Australasia is the prescribed area, of the unelotin tiling called the scab. Gold, the power and curse of all civilised countries, particularly those in which it is found, has done its dirty work. Press, pulpit and Parliament have succumbed to its influence, and a thriving township has become a community of rogues. What they • are is what they proved themselves on the holiday given or taken on. Tuesday, November 12, 1912, a date to be remembered and commemorated in New Zealand history to the credit of nobody and the shame of the Government. It iised to be a custom in British elections t<i secure all the known town roughs and disorderly men, and 6wear them in as special constables on election day. Each man was provided with a baton and sent to a central place to await orders. Beer and other intoxicants were freely distributed, and before the day was out the whole of the special police were so drunk or disabled as, to be helpless in the matter of provoking a town riot. This ancient custom has been revived at Waihi, save that the specials are called arbitrationists and have been picked up anywhere. A special difficulty in the near future will be getting rid of them, for when things are settled the Waihi Gold Corporation will have no room for wasters, even if they call themselves arbitrationists. Then the trouble will commence. As for the miners.whose cause is seemingly lost, they may take heart. The struggle will be historical and in days to come the brave miners of Waihi will have honorable mention. A good cause can never be lost; and is never defeated. Here is one (of the least maybe) who knows the heart-and J3oul of< the men who endured the struggle, wedded to the cause they fought for. Waihi is a stage in the journey. Here'we'll rest awhile and plan the future—^Victory.— "Ben Adhem," in 'Tetone Chronicle."