Waikato Weepings

Maoriland Worker, Volume 3, Issue 92, 20 December 1912, Page 7

Waikato Weepings

HUNTLY MINERS CO INTO ARBITRATION UNION.

A CANDID REVIEW OF THE SITUATION.

"When sorrow fills the soul with grief, AVhen morning gives us no relief, When life seems gone, and all seems dead—

Look up, my fellows ; lift your head."

Yes, the head must still be lifted up. the eyes must still be bright, with the light of fight glinting therein. The heart may be heavy (and, God knows, there are heavy hearts in this mining town to-day), but" the footsteps must be firm. We are marching on to our destined goal, and though our eyes by tears be blinded and our hearts be bruised and bleeding, yet heads erect we march. There's light in front.

Last week our notes spoke of "The Strike off—the Struggle still on." What's tho record to-day?

Something less than man stole some private letters from a hall in Waihi; things less than men published these stolen letters in their papers. Worker, steal a loaf and you go to jail; steal a pair of bootSj get a bootseller to place them on sale in his shop and he sells them —both you and the tradesman go to jail. Has the law touched the thief or the sellers of these stolen letters? No; and there is no law. to punish them. One of the stolen letters published had the following sentence in it: "Waihi crucified, Ree-bon compromised, Federation atrophied. No chance for a general strike." The position to-day is a trifle worse; let us face it like men and while admitting the truth of the position be brave enough to still fight on for the right. To-day we find Waihi crucified, Huntly demoralised, Reefton compromised, Federation vilified and atrophied. And over it all comes the lying refrain from some: That tbe interests of capital and labor are identical, that there is no struggle, only a handful of malcoutents creating trouble, etc., etc. But why this position, and who are responsible? Let us tabulate: First, there is no identity of interest between capital aud labor. Capitalists recognise this, therefore fight militant labor, and being in. possession of the sinews of war and control of the law, they command a strong position. Second, labor has not yet learnt what capital recognises: that there is no identity of interest between master and man. The workers are too much bent on conserving their own self-interest, their individual needs, to be able to ris© to the full extent of that grand slogan: "An injury to one is an injury to all." The ascent to such a height is by the tortuous path of self-sacrifice and selfabnegation, and, may the gods forgive us, we don't trust each other —much less make sacrifices for one and all. Third, self-centred minds are ever ambitious, and popularity-hunting is a game played by self-centred minds.

Many men, many minds ; and minds will differ as to details, but need there be two opinions among fighters ? When an injury has been inflicted on one of their class, there should not be. We have men in our ranks seeking office, seeking the bauble of popularity, seeking and obtaining power, who haven't the brains of a mouse or the spunk of a louse in their whole anatomy. And yet> they dare retain a position in a fighting force, because the F.L. is a fighting force composed of fighters. And you who are not prepared to fight, get out —get, get, get out —and let us have fighters who are prepared to fight, win or lose.

Or, on the other hand, take a ballot throughout the F.L., and let us see where the rank and file are in this matter. If the rank and file are not fighters, let us divide our forces —let us have a fighting organisation, and let those who will not fight have a crawling organisation.

But in the name of all nature, don't let us have 475 men, the vast majority of them fighters, forced into a crawling, cringing organisation like we in Huntly have been by an organisation that calls itself militant.

Waihi crucified, Huntly demoralised, Reefton compromised, Auckland stupified, Federation atropied—by whom : (a) The strength of the capitalist, (b) the ignorance of the worker, (c) the weakness of so-called leaders in our organisation.

In the last analysis we, the toilers, are to blame; our own class is THE class, and the only class, that defeats itself.

Huntly miners have decided to under arbitration owing to compulsion. They are being sentenced to three years of an award by the C. and A. Act. In a short while the Waikato Miners' Union will be defunct. The accident fund will cease to exist. The sick fund will go by the board. Tlie new union will be but a name, simply an organisation to assist the boss to dismiss men who will not subscribe to its funds and which will remain in existence to frame another award in 1915 that the boss approves of.

It' there is any virtue in thrift, then thrift has got a blow in Huntly and unionism is mortally wounded.

The year is waning, 'tis sinking into oblivion; some of us will be passing away from the haunts that knew us. "Bruit's" notes may never come again from Huntly.

Under more pleasant circumstances, one would refer to the festive season of peace and goodwill, but it would be sacrilege on my part to echo any such sentiments while the storm is raging in my mind and all around is at war. The struggle is on! The struggle is now! Struggle, my fellows, struggle on! Fight on, faint not—repulsed to-day because of weakness, but not vanquished, we will renew our strength and fight away until we win. Au revoir.— BRUIT.