A CRINGING ORAWLER.

NZ Truth, Issue 136, 25 January 1908, Page 4

A CRINGING ORAWLER.

. I, ..,,., ._>'. 1 .. . . HOUND HOBBS ON HIS FELLOW WORKER. A Pious Pimp Quotes Scripture* A Viper That The Worker Nursed. If there is a person deep down be* low the average line of contempt it Is the skunk who sides with the bosses when his fellow-toilers are agitating for a living wage. The most miserably under-paid persons m this perpetually prosperous country are the farm laborers, and the employers who are most capable of paying good wages, and don't, are the farmer individuals who claim to be the backbone of the country. A Farpi La- i borers' Union has been formed m the South Island, and recently cited a case before the Arbitration Court at Temuka. They have got AN EMPLOYERS' PIMP there called Ernest Hobbs. This crawling worm for some time represented himself as a member of thc Union, although he couldn't show his admission ticket, and has come out m his true colors m evidence before the Court. He said "he was opposed to the demands of the ' Union, and was quite sure it would be detrimental to him if contracting were abolished. He had seen men take contracts at- which they only earned ,4s a day, , laut it was their own fault, because they loafed on the job. If such men were at day work they would put the 'low gear' on. Witness had made 20s a day turnip hoeing, at 12s 6d an acre. He was making 12s a day now. Employers treated their men fairly so long- as a good day's work was done." This brutal hound is playing into the hands of the employers, -who want the pay of the laborer cut down to starvation point by competition ncr medium of the contract system. "Four shillings a day!" Hang-dog Hobbs ought to be roasted on the hobs of Hades or used as poisoned meat for the decimation of stray mongrels.- Hogg-wash Hobbs remarked further that "the half-holiday he had heard described by workmen as the most ridiculous thing ever heard of. The Union did not represent the first-class workers, nor did it represent the great majority." Fancy a workman objecting to a half-holiday ! Also imagine a Union working to increase wages FOR A SWINE LIKE THAT/ who would cringe before the anger of an able-bodied man. "He considered that the majority of farm workers were incompetent. Incompetency*and laziness were responsible for the low wages earned by some men. The majority of witness's mates were competent men. He had known contractors to undertake work simply m order to do another man out of the work: He did not call this cutthroat work ; he called it men's tolly. "_ Now, aren't the toilers of Temuka proud of their fellow-worker, who applauds the low wages given by the bosses and accuses his own. class of incompetency and . laziness. Do they keep tar and feathers m Temuka? . Now, is Humbug Hobbs getting paid for his bumming ? He aays not. ."I have come of my bwh free will to protect mv own interests," he protested, when charged. "And to kill the interests of my fel-low-workers," he might have added. "It to oik men very , little time. to 'do their washing— onoe \ a month' ;" so remarked horrible. Hobbs, who probably WASHES ONCE A YEAR, and should have his soul scrubbed with a bath-brick if he's got a spiritual organ anywhere about him. He objected to the Saturday half-holiday when the men do nothing and lie About the premises. "When there is nothing on a man is better .working," he remarked. "Why not work on Sundays, then," asked Thorn, a disgusted member of the Court. Witness : "Six days shalt thou labor, and on the seventh, rest." (Laughter.) Mr Thorn asked witness if he . did not like to make 2s 6d an hour by contract, and pay the men he employed ls an hour. Witness : Yes. Mr Thoirn :- Very well, don't you qilote Scripture to me again. If there is anything more despicable on the face of God's earth than this crawler Hobb& "Truth" would like to hear about it.