KING PATAUD.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9459, 31 May 1909, Page 2

KING PATAUD.

'THE STORY OF AN AUTOCRAT

(By Joseph Brandrqtsh)

It ia often asserted that the circumstance creates the man, am Emile Patand, who nntil a couple of years ago was quite unknown outside the ranks of hie fellow-work-men, the Paris electricians, has been brought prominently into the pubjio eve by the special circumstances arising out of the profound po^® a evolution now going on in * iano ®- M. Patand. the, dictator in the present Labour crisis -in n F n rau °®* may be described as a type of the quick-witted, dett-handed Pansia artisan, into whose chara ®*® eci . eaters a spirit of ally towards persons jsssrssr /s? * what tall, stoutly t five a W«. ■ io™SSl §J5k ‘SSSaoto, ana his closely cropped ballet head, is f cv^ d b |j iig broad-brimmed soft felt hat His Wh '° le ofSab 9 XoS “ro“FoSs. energy with a certain careless, good Sired, easy-going _ manner tha makes a strange mixture. He has Inst several of bis teeth, so that when he speaks his words are acby a Rustling sound that is rather surprising until one kuows the cause. PATAUD THE SAILOR. Patand was born in Pans; he served his apprenticeship m a well-known-machine simp, where he was Sofced a most intelligent operative. When the time came for him dergo his military service he chose tfio Na-y. and was BenttoOi ier boars, where he was grafted as a mechanician into the engineers’ department, and for the r best part of four years- be was at ..sea in the engine room of various warships. On returning to Paris be secured employment with one of the el ectrio lighting companies, and here again quickly became noted by his foreman as an intelligent, able, and workman. He rose to earn the highesk scale of pay to which an electrician can attain. , At that time there were two electricians’ unions in Pans, aud "L, Patand naturally belonged t 0 ° n ®. them; he brought himself into notice With his fellows by his inteligent remarks at the occasional meetings of the union, and four years ago his comrades elected him Jieir secretary. Patand immediately began to show his capacity for organisation by bringing about the amalgamation of the two existing unions and welding them into one well organised body. A strike fund was established to which every member was obliged to contribute, and a permanent strike committee was formed, the names being kept secret to avoid reprisals! from tbe employees. All this passed unnoticed, but one fine day a couple of years ago Patand played his first card. The electricians had several times asked for a scale of pay more in harmony with the substantial profits wbioh the electric lighting companies were making out of the consumer in virtue of the municipal charter they held. The companies had alwavs refused their men s request, but on a certain morning Patand called his strike committee together and said, ‘T think we may now ask for a rise with some chance of getting it ” Off went a delegation to the directors of the various companies, hut a peremptory refusal was the result, with a threat that the leaders in such an agitation might be dlsmisssed if this sort of thing continued. The next evening, to everybody a surprise, Paris was in darkness, and there was no electric motive power. Hot a single electrician had reported for dnty. Twenty-four hours later the strikers won ‘‘hands down,” the companies acceding to all their demands.

PATAUD THE STRATEGIST. Needless to say, Pataud’s reputation as a working man’s tactician and his influence , witfci his fellowelectricians went op with a bound, aad for the first time the general public heard of bis name, and ironioaly began to refer 'to him as “Le Roi Patand. Until then the Labour leaders had not paid much attention to the secretary of the Electricians’ Union. Now, however, he came in for a great deal of notice. His tactics were admired. Other anions began to imitate them; always, said Pa-, taud, keen the “enemy”—to wit, the employer, the capitalist—in ignorance of your intentions, and always take him by .surprise. Then came Pataud’s crowning glory from the eiaotriaian’s standpoint. The clerks, inspectors, collectors, and generally the non-teohnioal staff of the electric lighting and power companies formed a separate union, hut it was, so to speak, an association of black-coated and tall-hat feed men who could have little in common with the workmen Patand set to work to bring about an understanding between the electricians and the moo-technical employees, and be succeeded so wall that by following his »dvioe the employees secured a general inorase in salary without any necessity for a strike. Now the , employees work hand in hand with the electricians, and would immediately “go out” with them should the necessity again arise. It was Patand, too, who one day held a maia meeting at the Pans Labour Exchange under the very nose of M. Lepine, the Prefect of Police, and in spite of his prohibition. The police bad turned off the lights and held the place in force. Moreover, they had locked and bolted the great meeting hall, but natnrally it never occurred to them to prevent the union offlolalsjfrom proceeding to their various offices in thp building. There are 120 of those offices all overlooking a courtyard, and there at night,, to the light of hundreds of Chinese lanterns, 600 delegates held their meeting ffom the 120 windows, with the police looking on astonished below. Pataud has his office on the fifth floor of the Labour, Exchange. It is a plainly furnished little room pasted with various placards and appeals to trade unions. Pataud’s salary is £156 per annum, or exactly the amount he was earning as an electrician, and when recently a wellknown Paris newspaper paid him £6 for an article he promptly paid the amonut in to the “strike fund, PATAUD THE MAGISTRATE. Recently Pataud was, elected to he a “prad’-homme,” or magistrate,

whose business it is to settle disputes between employers and employed. Though elected as a representative of the employed, be has tha reputation of being fair in his decisions, and if he thinks an employee who is pleading has not a good case he does not hesitate to tell him so in a friendly way. . His manner of handling a crowd is interesting. He appears to have greatly observed himself and to have studied a little during the last four years. His language is generally moderate, but always tinged with that curious ‘‘blague” and scoffing banter which is so characteristic of the Paris workman. Although by no means a brilliant speaker, ! he m▼ariab'y succeeds in finding some phrase, some point that will interest and amuse his audience, and once, he feels he has got the crowd with him his native satire and ironical “blague” (or humbug) gets full Such is Patand, a born leader of crowds, a tactician by intuition, a good-humoured cynic. He himself says he expects to spend a few years in prison, for in the issue between Pataud aqd Parliament, which he wants to over throw, there ia little donbt as to the course French justice will take. —Daily Mail.