South Canterbury Times. THURSDAY, FEB. 19 1880.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2159, 19 February 1880, Page 2

South Canterbury Times. THURSDAY, FEB. 19 1880.

It seems almost a pity that the Inquisition as it once Houriscd in Spain, with all its ingenious instruments of torture, cannot be revived in New Zealand for the pleasure of some of the petty autocrats that rule the departments of the Civil Service. The gentlemen who preside over the telegraph service have lately developed a taste for the art of slow torture worthy of a Nero. Unfortunately their operations are so circumscribed by red tape and legal restrictions, not to speak of humanity, that they are in the position of a large goldfish in a small globe—they have no proper latitude. Since the strike among the operators that occurred a few weeks ago they have given an illustration of what they are capable of doing if they only could be permitted. Instead of admitting their fault honestly, they lirst removed the injustice that provoked the strike, and then took steps to revenge the action of those who rebelled against a ■flagrant wrong. The action thus taken scarcely comes within the ordinary category of punishments. The' lining and dismissal of a few operators who ventured, when all other means of protesting had failed, to resort to a practical expedient in order to obtain redress, can only be denominated an act of pitiful revenge. The worst feature in connection with this melancholy episode in the history of departmental rule arises from the fact that the victims of Dr Lemon’s mercy and Mr Maginnity’s magnanimity have been subjected to a kind of slow torture. Instead of being promptly dealt with, they have undergone a species of cruelty quite as refined as eel-skinning. The Superintendent of Telegraphs might have been justified, if he had promptly dismissed the whole of the officers on strike from the public service. But he has taken the mean, despicable plan of torturing a few for the example of the many. The methods and degrees of torture have been singularly varied. Several have been fined 10s each, while others have been ordered’to contribute £5 out of their miserable earnings. As if the

pecuniary rack was not sufficient, four have been dismissed the service, and their names are paraded in the Government “ Gazette.” Among the dismissed ones wore two of the fastest operators in the colony. According to the Wellington papers, these men were kept for weeks in suspense, unable to look for employment nor leave it alone, and they were finally dismissed without even a certificate as to their efficiency as operators. The “ New Zealand Times,” referring to one of them, says : —“ Mr Jaggar left Wellington because, in the first place, he could not discover when he was going to be dismissed, if at all : neither was any information accorded to him ay to the inquiry which ho asked for being granted. He was indefinitely suspended without pay. For several weeks he was cheerfully looking forward to being ; starved out 1 of Wellington.”

The vindictiveness exhibited towards these iiufortunatc'operators, can hardly fail to arouse profound sympathy. T\ c flat ter ourselves that wc live in an age and in a Colony where petty depart mental tyranny of the nature above described, will not be tolerated. It is quite evident that under the present management the telegraph department will never be brought into a condition of harmony. The cruelty, injustice, and vindictiveness displayed throughout this unfortunate affair, will not be fotgotten by those who remain in the service. We quite admit that diciplino must be maintained, and insubordination must therefore he punished. But to inflict punishment and wreak revenge, are two very different things. The concessions that followed the late strike show that the strike was justified : hut had the case been otherwise., nothing would have warranted the Government in first healing the sore that oppression created, and then leisurely re-opening it by a display of paltry tyranny. We trust that when Parliament assembles a full enquiry into the whole of the circumstances connected with this lamentable abuse of departmental power will he demanded.