AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN BURNS. (From the "Pall Mall Gazette.")

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 417, 6 November 1889, Page 6

AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN BURNS. (From the " Pall Mall Gazette.")

John Burns is at the yn-esent moment the centrav figure of liondon, ana it was therefore with unfeightd pleasure that wo welcomed the swar.thy, stalwart man to our ollice when ho came in fresh from a great meeting at Towfiihill t,O leport progress and express a ,cheerful confidence as to the result of the strike. But his voice was husky and broken, and it was with considerable alaim that we saw the effect which three weeks of -continuous strain had had on the Herculean frame of the king of the strike. For John Burns is in veiy truth the hero of the hour. It was he who set the heather on fire in the first instance, and ifc has been t ho who from day to day and from hour to hour, tor 20 hours out of every 24, during the last 21 days, has been organising, directting, controlling, inspiring and generally managingthe strike. It is no wonder that the harass and woivy and responsibility, to t-ay nothing ot the sheer physical strain of addressing thousands of men in the open air, should have told even upon him. It will be an immense blessing if he gets through without a collapse. Long before the strike began one of his friends on the county council complained bitterly that hci was killing himself as fast as he could with overwork, and now, on top of all that,- came trhis gisianbic labour into which he has flurg himself in the East End., ' "It i^ haul woik," said he — " terribly i hard work, and no man, except with a voice thafc-tpeuks a^ through the mouth'of, a cannon, can muke himself audible to thesV va&t crowds. More than one hava trjedJV and have utterly broken down after J a Tew times My voice is,' as you tay, husky and, strained. How could it be otherwise ? I' mcidG no less than 36 open-air speeches in' the first three days on which the strike \va3 set going, and have kept it up giving more or less 10 speeches a.day ever since. " But, of course, Mi* Burns, you had prepared the ground beforehand V it was smilingly suggested. " Stftlf and nonsense!" said Mr Burns, contemptuously. " Prepared the ground befoiehand ! There never was a ..strike so much of an impromptu as thi&. The ground was in no way prepared It was a mere spark, flung out by accident, as it were, which set the whole thing in a blaze. We have had to deal from first to last with unorganised forces ot men scattered over a vast area, most inconveniently situated. Oh ! if only the north side docks had lain as conveniently together as the wharves on the south, we could have run the whole thing with one-tenth part }f the expenditure of strength and anxiety. Look at the map of the dock? and you will see how they, lie scattered about, here and there and ail' over, until, what with running about, backwards and forwards, a man gets completely worn out even before he has time to open his mouth !" " You ought to drive your carriage, Mr Burn*, and go in state." "Not a bit of it," said he. "John Burns must go about among his mates on foot and mix with them as one of thornselves." "But ore you taking care of yourself, Mr Burns ?" " Never mind me. The work has got to be put through. Sometimes, curiously enough, the police seem to be very anxious lest I should break down !" " Why the police, of all men in the : world, Mr Burns?" J "Ah!" ?aid he, "I see you have been! away from ' London and do not understand ' how much things have changed since the ' days when the police resrardod us in Trafalgar Square as the source and centre of all | disorder. Why, at the' present moment ' the police are our best friends ! What with-polico and parsons, I can hardly get j about. They seem to vie with each other as to which 1 will be kindest to me. I will tell you," said Burns, chuckling,' as he proceeded, "of one instance which amused me immensely. You will remember three years ago when the first shindy ,was on in Trafalgar Square, I was run in by an inspector from Scotland Yard. He arrested, me, and I was then puo.on my trial at the Old Bailey as an incendiary and dangerous criminal. Well, the other day whom should I meet but this identical officer, who noticed that, l was very hoarse with speaking. What was my r surprise fco see him come up to me, producing from his pocket a packet of voice lozenges, and say to me, • Here, Mr Burns, you had better take some ; they will do your voice good.' Just fancy that ! when you have chief inspectors from Scotland Yard taking care of the throat of Jobri Burns, And the parsons are just the same — " " And no wonder, Mr Burns, you are becoming three parts of a parson yourself !" cAh!" ■ said Mr Burns, laughing, \* 1 think you must have been reading some" of, my speeches. Bub,' as<a i matter of'faVb, I am glad you ha ye, touched upon that aspect of the strike,, to/yi'hich adequate attention has not been directed. It is aigreat moral 'movement, and I have sometimes been^surprised at myself, at the way in which I have found myself holding forth as if 1 had

indeed been a pavson myself. You know I am a teetotaller and have never smoked ; and there is nothing makes me more sick than to ccc men wasting the money which should go to support the wife and bairns in the taproom and. in betting. ' And I have let oufc &t them again and again," said Burns, his features glowing .with excitement at the memory of one thrilling scene, when, in a heavy shower of rain, he groused a greafc multitude to immense entfi'ustasm, nobby flattery or by denouncing their opponents, but by "pitching in " hot and strong into their own splHsh habits, which degraded their manhood and rendered them incapable of acquitting themselves 1 ko men in a great strike such as that now on. "Upon my word, Mr Burns, the next thing we shall hear of you is that you are in the Salvation Army !" I " Not much fenr of that," said Mr I Burns ; •' but I must say. now you mention it, that the Salvation Army has indeed done magnificent service to the workmen in the present crisis. I have been surprised at the practical, busine.«s-lik6 good sense with which they have conducted the feeding of so many thousands of people from day to day. It has,.been quite admirable, and you cannot speak too highly of the spirit with which they have put their shoulders to the work. " " And the Cardinal, Mr Burns*? What with the Cai'dinal on one side and General Booth on the other, you are quite in the odonr of sanctity." "I don't know about that," said Mr Burn?. "All I know i*? that the Cardinal has been our good friend in this business, and nothing could be better than his sympathy and support * There is no doubfc about this — we have the moral' support of all the best people going, and it will be a strange thing indeed if we cannot pull off the victory with such allies." "I see the' 'Times' says you are dead beat." "The 'Times' said that a fortnight ago, and the strike is still going on," said Burns in reply. " But what we need, of course, is the sinews T bf war. Systematic, regular collections alone will enable usHo cope with the ever-increasing demands made upon our exchequer. We* have a whole army to feed, and somehow or other we must keep them going. Hitherto, yre have succeeded to a. marvel, and everything seems to .show that the public is riot goiug to leave up in -the \urch." "Is there any weakening along the line ?" "On our si'ile, no ; but on the oilier aide we have a list, of wharfingers and' others who will grant the 6d, and where, of courao, work 13 now being ro?iimed: We shall thereby relieve the strain upon our sations. and convert a large section of the strikers into contributories to the strike fund." " What about the ultimate outcome ?' " The present more or less insolvent dock companies will be, taken over and converted into a poi t tiust, which will assume control of the existing' docks at a price of somo £4,000,000 or £5,000,000 sterling." "No more, 'Mr Burns? They cost £17,000,000.' "I should think £4,000,000 0r £5,000,000 ' waa about their upset price at the present moment : and more than that thoy do not need to look for. But that isun the future; what is wanted at the present moment is 'money " 'And, Mr Burns, for you to keep your health. If you weie to go smash, Ido nob know what would happen." , "Ah; well!" said Mr Burns, "we will see about that ;" and therewith he turned to go. Then he stopped aTd said : "By the by, if you are going to print anything from me, don't forget to say a wprd about my wife. Leave-but What youJu'J^e about me, 1 bub put her in: Kever ari^interview will I hav^."publi*hed that does iiofc do her •thtß* justice "of saying what splendid service she has rendered. .She's a better man than lam." ' "