The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28. INDUSTRIAL UNREST.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 145, 28 September 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28. INDUSTRIAL UNREST.

Isolated as .we are in New Zealand, we {hear but an echo of the .tremendous j events that are taking' place in the industrial 'World. Our commercial concerns are comparatively small; we are unable to place ourselves in the position of one of a body of fifty thousand factory operaj tives on strike or to quite appreciate the gravity of the situation from the em- .! ployers' point of view. England, "Ger- , France and otter continental 1 countries are at present hotbeds of in- ! dUstrial discontent. There are big strikes in Canada, the United. States, and 1 the States of ittoe Commonwealth. There is discontent and l lighting between master and maoi in New Zealand All the countries involved are learning grave lessons. The worker himself has learned ! the lesson of his strength. He has s&en ; how .weakly dependent the controllers of {capital are without him. He has seen | that his labor is a more potent factor than the capital that buys it, and that the creation or destruction, of that capital rests in his hands. It is very human that in countries where capital has been able to dictate what terms it liked in the past that its controllers should still conceive thia/t it is all-peiwerful and all-con-trolling, but capital without labor is like an engine without steam or a boat •without a bottom. Unquestionably most of the labor troubles of this generation have at'their root the fact that the majority of (toilers have had to work, for a •bare existence, that wflmtever-profits accrued as a result of their (handiwork they received mo more, and that the. domestic aspect mot concerned employees. A worker's world lis not altogether bounded by. the four walls of a factory, or the gates of a dockyard, and since It has been the recent custom to teach him more than he ever knew before he has come to the conclusion that not always do those dependent on him, get "a fair deal." Working) "on his pwn,". the average toiler has no more chance, of redress than hie has of getting hold of diamonds. But unity of purpose amongst big bodies' of men has given confidence that has never before been felt. In huge manufacturing towns such, a® are seen in the North of EngHand a strike of operatives means immediate stoppage of profits to the masters. There is no possibility of filling their places, for all arc skilled in greater or . less degree. The stubbornness of the striker holds out only while the stomach of the striker is fairly full, and ithe stubbornness of the masters hold out until the profits sensibly diminish. At this distance some of the strikes that hare occurred in the old lands seem to have been caused iby ridiculously simple means, but we are quite unable to see inside the hearts of the tens of thousands of out-of-works, or, better still, into their homes. There is a deep-seated' reason for this sudden powerful and continued fight between capital and labor,, which has spread from country to country with lightning rapidity andi which must have overwhelmed the families of the toilers in distress and bitterness. The boasted powers of arbitration are feeble when grievances are buried in the hearts of a people. The harsh discipline which enabled a master of old times to. regard mien as mere steps in the road' of his progress is only just passing away. In most men's hearts is a desire to be led and disciplined, but iron rule will wear out patience and grievances grow with idleness to feed on. Whatever have .been the causes of the innumerable strikes and lock-outs recorded every day, this much is certain, that labor has found its strength and is using it; that capital i» strong only while labor is employed l by it; that labor thait brings only the means of bare existence is mere slavery; that highly-paid labor which becomes disaffected for small causes (as in the engineers' strike) is as much to he reprehended as the harsh practices of capitalists, and! that the professional fomentation of strife is one of the greatest crimes that can he committed. Every sane citizen will admit that the worker should be paid adequately for the service he gives, tout he will also, not forget that innumerable industrial disturbances' for which there has been no reason have been bred from the mouths 'of agitators. There is something a little inspiring about the spontaneous outburst of any body of people who feel that they are being wronged l , but there is everything detestable about the agitator who crawl* to hi* salary over the atwred

bodies of strikers'' wires and What effect on the world at large these innumerable trade disturbances may have it is impossible to forecast. It is certain, however, that once they are adjusted, the refining effects of the fights will foe felt by both employers and employed. Out of it all it is hoped that the worker and' master will see tihat the ome is the complement of t'he other: that if there were no loom there would be no weaver, and' if there were no master I there would be no loom.