The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1912. THE LESSON OF THE STRIKE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 169, 4 December 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1912. THE LESSON OF THE STRIKE.

The executives of the Federation of Labor, driven lay desperation, lias at last accepted defeat, and intimated its intention of burying the hatchet which has been taken from it, and Hying a soiled white flag, and declaring a truce without even asking for an indemnity of £54.308 Is 2'/,d, and doing all those other generous things that people in the wrong are wont to do when they find that it is impossible to go on "wronging" with safety and comfort to themselves. Therefore, it has declared the strike " off." It is a pity that this step was not taken months ago, when the failure of the efforts to establish Federation rule among the miners had become ob- | vious, and the continuation of the foolish and almost criminally wicked strike could not by any possible chance be expected to produce anything but misery and loss. Still we are all so much relieved at the turn of events that it is not the time for saying hard things about anybody connected with the unfortunate business, and it is to be hoped that the parties connected with the whole miserable dispute will make serious efforts to forget the quarrel and all its unhappy incidents. Whatever may »be thought of the motives that inspired the strikers, it has to be admitted that their rank and file fought a singularly hopeless battle with immense courage and loyalty. Many of the men had homes in Waihi, and it was no light sacrifice for them to face ruin, with their wives and children clinging to them, in vindication of what was., according to their lights, a principle that was just as dear to them as the principles of the Fcderationists. We have no desire to condone the tactics of intimidation and oppression that were used by the Federationists in Waihi, or. indeed, to palliate the conduct of the Arbitrationists in meeting like with like in the later stages of the struggle. But we do believe that many of the miners were sadly, though honestly, misguided. The lesson of tie strike ought to be plain to everyone. The use of force in the industrial field may sometimes be necessary in countries where the democracy does not prevail and the workers have little or no voice in the making of laws. But the strike becomes simply a confession of social and intellectual incapacity when it is applied in a land where every man and woman has a. right to share in the work of government, and where an organised majority can take control at will of all the legislative and administrative machinery. No thoughtful worker believes

to-day that tlie sectional strike helps the cause of Labor or does anything but harm, and clearly the organisation which could win a general strike could speak with an irresistible voice at an election. The Federationists are still whistling to keep up their spirits in the dark, but the voices of their leaders are as the voices of those crying in the wilderness, and the result of the Waihi strike should be a sufficient lesson to prevent any material body of workers in the country ever again indulging in such a public kicking against imaginary pricks. The strike has, after all, not been without its uses, and though its end has been "quietness at last," its lesson will, most certainly, not be lost upon the industrial community.