South African Strike

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 188, 7 February 1914, Page 5

South African Strike

MR. SMUTS' SPEECH. -HEARD WITH'INTENSE INTEREST.! A GRAPHIC PICTURE. MEETING CONCLUDES WITH ; CHEERS. Mj Cable —Press Association—Copyright Capetown, February 5. • There was intense interest in Mr. &muts' speech, lie drew a graphic picture of the reign of terror on the Rand, , where scabs were subjected to the .grossest brutality, and anarchy was -o rampant that civilians dared not assist the authorities with information and evidence. It was with July's cxporicncv! that the Government acted in January. Mr Smuts ridiculed the .Labor talk of ■constitutional methods. After July events had culminated, and the situation since then had necessitated the mobilisation of 100.000 men. The movement was no.ordinary strike, . but a syndicalist conspiracy of an advanced type. Foiled in July, Poutsma, Bain and others determined on a new •effort. Bain's exhortations to the workera to come' armed to the Beuoni meeting at the end of June revealed the true character of the.leaders' intentions. But for the Imperial troops in July the I country would have .been in a terribls J position. They could never be suffi- { ciently grateful for their help. He ad- [ mitted the modifying features of the i compact With the leaders in July, but I chose the lesser.evil. { Mr Smuts quoted the speeches of ' Poutsma, Bain and Waterston to show they were revolutionists of the most dangerous type. 1 % Mr Smuts taunted the Labor members with being mere preachers, leading their followers to the brink and then descrtBain, Poutsma and his colleagues were doers. They never intended there should be a settlement. It was ] their clear intention to froad the Government to action that would promote a general strike. The facts made it clear that the syndicalists had nearly -succeeded. Their settled intention wis to paralyse trade and terrorise the community into abject surrender. No in'▼ader could inflict greater destruction or bring greater disaster than the syn- . dicalists who conspired to bring the country to its knees. . Mr Smuts described Bain, whom he first knew as a secret service agent of ' the Transvaal Republic, as the most desperate character he ever met. ( One hundred and fifty Rand miners ' nave sailed l>y the Berrima for Aus- I tralia. Figueira, who was charged with ha.--ing caused an explosion, har. been re- T leased. Connerty, Neild, Buckley and c Carson halve ben committed fcr trial for ' inciting a strike. Mr Smuts spoke a further two hours "• and finished amidst general cheers, ex- ' •cept 'from the Lahorites. He made no . sensational disclosures. He argued that the exceptional nature of the crisis and •the success of martial law justified the proclamation, while the deportation was justified on the grounds' of expediency and public policy.