The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1917. LABOR'S STRUGGLE FOR MASTERY.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 August 1917, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1917. LABOR'S STRUGGLE FOR MASTERY.

Evidently the Sydney strike is assuming pretty considerable proportions. The cable messages have bee* censored, hence until yesterday morning we have been in ignorance of the progress of events. The short wire fruni Sydney only statc.l that lighting, heating and cooking restrictions were enforced in order tn economise fuel, whilst ship painters and dockers struck the previous day. Vrivale adviees, according to a Wellington Press Association wire, nay that ncui' the outlook in any strike so emulous. The movement had altogether * semi-revolutionary aspect, and the 'jo--, eminent and people were accepting iL The fact that the Government ami the people are prepared to take a stand and fight the matter out to a finish is the most hopeful aspect of the trouble. Kor some considerable time past, Labor m New South Wales has been "looking for fight," to use n common phrase. For years it worked quietly and determinedly in organising for political power, and duly gained it. The war came with Labor in power. Leaders like lit. Hughes and Mr. Hobnan espoused u whole-hearted win-the-war policy, of which compulsory military service formed an essential part, but they, as well as their colleagues possessing similar o»triotic convictions, came under the ban of the Labor caucus, and were du!/ expelled from that .omnipotent body. Then came a split in the hitherto bor ranks. The conseriptionists left and joined forces with the opposite side—the Liberals, and the anti-eonscriptionists became extremists. The latter fought the conscription referendum tooth and nail—and won. But subsequently, when the elections came on, they were signally defeated, not only in the Stat", but also in the Federal elections. This extremo section of Labor has been smarting under that defeat ever since, ahu has been looking for trouble, which it has at last found. The primary cause Of the present strike is objection to the introduction of the time card system in ihe railway and tramway services, a system which appears to be designed by the Department to accurately ascertain the cost of the various classes of work carried out, and in some form or other is used in most big commercial undertakings. Of course, the leaders were not

concerned wry much about the merits of the system; it afforded them an opportunity of calling a strike, or making the authorities knuckle under to their will. The Government and the people have accepted the challenge, and are fighting. It must mean a great deal of dislocation, loss and suffering, but it is better to undergo the most severe hardships than put up with the tyranny of men lost to all patriotic feeling and responsibility. The trouble is the innocent must suffer with the guilty. The strike leaders think they can ''get at" the employing class, but they always fail to sec that it is the workers who inevitably suffer by a strike. The capitalists may be inconvenienced, but their means enable them to escape any personal hardship, whereas if the wheels of industry are stopped the workers feel the effect instantly. Striking is only justified as ;i last extremity, and only where the cause is just. To attempt by means of a strike to gain ascendancy over the community that has been loot constitutionally by defeat at elections is inimieal in the highest degree to the interests of the Stale, Indeed, it is revolutioi.ary, and if allowed to go unchecked and without protest, will only lead to i-.narchy. We have lately seen what mob rule litis done for Russia. It has resulted in disaster, economically and nationally. It has robfjed the Allies of all

possibility of favorably ending Die war this year, ami in;;;,' lead to an indefinite prolonging of (lie struggle wil.li its untold suffering Jvml misery. The strike leadens of Sydney must be a very dangerous set of men who require to be (aught the imperative lesson that they cannot inflict a strike, with its attendant losses, on (he community with impunity. The pity is that they can dupe lead astray so many of the workers, amongst whom e.re many fine men. Mr. Fuller, in lua ultimatum, put the issue very plainly. '"Wo are," he said, "dealing wiih what in effect is a rebellion against orderly government and the community. Upon every citizen devolves the solemn duty of saying whether he is for the State or for the surrender of all authority to men lost to all sense of public dtily." The extremists have an exaggerated notion of their power, so that the only course open to the people is to loyally support the Government in its determination to successfully grapple with this crisis, and once and for all demonstrate conclusively that law and order must prevail; also that no section of the community can be allowed to ride roughshod over the remainder. It was, perhaps, inevitable that this struggle should take place, and it is now for the Government and the people to deal with it effectively and in the best interests of the State.