WELLINGTON TOPICS

Taranaki Daily News, 6 May 1920, Page 5

WELLINGTON TOPICS

THE RAILWAY STRIKE. (Special Correspondent.) Wellington, May 8. There was widespread satisfaction yestqi'day when the news got about that the railway strike had been settled by the Engineers, Firemen and Cleaners 1 Association "Accepting practically tha, same terms as had been agreed to by the First Division and the Associated So* ciety of Railway vServants. The differ* ences remaining between the Prime Mia* ister and the E.F.C.A. on SaturdayTiad to do with the application of the, aiwd of the proposed (special conciliation Wit* mission—whether it should take ejfeCt from the date of the award or from tha date of the presentation of the nun'* demands. On this point the executive' of the Association insisted upon' the date it named and Mr. Massey upon the que*- - tion of the date being left to the com* mission. This is how the position stood, so far as the public knew, on Saturday night, an 3 it was not till Sunday mora- ■ ing - that the settlement was 'posted at the newspaper offices. THE SETTLEMENT It now transpires that the waiving of ths resolution of -the, EF.C.A, to atand firm in regard to retrospection was mainly due to the sudden illneM of Mr. McArley, its very capable secretary. Mr. MeArley liad been working very hard for weeks before, and the enuraou* burden placed upon him by the atrilw brought a|but a severe nervous breakdown which compelled his retirement from the fight. As he had been running the whole show, as one of his colleagues put it this morning, the other member* of tho executive did not feel capable of handling the position and consequently elected to make the best settlement they could with the Prime Minister. Mr. Massey met them quite frankly and fairly. The E.F.C.A. is to have the same terms as the A.S.R.S. accepted, with the addition of a tribunal on which the men will have precisely the same measure of representation as will the Railway Department- This tribunal will determine the question of retrospection and there will be neither. penalties nor disabilities inflicted upon the men for striking. PUBLIC OPINION. Though the public has suffered a great deal in various ways by the stoppage of the railway service, its sympathy *»<■■ been largely with the locomotive men in their efforts for the improvement of their position. It has been shown that many of them have been receiving leßi than a living wage, as the estimate goes " in these days, and that a number of them have been working outrageously; long hours, The men's own view, rightly or wrongly, is that the General Manager has been chiefly responsible for the delay in getting their grievances before a representative tribunal, and they bear no grudge against the Mihiater. on this account. Mr. Massey, they »y, t met them very reasonably during the' recent negotiations, listening to them attentively and taking no advantage of the difficulty in which they found themsolves on Saturday night. They hop* the settlement will be a pehustnent one, but this, they point out, -will depend upon the finding of the tribunal that ia to be set up.

THE PRINCE'S ITINERARY. | The members of tho executive of tha Association still maintain they Gad not the slightest desire to use the Prince pf Wales' visit as a lever in obtaining attention to their demands. They de« 1 clare tliev always were ready to providt i tho necessary men for running the'*; Prince's train and thoy strongly resent, the suggestion that the locomotive me# > are less loyal and patriotic than ars > other sections of the community. Tq 1 somi- extent, at any rate, they havs '• put themselves right in this regard by ; joining very heartily in the efforts to get ; tin tiain service running again, and it < seems quite in keeping with the nature of the compromise to allow the implioa* tion of making capital out of ' the ,3 Prince's* visit to drop. Wellington |» much disappointed by having thf Prince's arrival postponed, and ita deoo" rations already arc sadly weather- $ worn and bedraggled, but there will be. ~ no less heartiness in ita reception of th* 1 Royal visitor on this account. i nn outburst of applause and cheering, \. spoke on similar lines to hii addresses, and dealt trenchantly with * the'fictions of his opponents in co4«„j nection with the petition and election ''j Throughout his address the n*iarks were punctuated with en- r llmsiastie applause, and practically #o£ opposition was shown. At the conclusion of the address, Mr. ' 0. f M. H. Boldt, a returned soldier, who-; stated that he had formerly been * sup-, 1 porter of Mr. Hine, but had now.*! changed over to the right side, moved liii. vote of thanks to Mr. Masters for hi*"", Able and instructive address, atift that, the meeting had the fullest confident, in him as their representative in Par-. 1 '; liament for the next three yean, that it deprecates the go-slow policy of.'; the Reform Party. 1 The resolution was seconded by Mr; ,1 iT. H. McNeill, another returned and carried unanimously, the meeting terminating with cheers for £he candi-'; date. Prior to the commencement of the meeting the Mayor was handed a but-; ton-liole by the mother of a ] had made the supreme sacrifice,' with a the request that it be given to Musters to wear during the meeting 1 Mr. Masters accepted AStt appkuw. ' -ramps