THE AUSTRALIAN SHEARERS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2049, 22 May 1890, Page 1

THE AUSTRALIAN SHEARERS.

The following powerfully eloquent manifesto was' issued by, the Australian Shearers ; —" Fellow colonists— On the eve of an Industrial crisis upon, which the future of the labour organisations in England and in Australia so vitally depends, the General Council of the Australian Labor Federation calls upon you to stand firm and trust one another. The principle we fight for will, if won, save our children from the degradation that covers other lands, and creeps already on our Australia. It is the golden key to the rights of labor, it is a key the workers have lost for long ages,Jand which, having been found, they should all guard as dearer far than life. Fellow unionists, our cause is a sacred one. It is holy, it is the hand grip, the organised toilers standing in one solid mass, between brothers who have never seen and tyranny which they have felt and know to be unclean. And because it is so sacred and so holy; because it is the inspiration of the humanity within us, and the voice of the Unknown God, Who speaks to us by the voice of the people, we call upon you to act like men who have faith and hope, not like brute beasts who only despair. We seek no combat, but if a combat is forced upon us we beg of you, as men, to east no strain upon the sacred cause of labour. You will fight for the weak against the strong, for little ones not born, against a tyranny that fills the world with want and woe and shame. The longing eyes of the workers of the world watch you. If Australia would not be what England is, you must indeed, then, break no law, abstain from liquor, give no enemy occasion to justly slander us. Those who fight will be fed by those who do not fight. Through a throbbing continent funds and friends are to be found, and it the worst comes to the worst then tighten your belts, and fight on, still quietly, still orderly, still soberly. Remember we fight for the laws against the lawless, we fight with a day of justice dawning before our eyes, with the current of human events sweeping on. By our devotion to each other we shall conquer. Then let us not shame each other; let ua be men.”