A "LABOUR" MEETING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10133, 6 December 1910, Page 5

A "LABOUR" MEETING.

MR PETEK BOWLING IN MASTER! ON. A public meeting, presumably under the auspices of "Labour," was held in the Masterton Town Hall last evening. About one hundred persons, chiefly workers, were present. 'i ho chair was occupied by Lis Worship the Mayor, Mr J. M. Coradine, who briefly introduced Mr Bowiir.g, and asked for him a fair hearing. He stated that he did not necessarily identify himself with the views of those who mig"t speak, but prea'ded by virtue of his office, /v t tiie commencement of the meeting, Vr V l.angslone movrd, and Mr n. Mcßae seconded, "That this meeting of the citizens of Masterton extends a very hearty welcome to Mr Peter Bowling, Fre-ident of the Newcastle Miners' Federation, who was imprisoned by the cruel and coercive measures of .the New South Wales Government lor the fnliant fight he and his 'colleagues put up in the interests of labour-; al.-o Mr Semple, who is organiser for the New Zealand Federation of labour, and that this meeting sincerely trust* that their efforts V) con olidjttjjj abour will meet with merited luces-." The first speaker was Mr R. Semple, President of the Miners' Federation, who. after referring to the article which had appeared in the Wairarava Age, dealt wi f h the objects of the visit |af Mr Bowling. He denied that fie object of the New Zealand Labour F. deration was to create dissension, fneyw;re out after the industrial organisation of the people, and he, Mr Semple, in- ■ tended coming to Masterton to fully explain the objects of the Federation. He referred at soma length to the industrial unre-t in the wjrld, and to the necessity for organisation. Mr .Teter Bowling, who was received with applause, denied that he was in Masterton to create dissension. He quoted an article which had arpearnd in the Age, and alleged that t'e Freas had always been trying to fu fil t f e mission of buttressing up the capitalist and decrying the worker This, he said, had been th? experience throughout the world Mr Bowling then proceeded to describe the the Coal Vend of Australia. He alleged that members of the Goyi rnment of New South Wale 3 had been interested in the Vend. One of the a rongest reasons why the miners of Newcastle had not put their case in the hands of an Industrial Court was that the Govsrnment who would appoint the arbitrator was interested in the die* pute. He claimed that arbitration , cou!d not be maintained in a society of self-reliant" men. From an econcmic po'n l : of vie',7, arbitration, was wrong, because it made no pro* vision for the settling of the prices of commodities. As soon as a general rise in wages took {.lace, a rise i.i commodities fo'lowed, end the wageearner was no better off than before. Mr Bowling denied that he had ever organised a strike in his life. Hi had only been at the head of a strike for three weeks, and then as President ot the Miners' Federation. He urged that the only way to make an employer feel that he was wrong was to touch his pocket. He narrated in-detaiL'the.-eventß which had led up to the New Wales strike. He stated that, if the joiners. had ~. agreed, before declaring a strike, they could have purchased every ounce of coal in New South Wales, and imt up the price to £2 or £2 iJOsper ton. By this means they I could have fought the owners with | their own weapons. But there were men who would not trust -him at I that time to carry out his plans of I organisation. He was determined in future that, if he was to be in a responsible position, he would | h>ve his own way in matters of [organisation. He had been gaoled in Australia under the conspiracy law, and not under the industrial law. He explained the reasons for his criticisms of Mr W. M. Hughes, the Federal Attorney-General and Acting Prime Miniser. Mr Hughes had moved a resolution in conference that they should declare common cause, but in three weeks he came back, to the conference and advised them to go back'''to their work, because they were heaten. If future Unionists were to be of tha calibre of Mr Hughes, then he advised them to cease their contributions and disi band their Unions. Mr Hugh?s had been threatened by the Premier with j arrest if he did not smash up the strike. He did his best to break the strike, and was sent to Parliament by the so-called Labour Party, whilst he, Mr Howling, was sent to gaol. Mr Bowling then descrihed the manner of his arrest in Newcastle, and stated that it was a miracle that there was not loss of life on that occasion. He maintained that capital stopped at no crime to achieve its end. He believed that the Government of New South Wales intended to hang Peter Bowling, but they had not t ucceeded. He spoke in strong terms of the action of Mr Hughes, who, he said, was afraid of work, and at one time had been mending umbrellas. He said he had no respect at all for a law which was immoral. He would be up against it all the time. When he wa3 in gaol he was treated as a murderer. He had been in for nine months, and he did not wish to go there again. He claimed that the man who said he would' not strike, under certain circumstances, was a coward and a fool. Mr Bowling proceeded to state that the object of his visit to New Zealand was to bring about acorn bination of Unions. He regarded sectional Unions a3 hot-bedi of strikes, and combined Unionism as a preserver of peace. He urged his hearers to combine in Unionism, and to demand the right to work and to live. If they thought that their wives should continue to wear prints and live on the coarsest of food* they would cor.t'nue their sectional Unions. In 'conclusion, he stated that he had been offered a seat in the Federal Parliament and had declined He had al?o been offered lucrative employment by the employers'; but his one intention wa9 to live and work for those of his class He wa3 not a raxolutionist or an incendiary Any person who described him as such" was a "liar and a hypocrite!" .ftLv. Fowling resumed his seat amidst applause.-"1 he resolution jropo--ed in the earlier pm of'tne modti.ir ■Vv& then ju: and carried. Messrs Semple and Bowling, having briefly ackmwkdge'tf tha compliment paid tJfrcw, til? aj&jth-jj tsrinitiate^