CORRESPONDENCE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10140, 10 December 1910, Page 5

CORRESPONDENCE.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —lt is a very good job that there are not many persons in New Zealand like your correspondent "Genuine Worker;" lbdeed, 1 believe Masterton can claim the unenviable monopoly. He stands self-con-fe sed as a very pariah amongst his fellows, condemned by the workers and treated as a tool and a sycophant by hia masters. He is not worth wasting argument and good space over. He is satisfied with his own little lot, which, after thirty years, he is able to boast a " Waterbury." It is fortunate his family are all reared, as they escape the dire consequences o«: his sixpenny "blow-out" at Christmas. This envious and splenetic alien to his fellow workers tak.es exception to Mr Bowling appearing on the platform ia a tailored BUit and wearing tan boots and sporting a gold watch and chain. "G.W." does not Know that tan boots are common in Australia, and are worn in that warm climate for comfortand not, as your insinuating writer would infer, for flashness. As he paid such minute attention to the speaker's apparel, why is he silent about the inscription on the gold watch. Mr Bowling is president of the Newcastle Miners' Federation; a body of men who follow the most dangerous of all vocations to obtain a livelihood.and whose pay is out of all comparison inadequate. The pay is of. a fluctuating rate and . is sup : posedly based on the selling price of coal. Readjustments are continually necessary, and to effect; such/information is withheld x by the coal vend. Consequently dissatisfaction and murmunngs are the rule, and it requires a strong and capable man to rule—a man "possessing the absolute confidence of his fellows—such a man is Mr Peter Bowling. It is not my province to enter into-the causes that i produced the turmoil that brought J Mr Bowling before the public eye; | but if "Genuine Worker" could only , extend his mental vision beyond the horizon of his circumscribed "limits he would be surprised , though such a man would not admit it, to know } that Mr Bowling's was the restrain-j ing hand that kept the miners from | committing open violence. On that occasion no need to send the military with Ministerial instructions to "shoot them, down," as was done in a previous strike in Newcastle. Prom the reports published in New Zealand about; Mr Bowling, one expected to ;se6 a wild-feye'd, wirewhiek'ered buccaneer, armed tn the teeth, breathing fire and wielding destruction all round; and G.W. was genuinely disappointed, hence hia scurrilous screed. It is an education to hear any speaker on any subject, and were it only to clear up the misrepresentation about the man and to hear the other side of the question the small coin was well spent, and, thanks to having travelled in many places, my views and opinions have been widened and all the more liberal as to what constitutes a Christmas "blow-out." Perhaps 1 have tres-' passed more on your space than what the subject deserves, in specifically dealing with "G.W.," that J apologise. To sum up, I doubt the "G.W." being what his "nom de, piume" would indicate, but if he is, then save us from all such, for he is a traitor to his class, and, as I said in opening this letter, condemned by- his employers.—l am, etc., J.C. CR. MORRIS IN REPLY. (To the Editor.) Sir,- Kindly spare me space in your journal to reply to Mr Mackellar's sarcastic and uncalled for re-] marks in yesterday's issue of your paper,in connection with the Borough Council and the Cricket Council. Now, sir, the Town Clerk reported to the Borough Council that £l9 was owing, and asked what he was to do in the maUer. Surely, with other Councillors and the .Mayor, i was quite justified in saying that it should be paid. Cr Hoar remarked that, the cricketers were poor, and I replied that they were "toffs." If the amount was not owing, then the Town Clerk was to blame, find not the Councillors. On enquiry at the Council Chambers to-day, how-, ever,l was informed that the amount was owing. As to what I have | done for ' the park, and the town generally. I think the voters are the best judges. At the same time it will be news to the public to know that Mr Mackellar "works sometimes" in the park. Thanking you for your space,—l am, etc. W. MORRIS.