THE STRIKE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 3 December 1913, Page 5

THE STRIKE.

0 PAW AS FIREMEN. COMMITTED FOR TRIAL. (By Tdegravh—Preu Auociatum.) WELLINGTON. Last Night. At the Magistrate's Court, to-day fourteen, firemen of the steamer Opawa with combining to disobey the lawful commands of the master of the vessel, to neglect duty, to impede the navigation of the eteamer and the progress of her voyage. The accused were: William C Tilley, Harry Horn, John Hanmore, Edward Sullivan, James Mulholland, Aton Schultae, Axel Hertiz, William Wilkins, James Barnard, John Barton, Harry Tatham, James Chadwick, Alfred Stevens and David Cook. After evidence had been given by the captain, chief officer and second engineer of the vessel, all the accused were committed for trial. Bail was allowed each in £SO, except Hertiz in whose case it was fixed at £IOO. THE FARMERS' FORCE. QUESTION IN THE HOUSE. WELLINGTON. Last Night. When the orders of the day were called on in the House of Representatives to-night, Mr,G. W. Russell asked the Premier, without notice,, whethei his attention had been drawn to a statement that an armed force was being organised in Auckland, outside the regular forces, fl>r the purpose of assisting in the present industrial trouble. He pointed out that if one side were permitted to organise in this way, the other side might want to do the same. The Hon. W. F. Ma«sey said the Government had no official information on the point, but from whatr he heard while in Auckland he understood that no attempt was being made to enrol a regular constabulary force; but the names of those aow serving as special constables were being taken and registered, in the event of service being required at some future time. POSITION AT AUCKLAND. NO NEW DEVELOPMENT. AUCKLAND; Last Night. There has been_no development in Auckland in connection with the strike, with fee exception that more old wat'ereiderg are applying: for work.' ■.•■'.■' The manager; of the Tanpiri Coal Company has posted notices in Huntly, stating that the directors have under consideration the <rues-. tioh of working the mines,. hut until, full arrangements have been, completed no additional men will be employed. In the meantime, written Applications for employment, underground are receivable by the manager. PENALTY FOR STRIKING. DISFRANCHISEMENT RECOMMENDED. HASTINGS, Last Night. , , At a .meeting of tho Hawke's Bay Provincial Executive of the Farmers'. Union; to-day, it was' decided that! it be a recommendation to the Dommion Executive to bring under the^ser-..j ions of the/Government, the necessity'of legislating in the' direction of /£ further penalty for strikes by/Unions working upder an award of the Arbitration Act or for persons interfering or intimidating free laboiir, and that it is strongly urged that the penalty be - disfranchisement from Parliamentary or municipal elections for a minimum period of four years. " MATTERS TflT LYTTELTON. AN UNEVENTFUL DAY. MEN TIRING OF IDLENESS. CHRISTCHURCH, Last Night. Matters at Lyttelton to day were again uneventful,. and work proceeded on the waterfront uninterruptedly. The fleet in port to-day was reduced by the departure of six steamers. . ' Very few of the strikers were in evidence about the streets this morning, and the town, wears .a- dull and almost deserted appearance. So far, none of the men. on strike have gone over to the new union, but as many of'them' are growing increasingly tired of idleness; it is fully expected that they will join up with the working forces very shortly.

~ Last night 170 men answered the< roll call of the new union, and thirty more went to Lyttelton and joined up this morning. LYTTELTON HOTELS. APPLICATION FOR RE-OPENING, i CHRISTCHURCH, Last Night. The hotelkeepere of Lyttelton are moving in the direction of getting the hotek reopened this week. The hotels have been closed since' the' nigiit of Monday, November,24th. It is understood {Hat 1 the hotelkeoners have applied for permission to reopen on Thursday next, until 6 p.m. SEAMEN Q!YE NOTICE. ON AtOAL BOAT. TIMAEU. Last Night. Seven seamen of the Waitemata gave notice yesterday. The boat i* discharging Newcastle coal, which will keep her busy here till Monday. SOUTHLAND PRODUCE. SHIPPED FOR THE NORTH. INVERCARGILL. Last Night. The steamer Waitomo sailed at 6 o'clock this evening for Dunedin, Oaniaru, Timaru. and Auckland. While at the Bluff she handled 2500 tons of coal and shipped 10,000 sacks of produce, besides "a quantity of general cargo, including the delayed Southland exhibit fctf the Auckland Exhibition. The Waitomo was brought down from Dunedin by permanent employees of the Union Company, but a new crew was obtained without diffi-

culty, over fifty applications having been received, some from experienced men. COAL SUPPLIES. SHIPMENT* FROM CALCUTTA. WELLINGTON, Last Night Two more cargoes of coal, totalling about 15,000 tons, will leave On their voyage to New_ Zealand within a few days. Tsls~coal is coming from Calcutta and is described as being of very fair quality gas producing coal. It is due in Wellington about the middle of January. The 15,000 tons of Transvaal coal, which is already on the way to Wellington, was allotted to purchasers by the Defence Committee some days ago. Already orders have been received for a large portion of the Calcutta shipment. FEDERATIONIST'S STATEMENT. EMPHATICALLY DENIED. WELLINGTON, Last Night The Employers' Federation tonight despatched the following cable message to the Hon. W. A. Holman, Premier of New South Wales: "The Wellington Employers', • Farmers', and Citizens' Defence Committee.desires .to give an emphatic denial to the statement of the Federation of Labour"s representative that the employers of the Dominion are opposed to organised labour -, and Wish to assure you ihaETon the they are encouraging and supporting the registration of workers' •.•'. unions under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, and desire to impress upon your Government!that as. all cargoes are being handled by.Arbitration Unionists, there is absolutely no reason why the Australian unionists should refuse, to. wOrk New Zealand ships at" Sydney or elsewhere or to precipitate the crisis indicated in to-day's cables as being imminent. That being the case, it is hoped you will use every endeavour toJiave the embargo on New Zealand' vessels' removed without delay. The commits tee will gladly supply you with any information on request being made." Mr W. G. Foster 7 chairman of the Employers' Federation, cabled as follows: "To Mr M.P., Sydney., The Employers' Defence Committee desires to emphatically contradict the statement by Federation of Labour representatives, that New Zealand employers are opposed ~£o "organised labour. The fact that all cargo is being handled by Arbitration, unionists should result in New 'Zealand vessels, being worked by, Australian unionises, and should convince; labour leaders that no reason 'eixistr for the industrial crWs, which, cables indicate as imminent, .in' Australia l !" TH£ "STRIKE BULLETIN/?; AN ABOMINABLE PARAGRAPH. STRIKE LEADERS DISCLAIM RESPONSIBILITY.

CHRISTCHURCH, Last Night. There was an unusually largo crowd at the Magistrate's Court to-day, when E. J. Howard, F. S. Ellis, J. McCombs, H. Hunter, J. Thorn, D. G. Sullivan, and F. Lurch, alleged to be members of the Strike Committee, were;, snmmoogd to appear before Mr H. W. Bishop, S.M., to show cause why they should not bo prosecuted under section 11 of the Law of Libel Act, 1910, for tlie publication Of a defamatory libel in the publication called "Christehurch Strike Bulletin," dated November 26th, under the heading, "Scabs. Male and Fcmale-" . ',* The applications were heard separately, in camera, in the Magistrate's room, the press not being admitted. The Magistrate said he did not mind the newspaper representatives being, present, but the enquiry was but a preliminary one, to see whether there could be a prosecution. Otherwise, if a prosecution were ordered, it would mean two public hearings instead of one.

The defepdants Howard, Hunter and Sullivan denied all knowledge of the offending paragraph. Under the circumstances, Mr Bishop had no alternative hut to order that no warrant bo issued, and the informations against the remaining defendants were withdrawn. It' is probable, however, that action will be taken against the printers. . Mr Bishop, in. examining: .the defendants, describe the paragraph as absolutely vile »arid abominable.* He= hoped' the respectable portion of labour, both Aabitrationfats and Federationists, would, .take a public tunity of disavowing.any responsibility\ for audian abomihabfo and vile paragraph. ' : '- " The defendants, said this would be, done. They expressed their disapproval of the paragraph, which they said they did not authorise, and did not see until it was published. They did not know who formed the tStrike Oommitteo. The original Strike Committee had been dissolved on November 24th, twd days before the publication of the paragraph. It was also denied that the "Strike Bulletin" was circulated after the paragraph in was discovered,, the sheetbeing withdrawn. . - After the dismissing of the informations against Sullivan, Hunter and Howard, Mr Springer,- K.C., withdrew the other informations, on being assured by counsel that the rest of the defendants would testify on the" same lines. '- ' ■ ' ' '' . : '' '' :

Tho result of the inquiry was received with cheers by a crowd of sympathisers who were waiting outside.

CHRISTGHURCH DRIVERS.

A FRUITLESS APPEAL.

CHSISTCHURCH, Last Night,

The latest call of the Canterbury Drivers' Union to its members to "stand solid by the union" and cease wdrk, appears' to have fallen to a large extent on deaf ears. It is evidently at case of '"once bitten, twice shy." The actual number who re.spondedi to the call is not known; but the employers of drivers in the city reported this morning that there was no lack of men offering.

At the railway goods shed matters were as busy as ever. The City Council's drivers remained unaffected by the call, and were all back on their jobs -this morning.

Advice has been received from Wellington that the new Drivers' Union has been registered. 'POSITION AT SYDNEY. 1 NEW ZEALAND BOATS BOYCOTTED. ATTITUDE oFnBWCASTLK MINERS. (Received Last Night, 10.40 o'clock.) SYDNEY. D-»e. 2. The Iron Trades Federation has decided to decline to touch bout* xo and from Now Zealand. This applies to all affiliated unions, such aa blacksmiths, ironworkers., and engineers. At a mass meotinji of whnif labourers, it was decided by a ton to one majority to continue to boycott cargo to and from New Zealand. The New Zealand Labour delegates approved of this resolution. Other cargo will be worked, which means that the Union Company's and Huddart Parker's coastal boats will not be boycotted. This decision embodies the policy framed by the big unionist conference at to-day's meeting. It was rtnnonred at Newcastle today that if the Union Company's boats continued to coal there;, the miners would strike, but as.far as is ascertainable tho miners for the present to do not interid to participate in the dispute. '