THE LABOUR TROUBLES.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 240, 27 January 1898, Page 3

THE LABOUR TROUBLES.

TO THK EDITOR. Sin, —Apain have the forces of labour and capital joined issue, and again has the struggle ended in the discomforture of the Former. From the beginning it was patent to all thoughtful men that there could be no other termination, in the face of the keen competition of foreigners in the markets of the world. The men, by their ill-considered action, have played into the hands of the foreigners, who have made the most of the opportunity afforded, even going the length of subsidising the strikers in order to enable them to " keep the ball rolling." This in itself should have been sufficient to show the men their folly as they must have known that there was no philanthropy in trade competition, especially when the philanthropists' employees have to work longer hours for a less wage then the men they are assisting However, now that the funds are gone the leaders have virtually declared the strike " off," advising the men to resume work, and the latter must now realise the extent of their folly. In a cablegram published in your last issue, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach is reported to have said that the strike bad prevented the expenditure of some £1,500,000 on the navy alone, and some idea of th« immense sums sent to America and Germany by private Hi ms who were unable to get their orders filled at Home may be gathered from the cables published from time to time during the progress of the strike. A large proportion of this money would have found its way into the pockets of the men and have enabled them to live in comfort instead of eking out a miserable existence on a strike pittance. There is an old adage which says that experience teaches a certain class of people, and if the engineers and workers generally protit by their recent lesson, the great strike of 1897-98 may after all prove a blessing in disguise.—l am, etc., Britisher