The Maikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 1889.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 2674, 31 August 1889, Page 2

The Maikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. Equal and exact justice to all men, Of whatsoever state or persuasion, religious or political. SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 1889.

At this, moment the attention of the colonies is turned from the worry of domestic politics to the industrial agitation now taking place in England. The great strike which began in the clocks of London is assuming gigantic dimensions, paralysing the shipping trade, and disturbing many other branches of commerce. The movement touches us in New Zealand, as, indeed, it will almost all parts of the globe, since the mighty emporium is the heart whose pulsations are felt in every corner of the world. Shipments of frozen meat from this colony, which have arrived in London, could not be landed and were actually rotting or in clanger of being ruined in the refrigerating chambers when the ships' supply of coal were exhausted. The price of New Zealand frozen mutton is stated to have risen in consequence. The dispute between the clock labourers and the shipping companies appears to be, as usual, a question of wages, of which tho paymonfc for overtime is, no doubt, a prorninont feature. But, one of tho chief causes leading up to the outbreak scorns to be that social octopus — tho middleman, who has sprung up in all the avenues of trade between producer and consumor and crosses the path between Capital and Labour, principal and servant. Wherever they have planted themselves they havo spread rapidly and aro liko an army of devouring locusts. Labour however, has rebelled, and is making an effort to shake off the shackles of a tyranny which has grown beyond all patient endurance. The extortions of middlemen are of a rapacious kind, and they fatten on the necessities and toil of the real workers. In the case of the labourers who are on strike the middlemen, whose existence they seek to abolish, are represented by labour agencies, and these, by the gradual encroachment of years, have become recognised as an institution through whose means, only, men are engaged for the docks and other great fields of labour. The charges they make are very extortionate, and a tax on the earnings of the labourers. Tho evil is found in large cities in the colonies in the shape of labour agencies, touts or crimps, but, very small, indeed, in comparison with what it is in Great Britain. The great strike in the London clocks touches the Mother Country in a vital spot; it cuts into the main artery which supplies the life blood of England's preponderating supremacy and greatness. It has sprung up like an unmarked rock in tho broad flowing channel, along which vast wealth is poured into the country, and by which the mighty stream of her industry Hoods oucwards. England's commerce feels the blow, and the complex ramifications of trade, restless energy and ceaseless toil, which contribute to the overwhelming volume of that commerce, are wounded alike. The great industrial army, whose indespensible labour goes to constitute so important a factor in the creation of the commercial glory of their country, have realised that they do not reap a fair share of the fruits of their own toil. They are now demanding a more equitable recognition of the part they play in the nation's proud pre-eminence. Their labour is an absolutely necessary quantity to make England powerful, wealthy and glorious; but the few, who are favoured by fortune and capital, enjoy almost the whole benefit and become opulent, whilst the multitude of workers employed to produce it all obtain nothing beyond a small payment for their labour, and remain always toiling workers. Capital and Labour, which should be wedded together on equal terms, for one cannot do without the other, have long kept each other at arm's length, and havo not yet succeeded iu understanding each othor. Greater intelligence and moro liberal counsels are rapidly prevailing - over the selfishness, bigotry and tyranny of the past, and events are leading the two great economic forces to enter into bonds of mutual regard for each other's interests, which shall endure for all time, and establish tho nation's prosperity and power on more solid ground. Wo may call this tho revolt of Labour; it is certainly tho assertion of a people becoming more educated and enlightened for tho position in tho social soale to which they considor themselves entitled. It is the light that follows darkness; the evolution of the intellect from mental turpitude, and a stage in the progress of the human race generally. It is but a

sign of the times and an augury of tho day fast approaching, when cliiss prejudices and exclusive privileges shall be trodden under foot. There is no parallel, strictly speaking, between the unemployed riots of last year and the present labour movement. The former were in a great measure a defiance of the mob against law and order. The strikers, on the other hind offer a determined and peaceful protest against the exclusion of the legitimate rights of honafidti labour, the greatest constituent element in the nation's well-being, It is an extreme step to take and entails great hardship and misery on the principal actors and their own class ; and the country's trade suffers much disturbance and confusion. There is, however, never any good done in this world without a certain proportion of evil. The strikes and their immediate distressing consequences are, we can confidently hope, a temporary storm ; but at the same time they are the appeal of the army of British industry to common sense and justice, which will not fail. Arbitration will follow, and there wiil be an adjustment of the points at issue. We cannot take the pessimist's view of the movement, as either predicating the decadence of England or the violent upturning of society. England would have ceased t® exist, the world itself would have come to an end long ago, had all the predictions of raving prophets come to pass. Let us rather regard these movements with pleasure as evidences of the sturdiness and undegonerate quality of the British character. They have a grievance and they stand up and let it be known in a way that befits a free people living under the freest constitution ; and they respect that constitution and value that freedom too highly to disgrace them by unlawfui violence. It is possible we are witnessing an important revolution, but it is essentially a British revolution, not one which on the continent would be accompanied by the roar of cannon, the rattle of musketry and the slaughter of men and women by the soldiery of our iron system.