The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1891.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2917, 26 March 1891, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1891.

Kriu;il ™rl justice t.i all men, Ol wh.itsui-v.-r st.ite or persuasion, religious or ~01,t.c..1.

Tin-' intelligence from Queensland as to tho doings of tho band of brigands styling themselves shearer-unionists is of an exceedingly disquieting nature, and their doings have brought disgrace upon the whole of the Australian colonies. So far as we arc aware this is only the second time since the colonisation of the Australias that any section of tho population has taken up arms to resist, the law of the country. The other instance took place at Ballarat in the early days of thn diggings. On that ocexsion the " diggers," as thoy were then termed, resisted the payment of miners' rights. They took up arms after they had protested without effect against the impost and the arbitrary mode adopted to collect it. These men at any rate had a semblance of right on their side. In those early days, it must be borne in mind, physical force rather than moral suasion characterised the relations between the Government and the people themselves, at any rate that section of them who applied themselves to gold-digging. The Ballarat riots were on consequence of an oppressive Government regulation, the doings of the shearers in Queensland on the other hand are in order to intimidate men into foregoing the common law right of employing those whom they may deem fit, on such conditions as to service and rate of pay as may be mutually agreed upon. The rioters and destroyers of property claim that because they belong to a union they and they only have a right to follow their avocation, and that on such terms as the leaders lay down. That the conditions attempted to be exacted from the sheep-owners are unreasonable is to an extent proved by the fact that men other than unionists are willing to work ou other terms, and in addition risk the slur which those who are interested, or are ignorant of the merits i;f the case, are in the habit of casting upon those whom they are pleased to call black legs. We all remember the old fable of the dog in the manger. The dog could not of course eat the hay, but out of pure cussedness prevented the patient cow from partaking of her meal. The unionists occupy the position of the dog, but fortunately that of the cow is held by men who are not afraid to assert their right to work on any terms they may deem tit. and in this position they naturally look to the authorities and every respectable citizen to support them, and they may rely upon it that they will be supported at any and every cost. We learn that three hundred of these unionists have taken possesion of a township, compelled the publicans to supply them with drink, which their high ideas of the rights appertaining to a unionist forbade them to pay for. They have fired a wool-shed, and applied matches to the inflammable grass in several places, there are 1,200 of them being drilled in order to be in a position to resist any force that may be sent to capture them, and bring them within the meshes of the law. This is surely a pretty catalogue of doings. A stop must be put to this sort of thing, and that speedily, otherwise there is danger of the unionists throughout the colonies taking somewhat similar measures to force themselves upon employers upon the terms they choose to lay down. That experience should have taught governments and people that there is only one limit to the demands of unionists, and that is drawn by their ability to coerce employers into submission, and in order to do this they appear to feel justified in putting every other class, including their own, to loss nnd inconvenience. The action of the Queensland Government must be short, sharp and decisive. A chronic disease has assumed a most virulent form, and if measures are not immediately taken to isolate the afflicted in one or other of Her Majesty's gaols, there is danger that it will spread.