The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-03-11

Grated unions established Whist was called
the 'snon-union wool boycott, that -, they
undertook TO compel sheaTerS who were I'M
willing to Join The "6heofef5 Union, !" % 90
setting the maritime unions 70 refuse e
load or carry any bales Of wool that had
not the stamp Of sheep station known 70
b worked under union rules. Inc
second incident Was the demand Of
the Marine Omeers' Association. Of
Melbourne for higher pay, which
was refused, on IL: ground that the
mems Union. Twenty-Sour hours later the
officers left their ships and the seamen 10
fused TO sail with non-uni0n officers: When
non-union sc4men were obtained the dock
lAborers refused to load or unload the yes
sells. Similar strikes took place IN the
other colonial seaports, and the shipping
Tho conflict soon extended to other trades.
Some coal from the ships in the harbor OF
Melbourne was unloaded by non-union-
lists. Upon it, arrival st the gas
works the stokers withdrew In .
body. and for two nights the greatest
difficulty was experienced IN lighting
the struggle. Public opinion was aroused
against the strikers, and the government
was applauded for maintaining order by
enrolling special constables, calling out
the mounted rides e species Of militial
and summoning to the city the mail force
Of regular soldiers, 70 whom ball cartridges
were issued. Meanwhile the boycott Of
non-uniOn wool had caused the sheep
owners TO form most powerful combina-
ton, commanding from the start an in.
come Of 500, 900 year and defense fund
Of 5000 go.
The Melbourne strike committee, finding
that they could not bar non-union men out
OF the gas works, determined TO cut OF the
coal supply, and thus stop not only the gas
upon steam, including the railways, which
in Victoria belong to the people themselves.
As the coal used in Australia comes from
New South Wales, an international colonial
conference was called in Sydney, the cap
ital of that colony. The flrst act Of the
conference was to order . strike OF the
shearers all over Australia with the avowed
purpose of destroying the years wool
crop, valued at 500, OO0. 000 This, of
course, turned all the sheep owners who
hitherto employed union shearers into
deadly foes Of organized labor.
The next act of the conference was
to order q strike of the coal miners. This
second edict was repudiated by the men to
whom it was addressed, and as the first,
directed to the wool shearers. had proved
imperative, the whole attempt Of the
trade unions to coerce employers suddenly
collapsed. It had lasted three months,
and had cost the workingmen SO. O00, 600,
including $4,000 forwarded from London.
Mr.. Champion considers that the disas-
trous failure Of the strike has settled some
questions about which widely different
opinions have been entertained in England.
1t has shown that the most gigantic feder-
alton of labor, unless it is handled with
greater strategic ability than is available in
Australia, viii break like an egg against
an ironclad when faced by the rssolute OPP
position of employers who are also feder-
ated. It is shown that such federation Of
employers, however difficult to organize,
will take place and will receive public sup
port in the most democratic countries the
moment that labor makes demand which
TO the public seems arbitrary or unfair.
The notion that . revolution of society
could be effected by the simple expedient
of ordering all union workmen to refrain
from work seems to have been refuted
definitely by the Australian experiment.