Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-03-17
completely broken. so far as. the ! t


on the streets had resumed its normal
way. Many Of the strikers when they
saw that the farmers meant business
went to work under the direction Of
the farmers union officials.
Some of them quit the United La
Dor party (the I. w. W. unions and
formed new unions organized under
the laws of the country.
Suffered Big Loss.
The estimated losses of this great
strike were $4,000. 900. The New Zea-
land government appropriated $780,
600 to meet the expenses of this trou-
pretty expensive to New Zealand as
he is and will be to the farmers Of
North Dakota.
This was the first real syndicalist
strike hat New Zealand had ever
had. and New Zealand had been
known far and wide as "a country
without strikes" 1t was ar I. W. w.
strike pure and simple and the I. w.
w. element lost.
Closely associated with this great
syndicalist strike were the activities
of one Walter Thomas Mills who had
come to Australia from Milwaukee:
He was known in Australia as prof"
Mills, but he said himself that the
title was merely Honorary"
Ha0 Been
He had been delivering lectures in
Australia on socialism for which he
is reported to have received large
speeches attracted the attention of
Edgar Tregear of Wilmington, New
Zealand, who was at the time promi-
nently connected with the government
labor pureal and who is said to be
the author of most of the radical leg
islation. .s. >
New MI. Tregear believed the time
had come to build a more radical Sc
cial.s st labor party in New Zealand,
so he invited Walter Thomas Mills to
come and help him. 1t was these two
men who had drafted the constitution
and bylaws of the United Labor Par
ty some two or three fears before this
great strike. The new party had a
most rapid growth. 1t was intended TO
supplant the old craft unions just as
tn" l. w. w. in this country was or.
gained tc do The new party succeed
cd III gaining 80, 900 members out Of
some 10000 that had formerly be-
longed to the Federation of Labor st
New Zealand.
What Led Up to Strike.
About sixteen months before the
great strike a miner at Huntly was
accidentally killed and the, miners be-
longing to the union took a day off
to attend the funeral. Of. their com
rade. The mining company dis
charged the executive members of the
union for stopping work for the fu-
neral, claiming that this vas break
ing an agreement with the company.
The rest of the miners went on strike
at once. Their places were filled by
other men, who proceeded to organize
a new union and become registered
under the law of New Zealand, which
comes under the general arbitration
act.
Then the Federation of Labor took
a hand and ordered their striking
members to return to work and to
join the new union. They did so, and
soon obtained control of this new
union. %
When the mining company discov-
! cred that the same old element that
had made trouble for them in the
first place were again in control of
union affairs they again discharged
the executive board, which was com
posed OF sixteen members. But the
company gave the excuse for this
discharge that they wanted to reduce
the force of men working in the mine.
Took on New Men.
But the next day the company took
- A14C W a.
ton of Labor then demanded that the
discharged miners be reinstated. The
company refused, and a strike was
called on the ground Of victimization,
a term used in England as we'll as in
all the Australian and New Zealand
states.
: In the meantime, the dispute be-
tween the old Federation of Labor
and the new syndicalist union of the
United Labor party, which Mr.. Mills
had helped to organize, was growing
mere and more bitter. The fedora
ton called a conference, which was
held in Wellington, N. e.. in January,
1913. for the purpose of considerine
the dispute which existed and which
was becoming more bitter each day
between the two, unions, and to find
u II there was not some ground
upon which these differences could
be ironed out and a consolidation ef-
fected. -
Both Men Invited.
Messrs. Mills and Tragear were
both invited to. address the confer
ence, which they did, and afterward
both were appointed as members OF
a committee to draft constitutions 70,
two e unions, one to be politi-
cal and the other industrial, but both
affiliated and working together. This
draft was to be submitted to a gen.
eral conference to be held in July
following. When the conference met
it's organized what is known all owe,
New Zealand, and Australia, too, as
the "Red-Feds," or the United Fed
GRAFTON Of Labor and the Social Dem
.ocratic party.
Both the political and industrial,
unions were largely dominated by the
I. W. W., who had come to New Zea-
land from Australia for the very pur-
pose OF mak.ng a propaganda for
heir syndicalist-soctalist ideals as
preached by Walter Thomas Mills in
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