Ke Aloha Aina, Volume XXXIV, Number 33, 5 September 1919 — The New [Illegible] [ARTICLE]

The New [Illegible]

■ - If there are any warkefs in Honoluiu to .whum the oi publio ownership or public utilities Bbyul(i eome homo wifcfl tma©udous sur©iy tlioso workers are the toilcra whu heen. honoi t ed with the ciistmction of fiaviug Uieii' utuucjs J9 grossd upon rf ttie pious and arisfocratic payroll§ of the 11 j]fl - These ch<?sen ones have tlie privilego of working fur a urij vate monopoly (,or ; to use the wordsf of a celebrateti deccajS mamlaml wmdbag, *'a soulless eorporatiou"), anel in ixaum luM thafc privilege, devote all their time, with the exception ut u hours dtuiy for gleep, to the laudable purpose of gatheriiig m u.mH niekela for the boss. They must not orgatiize like other \\ ■ J ere; &Uii if any of them thmks he Bhouid have a raise in w ofi«et the high cost of living ; and keep himself ftnd his i aiul j* from starving, he ia at perfect liberty to go to Mr. iulmhou, talk the matter over, and gct fired for Rig pains. He \vuul<i b9 regarded by Mr. Johnson as a demagogue, a labor agitutur, '9 turbulent fellow, a so\ver of the sēeds of discord, strife uud dij9 content among hitherto quiescent workers—and all sueh uaiU and characterīsties ; of course ; opposed to Uie bcuJS voient and philanthropic operatioSs āiid intentions of tlie li .t*H T f and L. - v ' In -:fact, according to the iatest ruling from the Lord -iiJgM Executioner of the R. T. system 3 the employees mūst wuii unul such time as the directors gct good ahei reacty to take up L j|9 matter of increased remunerati"on ; and the H. T. men havc i>oaH waitmg'about three or four years for the spirit "to iu..vl- ii9 aforesaid directorg. H The mountam has at last eome to its v term of labor, anu iiaS brought forsia lnoiise/ih the shape of a five cent per houi iiS crease in the K. T. men's Vagcs— offset an increase, witiun ?'r3B past few years, of over li)Q per ceit iu 3ivirrg costs. The expreaS aione used by the 'eaimen on being of this amazmg miM erosity wouid not iook weil in and ai'e rarely uaed in pcS lite socie>ty/ lii most of the carmen believe that Mi. .l»iinJ son and his direetors should be told to keep tliat 5 .ceuts an huiM mcrease and go to liades with it, or eveii to Fiddler'a GieeiS whidi is reputed to be'nine miles ewa'of Ifādes. How ciifferent is the treatmeiit acccyr|ed the railroad iueS by President Wilson!j Al'ready *these' worters have received wuaH increases amounting'to from 60 to So'per' cent, and now thfS President haa promised them a fūrther increase of four ccntS an hour, with an 8 hour day at a 10 hour day wage~appiuxM mately 25 cents an hour. And the r&ilroad men did not have tH crawl upon their opus to get this increa§fe, ieither. The demajifl was preferred through organized and union channels, and waH an»wered through the same media. ' w H Ihe moral, of course, is plain. In a publie utility, puhlleīm o.waed, tiie worker practicul|y works for him3elf, whereat> m 19 privately eoneem he is really a bond slave. The exprci*j sion is ha&h, but really, ia i"t not true? j| - There is, unfortunately, no w*ay of shooting a corpomLioiS at sunrise, but surely if any corporation deserved &uch trcatj ment it is the 11. R, T. & L. for itg gougingof ite workers in matter of wages, its gouging of the Territory m the mattor on unpaid taxes, and its' gouging of tlie public by its failure to liviß up to ita franchise agreements—all the while it rolls up a biijj capital reserve and pays to its stockholders tlie limit of interes|B allowed upon its stock. W The Right of Meēting 1 . Xt is amusiug to notice in the loeal papers the tone of patronj age adopted towards the organizers of the Labor Day parade iS the matter of securing a plaee for meeting purposes. And t,heslß papers actually have the gall to state that Mayor Fem wa* doubtful whether he would peruiit Aala Park to be used for thifl ptirpose—a palpable falshood on its face 7 becausē Mayor Fer* is quite well aware of the fact, evidently uuknown to the gent!M scribes of the dailies ; that no official v from the President dov?M to the boss janitor, ean deny - the j()rivilege to f£e piiblic of mee» iag in a |>üblic plaee, provided the object of the meeting is of jH l»wfulnature". V H Publicplaces, such asparks, are for the useof the pubiic juJH aa mueh as are the public streets and public thoroūghfares, an9 while, as a matter of courtesy, the orgaiiLcers of the parade migh* ask for Aala Park, tlie fact i-emains tliat they did not have t9 do this, and would have been.fully justified in informing thjH Mayor that they "intetided to have a meethig at tlie park on H certain day and hour, so that the autlioriUe§ might bo abie t9 regulate ti-affic, ete., at that Ume. W No permit is asked to useUethel street, or any other dowilH town street, for public meeting purposes, and to suggest thifl 6uch a permit waa necessaiy for Aala Paik or Kapiolani Park iH at»urd and ridiculous in the extreme. i\ud it is equally absur® &nd ridiculous to suppose that Democrats an<l Republicans cflH use Aala Park ojr any other loeation in Honolulu, at anv tinrfH aad tiiat tiie organized laboring element of this city ean I|H denied such a privilege, or have it granted to tliem on conuitidH they be verj p , very caieful what they say about tlieir angellH employers, the Cattou Neil Co. and the Honolulu Iron \\ oriqH These remarks, of course, do not apply to the Palaee. Groundß whieh are under the direct eontrol of tlie loeal governmcnt ministration. '.'IH In all the lai-ge cities on the maiuhuid certain th© public parks are r<served for pubUc„ taeeting purposef, are made use of by all sorts of people, from red-hot to Salvation Army folk, no interferenee being suffered. |those of us who have l>een to England know what a public rel|H |dezvous Trafalgar Square is, in London; Glasgow Green in ! gow; aud Custom House Square in BeUast, etc. ~^H The fact should be reiterated that Vhen the laboting h white,- Pilipino, Chuiese or Japanese, or any othēr element this comiuunity 5 \s i fc h to ute ihe pubhe parks for public ing purposes, they are lawfully and !egally eiititled to without anyoneV and if someone foolishly tries to vent them fioiu hViding such meeting or meetlngs 4 they amply justified in oppos.ing foive t,o foree and blow to The right of public meetmg and publle expression ef ion in public phKvs is a s;ioa\l right of English-speakmg and eaiuiot Ue abriuged or abolislu\l bi' gUdei] eapitalbtio popj|M jaj-s aeting through iheir mouthpieees, Uie loeal f _ £