Page:The Fremantle Wharf Crisis of 1919.djvu/28

THE WHARF CRISIS OF 1919. the Commonwealth Government, and he would communicate the replies as soon as they were received."

The Premier submitted the Proposals to the employers, and the employers in turn submitted them to the Shipping Controller, with a request for an early reply.

THOMAS EDWARDS SUCCUMBS.

Whilst these proceedings had been taking place, and whilst both sides were waiting for the reply from the Shipping Controller, Thomas Edwards was sinking slowly at the Fremantle Public Hospital, whither he had been taken after receiving a severe injury to the head on the previous Sunday. The public was not then aware that the blow received by the unfortunate man had caused a fracture of the skull, and the news of his death soon after 5 o’clock on the evening of May 7 came as a sad shock to all. The sorrow of the community generally became personal with trades unionists throughout the State, who mourned not only the death of a comrade who had given his life for the cause of the working classes, but for the young widow and her three little children who were left behind. Their welfare became the immediate care of the Disputes Committee, and it was not surprising that when the terms of a settlement were agreed upon they included a promise from the Government that compensation should be paid to the dependants.

THE TROUBLE ENDS.

The end of the trouble came the same night with dramatic suddenness; and just about the time that Edwards passed away the lumpers came into their own. It will probably never be known what caused the "blacklegs" to retire from the wharves; nor does that much matter here. Sufficient is it to record that their going meant complete victory for the lumpers and thus the absolute defeat of the shipping owners and the Government. This is how the Premier informed the public on the morning of Thursday, May 8, of the settlement:&mdash; "Last evening the president and secretary of the National Workers’ Union came to me with what I can only regard as a most generous proposal, i.e., that they were prepared to do what seemed to them best in the public interest and withdraw from the wharf entirely, in the hope that industrial peace might be restored and the wants of the community relieved." The Premier also said that he had immediately informed the employers of waterside labor and the Disputes Committee of what had 28