Page:The Fremantle Wharf Crisis of 1919.djvu/32

THE WHARF CRISIS OF 1919. admits that as we wander in 'the narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities,' there is with us a spirit of human comfort that in this very midst of life, in the service of his friends, in the service of humanity, Tom Edwards should go to his last long dreamless sleep. We feel there is engraved in the hearts of all a touch that will not be buried with him.

"I have been informed that the deceased was a man who loved his home, and was in his home beloved. It was not only the love he gave to his wife and family that endeared him to us all, not only the warmth of a large heart and the support he gave to his comrades, but, above all, he was a good citizen. His large heart beat with sympathy for the homes of those that were breadless with a great desire for the betterment of those who had suffered so long in apparently hopeless despair. We part with him, true, but not with his spirit. That sad Sunday morn when he received the wound that has brought him here, he was doing his worship, feeling that for justice all places were a temple and all seasons summer. A victory has been won for the cause his fellows have been fighting through the centuries for&mdash;and we still have to fight until every home is bread-supplied and garnished with comfort. That cause he has assisted and honored by his martyrdom. We shed our tears for one who has died for us. His death, his blood, is consecrated to that noble cause which exists alone for the betterment of the lowliest of mankind, the coming manhood and womanhood of every toiler&mdash;the right of happiness. The added happiness of your lives should be rendered as thanks to him who sleeps in the cold grave. Though you leave him&mdash;or his remains&mdash;there in that sacred spot, his memory will be in your minds as an example, and in your hearts an inspiration, and his life a solace to his comrades and a bond between them, stirring humanity to its very depth until all slavery and bondage have been abolished, and happiness prevails in every home. Good-bye, comrade! A long farewell to you as you lie there, but never forgotten&mdash;an eternal hope and stimulus to all of us to do our duty as courageously as you have, to fulfil our part as bravely as you have, to love our fellow men so much as to risk all we hold as you have done. Good-bye."

Official representatives were present as follows:&mdash;Messrs A Panton (President A.L.F.), A. McCallum (General Secretary A.L.F.), F. A. Baglin (secretary Fremantle District Council, A.L.F.), A. J. Watts (Secretary A.W.U.), C. Haynes (General Secretary Western Australian Amalgamated Society of Employees), and W. Forster (President Fremantle 32