A Question.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume IV, Issue 517, 11 October 1890, Page 2

A Question.

,’to the editor. 1 Sir, —A dispute arcs a dav nr two ago M tn the meaning pf th« term •' blackleg.” as applied to tha strikes, so it was decided to leave tha decision to you, with voor kind permission. Two nf a party of four o6nI tended that it meant ,a man (no matter whether a free laborer or Unionist) who Stepped into the billet of a Unionist out on strike. Th- other twn held out that It was a Unionist who entered employment against the dictation nt the Union tn which hs belong'd. Which of the parties hold the correct view )— I am, etc., Quiz. [“ Quiz ” surely wants to corner Us in asking us to decide the correct interpretation of a slangy expression. The generally accepted meaning of “ blackleg ” ia a cheat at gambling, bnt It is used as an epithet to apply to men who are considered to hav» cheated Unionist* out of work. •' Rat ”is what men were called who were deserters from the Unions, but there ia no doubt that tha term blackleg is used by Unionists to apply to every man, whether a Unionist deserter or not, who accepta work during th. course of a strike • fleeting that work. When the Lhndon dock strike was on all men who attempted to take up the work were denounced as b’aoklegs, “ Free laborer ” ia a term which the employers have succeeded in bringing into u«e, because it baa a high-Bounding tone. ” Non-unionjat ” would be more correct.—Ep.)