Stockton’s representative in those days was burly Dan Alexander, who learnt his economies as an I.L.P. member adjacent to the Clyde, and who carried with him to his Union activities the Marxian philosophy he then acquired.
Denniston’s representative after the departure of J. Foster, was the late Jim Fisher—an outspoken, fearless advocate of the miners’ cause. For many years he occupied a position on the Federation’s Executive, and his vote and voice was always for progress.
Waihi’s outstanding contribution to the Federation was W. E. Parry. (now M.P., Auckland Central). Like so many other active Federationists, Parry is an Australian; and followed metal mining for many years. When elected President of the Waihi Miners, his grasp of the Labour Movement was not profound, but he immediately set to work to acquire the knowledge essential to his work, and acquire it he did. In after years he displayed a capacity for organisation that resulted in the Waihi Miners’ Union becoming one of the most militant bodies in the Federation. Their fight against injustice will last as long as working-class history endures.
I mentioned “Tim” Armstrong’s name before. After leaving Waihi, he settled on the West Coast, and took the same keen and able interest in the movement that was always an outstanding characteristic of him. He was always a member of the Federation Executive, and his voice was one that fashioned our policy in the direction of militant propaganda and action. In those earlier years Tim and myself were about the only New Zealanders who took anything like a prominent part in the Federation’s numerous activities.
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