John Joseph Robinson was born in Tapanui in 1883. He spent his early working life on the Central Otago gold dredges and was a compositor for the Alexandra Herald.
From the Otago Daily Times, November 1st, 1928:
"Mr John Robinson the Labour candidate for Dunedin Central, was born in Tapanui in 1882, and was educated at Roxburgh. He has lived in Dunedin for the last 20 years. He served an apprenticeship as a compositor. He followed the dredging boom, and at that time gained considerable experience in the blacksmithing and engineering trades and in bridge building and general construction work. He was employed in the Railways Department, and later, for five years, in the Gas Department of the city Council. Later still he served for about four years as conductor and motorman in the Tramways Department. Mr Robinson has always taken the keenest interest in Labour matters, and was one of the two persons responsible for the publication of the Democrat, a monthly Labour journal now out of print. Messrs Robinson and Murrow produced this paper solely by their own efforts and in their spare time. Mr Robinson is secretary of the Otago Labour Council, the Trades Hall Board of Trust, and the following trades unions: - Bootmakers’, Boot Repairers’, Brick and Tile Workers’, Canister Workers', Coach Workers and Wheelwrights’, Cordial Workers’, Cement Workers’, Retail Chemists’ Assistants, Manufacturing Chemists’ Assistants’, Plasterers’, Electrical Workers’, Metal Workers’ Assistants’, Rope and Twine Spinners, Paper Mills Employees’, Green Island Iron Rolling Mills Employees’, Theatrical Workers’, and Warehousemen's. He is also president for the second term of the Tramway Employees’ Union. He was chosen by the local Labour movement to give evidence before the Labour Bills Committee of Parliament on the Government’s proposed amendments to the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, and be was one of the local workers’ representatives to the National Industrial Conference called by the Government at the beginning of this year. He has been associated with the Labour Party for many years, and is a member of the local executive."
Capitalist Class Justice? Dish it out!
John Robinson lost the election for the seat of Dunedin Central. He moved to Wellington and, with the Great Depression dominating the politics of 1930, he and Richard Griffin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of New Zealand, were tried for "inciting 'divers unknown persons' to resist, assault, or obstruct constables of Wellington in the execution of their duty; inciting lawlessness; and obstructing the traffic in Dixon street." "Capitalist class justice? Dish it out." called Robinson from the dock. Cries of "Hear, hear!" and a couple of verses of "The Red Flag" were heard from the public area of the court. “What did you say?” asked the magistrate. “Dish it out,” was the reply. "The magistrate offered the prisoner an opportunity to change his plea of guilty to not guilty, but a moment or two later accused broke out again: "I understand that the justice I get now will be capitalist class justice,” he said. Cries of “Hear!, hear!” came from the back of the court. “The justice you get, I hope, is the law of the land, the same as anyone else.” said the magistrate. Both men were jailed for two months. Three cheers rang out in court as they were taken away.
What had Robinson said to incite lawlessness? Addressing a crowd of unemployed men, referring to previous "unrest" at a similar meeting in Christchurch, he said: "The workers will have to unite and form a labour defence corps for Wellington to resist the police, who are forces of the capitalists. The purpose of the labour defence corps is to march ahead of the unemployed and fight and overcome the police. Able-bodied men will be necessary." A full report of the meeting in Dixon Street, Wellington, is here:
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19301223.2.99?query=john%20joseph%20robinson%20advocate
"he is an agitator"
There was another supportive crowd in court a few years later when Robinson was charged with various counts of assaulting and obstructing police. This was the result of a march on Parliament of a group of unemployed men who were refused entry to the grounds. As the agreed deputation were being admitted, they tried to rush the gates of Parliament and were met by police. Robinson was chased by a police Inspector who brought him down with a flying tackle.
"It is clear that Robinson introduced a disorderly element into the procession." said the presiding magistrate. "It seems to me that he is an agitator. I am sure that conduct like his must hinder, rather than help those who wish to place their views before the authorities."
On his part, Robinson's statement was that police evidence was contradictory and that, as one of the deputation chosen to meet the Minister of Labour, he was entitled to enter the grounds of Parliament. He claimed that police and the press were prejudiced against him due to his membership of the Communist Party and that police were persecuting him.
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| 1932 unemployment march on Parliament, photo from "NZ History." |
The end of 1931 saw Robinson arrested again. This time it was for the content of a copy of "The Red Worker," published in September of that year. The charge was made under a wartime law from 1915, which had been renewed in 1920.
"Counsel quoted various extracts which contained the words, 'Infamous Unemployment Act,' 'Refuse to go into slave camps,' 'Boss class breaks agreements with impunity,' 'Workers can never expect anything from the master class and Courts.' Counsel said the 'Red Worker' urged the formation of a Young Communists' League to 'instill in the minds of the young the knowledge that they were being exploited and crushed by class parasites, and that a tremendous force would be created that would send capitalism crashing to its ruins and establish Communism.'" - NZ Herald 9/2/32
Robinson was found guilty. the penalty was fifty pounds plus costs.
"workers of both sexes were batonned"
He was evidently undaunted by this finding, being charged again with sedition over the contents of an issue of the "Red Worker" in April of that year. The following quotes were offered as evidence of the seditious nature of the publication:
"The tide of retreat before the attacks of the bosses has been stemmed and the First of May marks a festival when we renew our youth and vigour, throw down the gauntlet of new demands, and prepare for counter-attack."
"When we have built up committees of the workers in all enterprises and when we have linked these together in a united front of struggle and when we have built up a virile, strong, and disciplined revolutionary party to act as the vanguard in our struggles we shall be able to look forward with certainty to the day when New Zealand will celebrate a Victorious May Day, when Capitalism and its evils will only be a memory, and when we, after our long winter of struggle, shall prepare to enjoy the fruits of the earth."
This was the "Red Worker's" take on what became known as "the Queen Street Riots:"
"Precipitated by the savage and cowardly actions of the bosses police, the long-standing dissatisfaction with the slave-driving tactics of the Forbes-Coates gang of boss-class political leaders came to a head in Auckland on the evening of Thursday, 14th April, when fighting and rioting broke out and. raged through Queen street until midnight. The provocation of the police resulted in more than 200 casualties, and damage totaling thousands of pounds to Queen street business premises. Workers of both sexes were batonned with the utmost ferocity while even innocent bystanders of the bourgeois type felt the heavy end of the cudgels of the brave and gallant constables."
Found guilty, the three defendants were sentenced to three years' "reformative detention." The sentences were reduced on appeal.
John Robinson was back in Dunedin in 1936, during the first Labour government under Prime Minister Savage. He was in the less revolutionary role of a Workers' Advocate, taking part in disputes over wage rates. He ran for the office of St Kilda Mayor in 1938 but was unsuccessful and was still working as a Workers' Advocate in July 1940. He died the next month.
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