As soon as he heard that the ministry actually purposed to imprison the miners because they did not like the terms of their employment, he went to the minister of labor and earnestly protested, protested with tears in his eyes, as the minister himself subsequently testified, begged, argued, and pleaded.

No possible good could come from such rigor, and almost certainly it would precipitate grave disaster.
"To all this the minister was obdurate.

Then Mr.Tregear said that he would resign; he would not retain his office and see men imprisoned for exercising their inalienable right of choice, whether they would or would not work under given conditions.
"Now Mr.Tregear was one of the most popular men in New Zealand, and his resignation under such conditions would raise a storm that no ministry would care to face.

Hence the government was in a worse situation than ever.

On one side it fronted a dangerous venture with the certainty of a tremendous handicap in the resignation of the chief secretary, and on the other hand was an acknowledgment that the arbitration law was a failure and could be violated with impunity.
"In this emergency decision was halted for a few hours while the government people consulted.