THE MINERS' STRIKE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1930, 28 August 1888, Page 3

THE MINERS' STRIKE.

• ■- (per press association.) Sydney, August 27. j The Gas Company has requested _ private consumers to abstain from using j gas m order to keep public places pro t vided with light. r The engineer to the Sydney Gas t Company is of opinion that he cannot y maintain the present gas supply foi j more than a month. In order to strengthen the hands ol f the miners m their strike, the Sea I men's Union have decided to withdraw { the ballot m connection with the Maritime Labor Council difficulty, and also to levy per month on members of the Unions. Milbohrnb, August 27. Advice has been received by cable t from Cardiff, offering to land coal here , by steamers at 25s per ton. Mr Gillies, Premier, has granted the , Union Company of New Zealand per- . mission to coal their New Hebrides I mail steamer m New Zealand during ! the continuance of the Newcastle strike. If the coal strike lasts any length of , time the result will be most serious to large numbers of tradesmen.

Wellington. August 27 While at Auckland recently Captain Hiyward arranged with the Ktmo Ooal Company to supply 3000 tons of coal from the Kamo mlue at Whangarel for the Zealandla.

The "'Oamaru Mall" says of the strike :— The news that the dreaded strike amongst the Newcastle miners has actually oooucred will be received throughout tbe colonies with regret. . . , . Ie li impossible, with the meagre lnformatioa to hind/to judge accurately of the diepa'e But it is net so d:ffi:u't to osculate Its effaces, whioh will be so far-ieaoh-ing aa to paraljao a number of the industries m the Australian colonies. There are virtually no Btocks of ooal on hand, and Victoria alone imports 750,000 fcma per annum. Bat there is not a oolony m Australasia whose trade will not | be seriously affected by the Inauspicious event. ♦ . . . Thus we are reminded m a most unpleasant manner of the importance of coal as an element In the carrying on of oomoierosal enteiprlaes. Wo can readily understand why tha whole of the Aaatrallaa are stirred by this ooal supply question. The emergency is very serious indeed, and there does not seem to be any way m whioh it can be .met. Tasmanian can supply 1000 tons per week, and small supplies oan be derived from other souroeo. .... The attention of ooal consumers and traders has been turned towards New Zealand ; but It Is feared that we shall not bd able to solve the difficulty by meeting their requirements. Notwithstanding that we have an unlimited supply of the best coal m the world on the West Coast, and that the oolony has expended about £600,000 iv developing tbe mines there, we are still importing coal to supply our own require raente. J3ut, even if there wore no othar difficulty to our making use of tho present opportunity to augment our ojal export trade, could we depend on aocuriag the aervice of the miners 'o do that wh'cli would atu'tlfy (ha aoto of their Newcastle brethren ? Tola is not likely. . . It is deeply to be regretted that the raloe proprietors did not agrte to the settlement of disputes by arbitration. Wh&tevar may have been tho faults committed by the men — and they are jasfc &3 capable of I wrong as the arbl riry capUellits — their \ willingneßß to submit the disputes between themselvoe and the r employers to a board of conciliation is a strong po nt m their favor. Says the " Dally Timas " :— Whilst the Seamen's Associations are taking a vote of their 30.000 to 40,000 member* throughout Australia and New Z3iland as to whether they Bhall go oat on strike oa scooaot of the dim* :uhion that have arisen between them and the Shipowners' Association, the New South Wales coal nvnera have burnt their ships, and the largest and most important strike ever Known m this part of the world has begun. As usual, (t is well nigh Impossible to get at the right of the matter, and the merits of the original difficulty have since been complicated by temper on both sides. On the face of the oubo public sympathy would seem likely to be extended to tho miners In their contention that all trade troubles should be referred to a Board of Conciliation, tho origin of the present strike being the refusal of the owners to continue this practice, whioh had been m operation for tbe last four years. But the owners may have good reason for obj anting to thlß manner of Bottling disputes, and, ao we understand, their objection 1b not so much to arbitration m itself, whioh they admit to be neoessary, as to the modus operandi of the trlbana', whioh they declare has not settled difficulties on their intrinsic merits, bat by o jmpzomlaes, which have led to further contention. To what they consider a properly constituted tribunal they deolare tbemselvea ready to refer all differences, and therefore it is not a fair statement of the case to say that the strike is taking place upon the ques tion of whether there shall be arbi 1 ration or not. The real point of difference Is as to the principles oa which the arbitration is to be oonduotod, and the constitution and powers of the Board of Arbitrators, and. until we know what were the proposals of either party on this point and the reasons on which they are grounded It la Impossible to form an Idea of which - party has the greater right — that Is the most reason — on their side. . . . : . It is apparently aa difficult to estimate the immediate effects and the future conaeqrenoea as the merits of the strike. The number of miners out is Btated to be neatly 4000, and already we hoar of over 1000 lumpers and seamen being thrown oat of employment. A writer In the "Sydney Morning Herald " estimates that In consequence 50,000 skilled mechanics and laborers m Australia will be thrown out of employment, and estimating 40,000 of these as married men with families averaging four persons, and 10,000 aa helping to maintain aged parents and brothers and sisters, be arrives at a total of " l|o,ooo persons •• brought to the brink of ruin or starvation." Jt is pretty evident that the number of married men and their children is grossly over entlmated In his oaloulatloD, but It is oertaln that a great deal of distress to men workj ing m trades dependent upon a ooal Ljupply and of inconvenience (o the Aubsjrallan public generally must result; and, unless an understanding is arrived at within the neaft few weeks, we fear that however the strike may end it will sow the seeds of a class feeling which will produce Infinite mischief, and spread far beyond the original boundaries of this quarrel. Fortunately, we m New Zealand are at present beyond tbe area, and it may be hoped that bolh employers and men will endeavor to avoid all temptations to be affected by it, such as will undoubtedly be held out if the strike is of long; duration , Directly, indeed, we profit by Australia^ misfortune, and Dnnedin more than any part of tho oolony, thanks to its looal mines. The price of Westport ooal will neoessaty rise very high on acoount of the Australian demand, but there m not likely to be shipping suffiolent to oarry the looal goal over sea, and though Its prloe may eventually rise slightly our households aud our manufacturers will at least be m a better position than any others m Australia. Bat this temporary advantage will be dearly bought if any of the class feeling whioh will arlie m Aaitralii over tbli

strike makss its way over here, and It I to our Interest as well as to that o Australia that it should be brought to ai early and aatiofaotory close. The preueare of the numbers who will be sotualij I suffering distress on account of the atrlk< and the great inoocvenienoa to the pubiii > of Australia ah mid surely suooeed m establishing a reconciliation. It is we\ nigh intolerable that a few miners and s i few employers should be able to paralyse I a whole oommnuity m this fashion be- . oaose they cannot settle their disputes m a civilised manner. f The "Age "of the 14 h mat. In » report upon the ooal miners' dispute says: — " When tba last strike took place In the Sou 1 hern m'.nea the miners were easily defeated by the ooal proprietors for the fimple reason that the former did not belong to the Union, and therefore received no pecuniary support Now however, they are members of the Union, having been induced to join by representatives sent down from Newcastle for that purpose. By this move, whioh w»a no doubt deliberately p'auned with a view to meet the present contingency, the Newcastle miners not only strengthen their position, but closed one of the prlnolpn) aveuues by which Vo orla might hope to escape out of tbe difficulty. The ooal oootraota entered la to by the Melbourne coal importing firms contain a olause under the provision* of «rhloh the psrsoo contracting fo uapp'y cal h>n tbe power, wheo. a strike oomr*. to terminate his engagementuponglvlngfiredays' notice. The consumption of ooal m Melbourne every 24 houa ia Bat!na*fced a'. 3003 tona, and a o reful ca culation shows the present stock tn hand to he about 20.000 tona, or less than a week's supply. The gas com pany bas no stock of coal. The question of stimulating supplies of coal fr; m other sources than that of Newcastle has been seriously considered by the directors, hut they are facad with tho d ffioalty that the Taßman'aa ooal la unsuitod for the purpose nf mtking gas, whilst the demand of How Zealand for ooal hewn at its own collieries (Westporfc and Grey month) are so far m exoeas of the output that there ia small hope of the company being able to oommand ■ -supply. The rai'way de partment use 8000 tona per wejlr, and there Is not more than * fortnight's aupp'y on hand. An exohange, writing before the miners struck work, mid :— " Should the strike take placj, h i-?evar, the steam power of Australia, ifl it and aahore, will be made largoly dependent on the coal mines of New Z.alaud. Suoh an opportunity ought to be taken the fullest advantage of. Newcastle has long been a splendid field , of wealth for New South Wales, aud the stoppage of operations there, even for a brief apace of time, ought to make the fortunes of our mlnea If the ohanoe Is j properly availed of, It will enable the owners of the mines, not merely to secure the patronaga of an entirely new and important class of o meumera, but to seoure plenty of skilled labor from tbe looked out district of New South Wales, to tally keep paoa with the Increased demand. Wj oan see m the very magnitude of tho impending Btrlke one of the grandest opportunities for the development of Is w Zsaland'* mineral resouroes that hai ovor occurred, apd we trust the proprie.o b of the splendid ooal measures of the W -t Coast of the Middle Island will by :!i ireara baok and prepare for a leap th , well taken, will bring about assured 1 .^c.l permanent prosperity. We believa that m New Zealand ooal there are na'io; of wealth far surpassing anything p-cii't ved from her" gold deposits, and thd d y and hour for placing these mines r>n tho great markets of the southern hemisphere appear to be at hand.