ON THE WEST COAST.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14840, 4 December 1913, Page 8

ON THE WEST COAST.

A GLOOMY OUTLOOK. INDUSTRIES, AT A COMPLETE STANDSTILL. (SPECIAL TO "THE PRESS.") GREYMOUTH, December 3. It is now four weeks since the general strike was proclaimed on the West Coast and since then the wheels of industry have come to a complete standstill. In the Grey District alone it is estimated that the sum of £28,850 has been lost in wages, made up as follows:*— £ Sawmilling Industry ... 12,000 Coalminera — State ... 6,000 . B-nckball 5,000 Paparca ... ••• ••• ' 1.300 Brunner ... ••• ••• 1,200 "Waterside Workers — Union Company ... ... 1,700 Anchor Company ... ... 250 Other Companies ... ... 500 Blackball 50 Harbour Board, compulsory loss 700 Carters ... ... 150 Total .- ...£28,850 To this of course has to be added the indirect loss, large numbers of small employers having reduced hands. IF the loss in the Buller district, where the situation is extremely acute, is included, it will be found that the amount for the first month falls very little short of £70,000. But the most alarming feature is that there is.no immediate prospect of the re-opening of the coal mines, which in any case are not, likely to regain their normal output in under six months. All supplies for Greymouth and its immediate vicinity aro being brought in via Hokitika, where the local watersiders are reaping a rich harvest through the idleness of their Greymouth comrades. The local merchants are simply passing tho extra charges thus occasioned on to the consumers.

The sawmills are a sad reflection of the effects of the strike. Only one is now running. The remainder are lying idle behind full skids, containing in tho aggregate 4,000,000 super, feet of timber.

The Defender arrived at Wesport last evening, after a passage of exactly a week from Lytteiton. Supplies by her have staved off the threatened famine in the northern town.