THE TUNNEL LEAGUE.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16149, 1 March 1918, Page 6

THE TUNNEL LEAGUE.

WEST COAST COMMITTEE.

WAGES OF TUNNEL WORKERS. : A meeting ol' tho West Coast Sub- • committee, sot up in connexion with; tho movement for the acceleration of v tho completion of th© Arthur's Pass, tunnel was he'.d yesterday afternoon.* Thero were present tho Mavor (Mr H Holland), Messrs W. Goss. H. Hunter, ■ J. Wyn Irwin, A. F. Drayton, P.' Davidson, D. iSwanston, and* H. H. Smith. ' >. The Mayor reported upon what other ■' committees sot up in regard to tho' same ooject had done, and remarked .' that a difficulty lay in tho fact that this particular committeo did not know exactly what tho other committees" were : • Un tne suggestion of Mr Holland the 1 election of a caairman of the West Coast committee was proceeded with ana Mr William Goss was appointed to tlio position. Mr l'. Davidson was appointed tho committee's representative on the exo- ■ cutive. borne considerable discussion took place on the question of what exactly wore the duties of tho committee. Eventually Mr binitn moved that it be a recommendation to tho oxccutiv© ' that representatives on the West Coast 1 bo asked to form a committee or committees there, for the purpose of • conferring with tho executive of tho Artnurs Pass Tunnel League on any ■ matter of interest.' The motion was carried. Various matters in regard to tho work of the committee were discussed. Air Hunter and Mr Drayton spoko regarding wages of the men engaged on the tunnel work. It was pointed out that tho Government appeared to bo fixed on lis per uay, but the men did not want to work for that sum. "if wo want this work pushed through," said Mr Drayton, "lot us pay tiiem decent wages, and get it douo." Mr Holland remarked that men at Adding ton were getting lis per day aad 2d per .hour war bonus, bringing their wages up to ]2s Id per day, whilo those on tho tunnel wcro getting 4d a; ■ day less. To him it appeared to be' quite wrong that tho tunnel workersl should have to work at theso less! rates. Mr Smith spoke of the hard wotk and the unpleasant conditions which; .pertained to tho tunnel workers. It; nad been stated, he said, that jf rea-. sonablo wages were paid thero would' be no difficulty in getting men for the work. Ono of the principal duties of tho committee, he thought, was to get' in touch with the Coast and to keep in-' touch with it. If tho vital question' were that tho men on tho work did ijofc get enough money then it was the duty, of the committee to take up the mat* ter and thrash it out thoroughly, if men wero not to be got, thon it the duty of the Deputations Committee to find o"t tho reason from tlio Minister. The men on the tunnel, pecially those inside, should bo fairly paid, and if miners could got 20s per - day then it was a crying shame taat . tunnel workers should recoive only 11$. He understood that tho tunnel was treated,' for workers' purposes, as quarry and not as a mine. Mr Holland spoke of the severe woii for tho men inside the tunnel. ' u\!r Hunter _ offered a suggestion that, a representative of the League should go to the West Coast and find out ait. actly what was the trouble with tho men. He specifically urged that ho did not want the matter ..mado aj , Labour one. On tho contrary, he wanted the work done as soon and at t well as possible. .< ' Eventually it was decided that i Messrs I>. Keecc, H. Hunter, a nd the . chairman should constitute a commit-•. tee to enquire- into the conditions of :! r the workers at the tunnel, and 600' * what improvements wero necessary. i Mr Smith referred to the absence of Canterbury members of Parliament from meetings in connexion with tho League. Ho considered that if some , of thoso members wero to show some interest in the movement then the public would take it up more. So far only one member had s..own his interest. It was time that i .as discovered what attitude the <J:i jury members were prepared to ta;._ up in regard to this important movement- One great failure was that tho League was not obtaining sufficient support from thoso members. , Mr Smith moved that MrH.G. EH> - M.P., should be added to the committee. ' Mr Drayton proposed as an amendment that all members of. Parliament should ,bo written to urging them to take an interest in the movement, and to leave it to the executive to decide U>. ' which committees it would be most ad- , J visable to appoint those members. Mr Smith then withdrew his motion,, and substituted one to the effect that , the executive should write to all Canterbury members asking if they would give the matter their undivided support. This was, in substance, the same as Mr Drayton's motion, and was carried. AUCKLAND HOSTILITY. In its issue of Tuesday last th® Auck' land "Herald," under the heading, "A. Railway Agitation," prints a hostile leading article upon the Otira tußßw agitation, as follows: — V | "It is apparent from the Christchurch nowspapers that efforts are J™ be made, prooably during th© a PP£ oa ™T ing snort session of Parliament," to cx p&aite the progress of the cutting or the Otira tunnel. A league has been formed, with numerous committees, ana the unanimous pronouncement of th® Christchurch Press is that tho Government must givo immediato attentionto > the demands to bo made. upon it. Th®.' ;■ agitation is interesting, if for no other reason than that the claim is based on f national grounds. . Tho Public vvorks Department is attacked for diffusing its energy upon a multiplicity of railways instead of concentrating upon the most important. If we exclude th© inference that the Midland Railway would benefit bv tho adoption of such a course, the policy as here laid down may be wholeheartedly accepted. What New Zealand needs is a concentration upon national railways, upon railways that will open land for settlement, that wm thereby increase production and bring" revenue to tho State and to tho people* through the Railway Department, through the Lands Department, and in returns for exported products. Upon this test thero arc many railways under crnstruction in tho Dominion, ahead or the Midland and few behjnd it. the monc-y snrnt in cutting the ir ~ tunnel been laid nut on tho Enst or in the North of Auckland, Inc-w Zealand would now have been richer for tn i expenditure, and farming land 'T Oll ! liavo been available in areas ' ar ß. enough to have spared the Governm the,humiliation of purchasing impro estates at high prices for the settlemont of soldiers. As for the P ~ . , agitation, even those who maintain th f the Otira tunnel should not have b 1 besun whilo fertile lands. * ! through lack of communication will) no* dispute that business r< r " de " c ° points to its completion. Bnt w . the unbroken connexion of Chn-tchurc with Grevmouth should bo so to retard the progress of urgoatly-ne«i cd settlement railways is a matter which the North will not.be satisfied tolea™ to tbo interested judgment of Wrw /, church." .v