MINE STOPPAGES

Chronicle (Levin), 21 June 1946, Page 3

MINE STOPPAGES

—Press Association

By Telegraph-

\\ KLLl s GTON , ,J une 20. "I appeal to ali delogates i'roin xaiuers' organisatioiis repri'sented liere to xuaJic the greati'st possidle endeavour to avoid stoppagos in the future, " said tiic Hon. A. McLagan, M.L.C., addressing the annual couforonee oi: the New Zealand Labour i'arty vemerday when tho Parli amo u lary Labour Party's draft policy plan was being eonsidered. "Gome of the eoaJ owner.s doa 't wunt coal from the iniiitfs tiiis year — they only want stoppuges, ' ' he said. Mr. McLagan said that iu 1939 coal output in New Zealand was 2,342.039 finis. In 1945 it had risen to 2,829,000 tons, an increase of 487,000 tons. ' ' This is a treuiendou.s increase, and iio otlier country engaged in the waihau done anything ii ko it," said Alr. McLagan. He pointed out that lirituiu's production had dcclined by 50,000,000 tons, owing to shortage of manpower. Mechanised opcn-cast mining had not operated until 1943, and before that dale there had been an incrcase of 445,000 tons in the production of coal from underground niines. By compariaon, the output during the saine number of years iu World War t had declined by 427,000 tous a year. The output per niau had increased eonsiderably, and this liad been achieved in spite of a smaller number of 'skilled tnen. "The best niines were workecl out long ago," said Mr. McLagan, "aud in working them under private enterprise

i wc have loat million3 of tons of valuable coal. " Mr. Semple: They lost more than they I took out. j Mr. McLagan ugreed, saying that, in ' some cases, twice as much coal was left ! as was taken out, and the remainder ) had been burning for ycars. He men- ! tioned the Westport Coal Co. 's Cascade mine, wlierc hundreds of thousands of tons had been. lost. The Millerton mine ownerri prided themselves on their abiliity to get 30 tons of coal out of O'-ery 100 tons in their seam. "This is duc to tlie previous careless working roetliods," said Mr. McLagan. "The same applies in mauy otlier pri-vatelv-owned mines. In fact, the exception is in the State mines, where there has been intelligent developmnt. Altliough they are very gassy — the worst in the country — there has never been a single disastrous explosion in a State mine. " Saying that explosives were the miner's raw materials, Mr. McLagan pointed out that inferior explosives had to be used at present. Seams were being worlced in Kew Zealand today that would never have been looked at before, he added, referring to the working of small seams. "When people outside attack the miners, I often wondef how they would' get ou themselves, 7 ' said Mr. McLagan, amid laughter. " It would be news, not when they stopped work, but when they* sf larted. " The report on mining, introdueed by the Acting Minister of Mines (Mr. O.'Brien), was approved by the conferenee. Strong support for tlxe natioaal-

— . - ■ ■ — : isation of mines earae from niany delegates, and thc Minister, replying to the debate, said lie wotild not be prepared to justify tlie purcliase of some mines at the excessive prices being asked by their owners.