The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1909. THE MINING TROUBLE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 397, 5 January 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1909. THE MINING TROUBLE.

The most curious feature of tho position that has arisen in tho mining industry on the West Ooast and in other districts is the fact that the minors are accusing tho mine-owners of having instituted a lock-out, while tho employers hold that it is the duty of tho Government to take action against what they claim js nothing more nor less than a strike. Whether the cessation of work in any industry is a strike or a lock-out is a question of fact, and in tho present case tho facts seem to be against the miners. No, doubt, if they had employed the right tactics, they might have made tho mineowners appear to be patties to a lockout. If, for example, the men had turned up at the work, and had been informed that unless thoy agreed to' undergo medical examination they would be dismissed, there might have been grounds for sup* posing that the employers had rendered i themselves liable to prosecution for hav- i ing, in tho words of Clause' 4 of iast year's amending Act, "suspended" or "discontinued" business "with intent to compel or induco workers to agree to terms of employment." It does not seem likely that an information laid against the mine-owneM in such circumstances would result in a victory for the men, but it would have been an arguable case. The mon, howeveT, have obviated the necessity l for such speculations by rofusing to return to work, and they have clearly laid themselves open to prosecution under the strike clauses of tho new I Act. It ie to be .hoped that the Govornj ment will not .again refuse to put the I law in operation against any offenders. When he said that the Government could do nothing, the Minister for Labour cannot have meant that tho Government's inactivity is to include a passive attitudo towards people who break tho law. Until ho further oxplains his Government's intentions, 'wo must take his statement as referring only to the subject of tho dispute, since it is incredible to us that tho Government will rush upon tho complete ruin that mutt follow any repetition of tho tactics that it pursued.

in th,e' DeiinUton and Blackball affairs. . In "the'meantime,' we must call attention to the extraordinary attitude that has been taken up in some quarters upon the duty of the Government Insurance Department. The Department, it appears, is as little inclined as the private insuranco companies to insure, the miners against the risks' of pneumoconiosis without medical examination. This very proper decision has aroused 'a 'great deal of extremely stupid and .wrong-headed, indignation, "Tho, Government," the ar : gument runs, "has created the new liability that is at the root of |he trouble. It is the duty of the Government's Inj suranco Department, therefore, to insure i tho miners without insisting oii .medical i examination." No doubt this argumont appears plausible' to a good many people, since it is~ indisputable that' the State should 'lepair without • delay any wrong which it has" done. . But in repairing one wrong the State must not be guilty of another. The State, whon it errs in its capacity,as.law-maker, cannot undo its handiwork'except in the same capacity., Tho notion that the State, in its function asthe proprietor of a business concern,-should repair tho injuries caused ■by Parliament, cannot .be tolerated for a moment. ■ What the miners are asking is that the Government Insurance Department, shall take up a quantity of unsound business in order to meet the capricious objections of a body, of workers' to the ; naturai sequel of .an Act of Parliament. ; . In other words, the general ."taxpayer, who.has to financo .the Department, is to pay , the. .cost of placating a body of, miners who Have no just grounds for the attitude which they have taken- up;: We sincerely trust, that the Government will set its face against such a monstrous' request. ■. Tho sole justification, for the existence of the Department is the fact that it follows sound business mofchods,.. ! lf,■•■•.the Government were to decide'to uso the Department to meet the demands of the miners, we should have established at once the principle that a, State -Department may. use the ; public funds for all kinds of improper purposes. In this instance a financial institution owned by the public would be perverted;into 3 machine for throwing a/: sop to organised Labour. The Department'e funds might just as well bo used'to, buy. votes over the counter. In America the shareholders! of .the Insurance Companies , are now, \. protected against the misuse, of their fvnds; the shareholders:of the Government Insurance Department, who aro' the public, have an equal ''right to demand that their funds, shall not be misapplied, as misapplied they; would be,;if: the Department took euch risks. as the miners ask it to take, ylf,the;Government gives way to tho .pressure that, may be put upon it in. this > matter, the taxpayer may make up his mind-at once that he exists only to be robbed; ;< What ..the State , did with its logislatiVe;Harjd' ; itmust'nbt undo save with'that hand. '.Othorwise such a thing , as.honest government is impossible! './ • -■Aβi'=to the general attitude, of the miners,,., we need, npV:say much' at present. They ca n ; ccrtainly- complain -of the acof 'Parliament in not giving, due consideration to :,ita wbrlc, : altlfsfigH : ';'w'e , arb bound; to say; that' the ' complaint corpos with ii bad grace from a section .which has' long driven, the Government, 'into passing 'Act after;Act!bf a very.'simi-' iar';' such Acts wero eqiiitabl6;or;'nbi. Tho ;,: tlio;/M:iners' Federation is i threatening l to cite 'the bmpioyers : for. causing a lock-out,'ind;he is talking of the employers' demand for a medical examination as'"the thin end of the wedge;" This'is the first hint we have seen of the objection of the miners to the proposed medical examination. Their oase is nothing:more than a vague fear that somehow.qr;pther the employers are endeavouring to get Labour under their thumb. The spectacle, of an employer standing up for his bare rights and endeavouring to protect himself may bo an' unpleasant one to' Labour. But to gain public, sympathy, the workers must have svxoe graver case/against the employers than-that, .because they are ..acting like prudent .men,.they, arc therefore con-: sutned with the worst passions. :' ,