MINING DEADLOCK.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 405, 14 January 1909, Page 6

MINING DEADLOCK.

■HOW TO END IT. MR. MASSEY CONSULTED. PARLIAMENT SHOULD BE CONVENED ' ■■ (BT TELEGEAPH—ri!ES3 ASSOCIATION.) .. : ■ ' Auckland, January 13. 'Mr. Massey, Leader of the: Opposition, re ceived a, telegram trom tho secretary o the Thames Miners'. Union a day or tw< ago asking him to suggest a solution o the' miners' ; difficulty,; In his. , reply, Mr Massey .said <ttiatj while- •willing to do any thing , possible to remove- the present dead lock, 1 ; ho .considered the' only way. out ' o: tho difficulty was {to eonveno Parliament foi the' purpose of' 'amending .the: Act.•' ; i Mr. Massey stated to-day. that ■ he doubtec whether the Government had tho legal powei to give a guarantee , to tho Accident. Insur ■ anco Department to mako - up any loss thai might' arisean connection with the insurant of against pneumoconiosis betweer now-,and the meeting of Parliament; ant that ho doubted also. whether the Depart • ment would be within its legal rights ii accepting, such , a guarantee oven if it wer< covered. . , "The>, proper "constitutional course," 1 :h( said,, "is . to 'convene 'Parliament and ■ alien it to deal with the matter." y PRIME MINISTER RETURNING. The Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, has abandoned for the present his projected holi-day.-at Mount i Cook, and Kill return tc "Wellington on Sunday morning; ! A' REJECTED RESPONSIBILITY. PREMIER'S TELEGRAM. GOVERNMENT "CAN DO NO MORE." . > (BY i • • ' ■ Tlmaru, January 13. •> ! Tho Prime Minister, who arrived hero today; from Oamaru, handed the following to the Press Association- agent with a special request .that it -bo ' sent , to the principal papers: ■ ■- • v The Prime Minister'has received the following. ;'telegram : Sfrom ; Mr. 'S. Free) repre: '^tatiTO' h pf/lie'' : at v ß-eefton>— ■ The Owners put an Alternative. . I'We have.to'thank you for your telegram of yesterday, which was exhaustively considered by';a meeting, of,the mlrieownors last night; and again this morning. Wo have :already stated our reason for not giving-evi-dence' against- the; Bill ' when before the Labour Bills .Committee, and we think the member for tho district treated :is unfairly inj not, advising^, us' of.- ,the inclusion of the diseases clause in the Act, and so we do not to"; blame for . our ignorance. . "We realise that theourden of proof lies with. the;,worker .claiming compensation to show-that he- comesi within the provision of the Act ; ; -rbut -death from- phthisis or ■ pneu-moconiosis'-iß'walways-preceded by a con-'siderable-perwd' Of v'incapacityj : arid the! right to';, compensation'arises " immediately ':on; .inj capacitation. Consequently every diagnosis must :,of->: necessity..' be : largely ' based I; upon statements by the claimant which it would be-impossible ~to'refute. '■ Already our : mines a'fo ' largely manned by ' Australians, .arid .'if it ibeebmes known that owners ;in uhis Dominion. iinSure; their-workers- agaiiist incapacity and' death' ; froiri :: .pneumoconiosis, without Examination",."we, sh'alL.be'iriundated. with undesirables :'fr6iri, other parts/. !■ ':/. J pneumoconiosis is to remain m the Act some form : of examination ■ must be adopted, and; further, we think that, had tho. Government allowed your telegram to Mr. Semple of . BtE iristsntrrriii '.which: you- fsuggested'mediqal examination .by a Government officer—to be- tho .'last word '. on the; subject), matters would-now-be in.a'fair way; towards settlement. ;;AB''~TO:.iinderstand.' ; 'your-.'-tel^rnm : ' if we' can convince-Parliament-that the ourden cast- upon; us'by tho' !Acfc' is unbearable, it will-be brought into line with the Imperial statute jCotherwise'j ;pneumoMni6sis ; must' remain'in'the Act; 1 ' with the provision added to-make it workable. .. - . '.'ls the alternative to be coercion applied to the workers to compel tbem to . submit to ; medical examination,, or. to the employers to' force 'them to employ those • seeking; em'r pldymerit," rib' matter ■' how 1 -undesirable their physical condition may'.be? Either.alternative^means''trouble; of :»'• serious character: If Parliament blocks v medical examination, it -cannot' prevent"! employers 'refusing to - engage -all ■' workmen 1 deemed, physically- unfit, and such action. would causo -industrial trouble more r .difficult to remedy. : than the present. ' . ' , , "If mine-owners were compelled to insure workmen-' to - the .extent *of. £500,' -they would exerciso their- right to ( select - employees either by medical-' 1 : is -the; only just method—or by guess work, which would undoubtedly work injustico in many, cases. We' are anxious to. promote a -settlement of the ' present- difficulty,' but the possibility of doing so has-not yet been, mado clear." . Government's Explanation. ■ The following. reply was telegraphed, by the Prime-Minister.this afternoon:— t "In- your wire of yesterday, ;I have no desire or'right to-be a critic of, the reasons why the ; r mine-owner?.„.'. I; not . give evidence before the Labour i»ns committee, and urgo.'tKeir.objection to Clause 10 before it became l&w. I was only., concerned in r n}y-iast, wiro-,-to;have it.clearly understood that tho Government was in no. way responsible; for .tho ,mine-owners- not giving evidence/:: and-l'that- the fullest opportunity \va's' .afforded I .to' those affected •by; the Bill of stating Itheir- objections.''. The omission of ' the . mine-owners to {urge any • objection naturally; led'■ us to assume .that. the mineowners: did not oppose tho clause as passed. "Your reference to; Australians does not shorn to be' at all relevant to the present situation: • You suggest that Australians may: bo attracted to .Now. Zealand by the favour--able'. conditions' as' , tc ■ pneumoconiosis j' - but surely the answer' toithis.' is that you .need, not engage .Australians,- or, if . they come to New Zealand and,.seek;em'ployment from you,, you' can'impose, .such conditions within, the law}as;wUl-.protect>pdu'. " As. you are .under, no''obligation to .-employ, these, people, the fear: you'ekpress: is surely; groundless.', > ; ■ "I note that you think that, had I allowed my telegram to Mr. 1 Semple of the Bth:inst." regarding a medioal examination by a Governnieiit officer to be the last word from the Government. on the subject, matters would now bein a fair iwajM® settlement. . While your opinion of course,' to respect, I am (confident that-'it ; is .'entirely wrong. !' in this matter with great deliberation, Lafter obtaining of a: reliable nature, which, probably,: if soen by you, would convince- you of your i error. , Apart from',; this,' the Owners we're communicating with me declaring ; unanimouslythat- stared them in the face, and irreparable injury] to their mines would result uidess prompt action: was taken by the Government; apart also from which' numbers of the owners of the side industries dependent upon coal. w'ero-coramunicating to a similar,' effect;' Either they were entirely wrong in their assumption, or you are wrong in'yours. Both of you, you will recognise, cannot,.{ipbright,..arid,when..l have acted-to help to end the trouble then yoii are adopting the • extraordinary . course ;of endeavouring 'to obtain from me the definite outlines of legislation, 'befqfe l ,the,.wholo" matt«r is investigated.; r " I -have gone as-far as I am prepared to go. l;/Ehe .last.' part : of ■■ your telegram 'is : conFused, either'in thought or transmission. The proposals made by the Government are that the miners-should be.insured by the Governriieht Life -Insurance Department without iriedical examination until Parliament meets arid'deals-'with this'legislation. As soon as Parliament-meets a-full inquiry will be held, and the facts .reliably established. Upon these faots-ariy, will bo based. If- the mine-owners'-show that the inclusion of pneumoconiosis in the Workere'' Compensation Act Will bo fatal to the best interests of the industryi the law will be amended and workable safeguards: prtjvided. If, however, it - appears that what is required is more stringent .pfotection against- bogus claims, that protection will be devised'and made law. .•'V:Ypu ,ask whether-the''alternative to passing such' legislation is the coercion of workere to compel them to submit to the medical examination, or to force employers to emploj

those.. seeking employment,. no matfcer t how undesirable- their physical condition may be. As far'as X know, 110 one has suggested coercion, for 'coercion in either of the cases you; mention would be, not only unjust,, but ridiculous. ' "■ ' ;■' ' ."The Government can do no more than I have Outlined) and if ■ the tiiine-owners, ara not prepared to accept the friendly relief ,of the present situation offered by the Government, tho responsibility for acting' otherwise must -rest with tho mine-owners themselves."',