The Dominion FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1917. OUTPUT AND PAY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3081, 11 May 1917, Page 4

The Dominion FRIDAY, MAY 11, 1917. OUTPUT AND PAY

Increased production, we a,ro told by the Acting Prim Minister is one of the greatest needs of the times. it i s a gooc i win-thc-war motto, and Sin James Allen's general comments which accompany it are aJI very sound and very timely. Increased production justifies increased pay without adding to tho cosu of living. Increased pay without increased production adds to the cost of living,. and hits indiscriminately tho well-to-do and those less favourably circumstanced. Of course, these arc obvious enough truths, but how few amongst those who are- demanding higher pay and easier working conditions heed'them. At tho present time there is a conference being held hero between representatives of the coal mine-own-ers and the coal miners on tho,subject of. increased pay and improved working conditions in the mines of the Dominion. The outcome will affect the whole of the people of New Zealand. It is a matter of grave concern to everyone, for all arc affected in one way or another by the price of coal. Yet tho people of the Dominion are not represented at the- conference, and have no voice in the matter. The Arbitration Court was established to settle questions such as those which are to he decided at this conference. lt s duty was to determine not only what was a fair thing as between the mine-owners and the minc--tforkers, but also as to the probable effect of any such decision on the people of the Dominion generally. Thus, through the Arbitration Court the people had some chance of their interests being safeguarded. But the minersob"jcct to the Arbitration Court specially constituted for tho purposo of deciding the questions in dispute, and tho public have no means of redress. The, position is quite unsound, and especially so in connection with an industry that plays so large a part in the daily life of practically every section of the community.

Still, as the law permits mineowners and mine-workers to meet together behind closed doors and make such arrangements as they may agree upon as to rates of pay and working conditions, we have to face tho situation as wb find it. All that the public can do is to watch, and watch very closely, what the outcome of the conference may be, and how much or how little it may have added to their cost of living by reason of the added cost of output resulting from such concessions as may be granted by the mine-own-ers. Since the war the miners have already been granted a 10 per cent, war bonus, but they are not satisfied with this.' They are understood to bo asking for an additional 174 per cent., which they demand not as a war bonus but as a, permanent addition to their rate of pay. They also seek a numberof concessions" in regard to working conditions, the cost of which cannot be assessed in advance, but which are liable to add considerably to the cost of output. An advance of 27i per cent, on the pre-war rate of pay is so very large and unusual a demand that it must be obvious that it cannot be granted without a substantial advance in the price of coal to the consumer. We are told bv the Acting-Prime Minister thai" tho State coal mines are not a paying concern at the existing rate of pay, and that the taxpayers have to make up the loss. How much more heavily will they lose, and how much more heavy will tho call ori tho pockets of the taxpayers of the Dominion bo, if these increased rates ' of pay and concessions in working conditions are granted by the mine-owners l The consumers of State coal will, ot course, have to pay a higher price for their coal as well as those who uso the coal from privately-owned mines. The whole community, m fact, will have to shoulder a heavier burden in order that the miners may earn more money for a smaller output. Now, if the miners w.ere not paid a fair wage, most people might feel inclined to put up with the extra cost entailed by the granting of their demands. but according to the figures disposed by tho Crown solicitor in connection with the prosecution of certain ot tho coalminers' unions' officials at Auckland recently, the eannnp ot tho men and tho hours worked certainly afford no evidence to support the suggestion that the men live harshly treated. The figures quoted aro as under: —

The average normal daily earnings taken over the previous six montiis-prior to the "go slow" period were as undor:— Iluntly, 15s. lid.; Waipa, 205.; 1 iikcminv His. 6d.: DemiUton. las. -d.; State (Point Elizabeth), 205., and (Liverpool'!, 17s. 10d.; Stockton, 18s. lid.; Papn-j-na'223. 2d.; Blackball, 18s. Ski. These wages are hank-to-bank, which means from !>i to 7'hours' actual work daily. The Crown solicitor had special opportunities of arriving at an accurate estimate of the men's earnings, and presumably the figures he quoted arc approximately correct. Such being the case, it is clear that before the miners can lay claim to public sympathy and support they

must demonstrate that tho existing rates of pay arc not reasonable. In our opinion these claims of the minora should not bo settled in any hole-and-oorner fashion. The public are quite as deeply concerned in the outcome as the mine-owners or the miners, and thefull facts of the position must be disclosed. There is a very general suspicion that tho miners are not merely claiming fair and reasonable working conditions, "but that they are, by virtue of the fact that coal is essential to the smooth progress of our daily life, and %l that they alone produce it, seeking to extort something more than they are justly entitled to for their labour. If this suspicion does them injustice they have only themselves to blame for it. To them increased output means increased pay, but instead of increasing the output as they might have done, and as is so urgently needed, thereby serving the double purpose of assisting their country and adding to their own earnings, they adopted the opposite course. Now they -want higher pay for less output, and expect their fellow-citizens to bear the cost. They will require to make out a strong case to. justify such a claim. The mine-owners, too, will do well to bear in mind that in dealing with the mattorß which will come up for decision at the conference they will be expected also to justify their actions. Never before has publio attention been so closely focused on the coal-mining induetry, and never have the people of this Dominion been less inclined to submit to imposition from that quarter.