THE GAS SUPPLY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3159, 10 August 1917, Page 4

THE GAS SUPPLY

Aug statement made to tho House ■P*™f A e f 3ontiatlvcs yaterday by tho 1 Rime Misistbe regarding the Gas Company s trouble fs not calculated to strengthen confidence in tho Na- ,!,°™ f Government Mh. Massey successfully earned through negotiations between tho men on strike, the company employing them, and the wharf workers' representative, but tho agreement arrived at and c Uy attested was almost immediately .broken by the men, and tho strike was aggravated by tho refusal of tho coal section of the wharf workers to unload vessels carrying coal for the Gas Company, in face of this deliberate breach of raith; in face of tho fact that it was deemed necessary in the public interest to declaro gas supply works an essential industry,; in face of the hardship and loss which the citizens of Wellington are being put to: in face of tho- fact that tho Government has a contract to supply tho Gas Company with coal, Me. Massev talks helplessly of being willing to do all ho can to smooth over tho trouble. Is it not time that tho Government began to look at tho matter from the point of view of the public? Aro householders, women and children, to go on suffering this hardship indefinitely while the Government aro seeking ways and means to smooth over a trouble which is utterly lacking in merit? Are tho National Government so feeble a body that they cannot protect tho community against a petty tyranny which has not a shadow of justification ? If thero is any merit in the claims of tho men tho way to redress lies open to them through' the agreement previously arrived at. But it is timo the public received tho consideration and protection they are entitled to, and they look to those in authority to sec that this is given them.