THE OTIRA WORKS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 225, 17 June 1919, Page 7

THE OTIRA WORKS

AND "MORE MEN" DEMAND

HIGHER WAGES NOT THE

SOLUTION

'Sir William Fraser, Minister of Public ■{Forks, has; received from Mr. H Holland, ,ox r Mayor of Ghristchurch, a, letter referring to tho: visit .of representatives', •of-:tho- Arthur's• Paw Tunnel.League to tho tunnel works at Otira. Tho visit was ■asked for. .by tho league, and. the Minister r.eadily: gavo his consent. . Tho object of'the visit was that tlio'members of tho ."•leaguo. luiclit see for themselves tho con-ditions-tinder which the men-were working, a'nd,:.by reference to tlio records, ex- : actly: tho iwages.-they wore, receiving for Minister instructed Ma •engineer'in charge of the worksjto give the members of. the league all tho assist'nnce' he could, and to give them all the ■information'they. I desired. This-inquiry was important to tho league, .'and incidentally, to tho Minister, because it had •ibeen 1 argued by "a deputation waiting pn : the Minister'some time before that; tho works, coujd be hastened if'nto'ro, men ■were' employed,''''and that'tho Minister bnght'to increase'tho number'of men by offering nioro wage's. Mr, Holland's letter 'states-.the'result of the inquiries made, :: Boferr'ihg to the letter, Sir ' William 'Fraser" said: -"I- think the letter from ; 'Mr. 'Holland' is sufficient answer to the. ntil 'baseless' attacks upon 'hie and my Department in the Clirist'cliurchjiiowspnpers recently." Following is tho text'of tho-letter:— "At a meeting of tho Arthur's Pass Tunnel League the .visitors who .recently visited tho-tunnel by yoii-roourtesy.pre-sented their reporti, which was adopted. ;Each of tho visitors paid a,tribute tO ■you, and 'I was requested to'convey to yon .tho leaguo's .appreciation of your courtesy, in granting' permission 'to visit .tlio. tunnel' and inspoct the .pay-sheets.--,'ffo found that (ho figures' you had previously supplied wore' tinder "rather, than '-.over stated,, and instead of tho men re..ceivihg 13s. 'per- day,; tho lowest paid "man in the tunnel received 15s. for six ;hours forty '^minutes,,'while: the mon on, tho Arthur's' Pass' end, working' on the ■co-operative contract,- had • averaged' 225. _ 10|d. per day for eight hours'twen'ty-fivo ' minutes, for a ■ period "of, eight months; also that thero'were only-two shifts on fit: Arthur's'Pass'.'cnd.-.and that if men iver'o'"availablo 'another shift could.be •■■worked. This satisfied us. that offering higher wages would not attract, more men, I may say'that, generally speaking, we found all the conditions of living satisfactory, and J desire to join with the.league in thanking you for permit-' 1 ting'ns-to inspect. Of course, yon-.wiH IJiaturally.'expect us to keep on pressing for. the. speedy-complotion of the ! tunnel."