The Dominion. FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 1919. REORGANISATION OF THE COAL INDUSTRY.

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 234, 27 June 1919, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 1919. REORGANISATION OF THE COAL INDUSTRY.

• Industrial problems in this country arc not considered as often or as tully as they ought to be from a • standpoint of. impartial detachment. As a general rule they are given serious attention only at moments .of .emergency, when a stoppage of industry has occurred, or is threatened. At such times the issues really at stake are almost invariably obscured by partisan presentation and even by the well-in-tended efforts' of those whose whole anxiety it is to patch up some sort of settlement. In these circumstances there is very little hope of getting at the root cause of the trouble, still less of finding a remedy. Much better results may be expected from such an inquiry as the Board of Trade has lately made into the working conditions of the coal industry. In conducting an investigation of $hc broadest scope the Board necessarily gave a great deal of attention to labour conditions and the relations between employers and employed, and the sections of its report_ dealing with these matters constitute a particularly valuable, survey and analysis of industrial conditions. No one can peruse this orderly array of facts, set out in due perspective and the dispassionate conclusions presents by the Board without realising that even in the coal industry, which is a byword for unending friction and strife, the wayto industrial peaccand to greatly improved conditions is invitingly open. The popular conception of lire miner's occupation in comparison with others no doubt is that inevitably it is dangerous, unhealthy, and disagreeable, and can hover be made attractive, and that, in such an industry settled peace and cheerful co-operation between employers and worker? are impossible aspirations. A confutation of these views will be found in ■ the Board of -Trade report. Coal-mining admittedly has its special dangers, but thd Board points out that New Zealand in recent years- compares most favourably with Great Britain, which stands ahead of all 'other countries as regards the low proportion of fatal accidents. The fatal accident rate is considerably greater in, the collieries of the Dominion than in its factories, but it is not higher than the corresponding rate on the railways. Evidence goes to show'also that (oal-mining.is not aparticularly unhealthy occupation, though it makes rather severe calls upon muscular and nervous energy. As to _ general working conditions the miner already has a good deal to congratulate himself upon. The. Board quotes a particularly wellinformed witness as stating that "the miner to-day as a working man has the best conditions of any working man in New Zealand, and is, better paid for 'the work done.

. . . In any mine he- can make from £l as. to £l 10s. _ a clay. . . . That is done in dx hours' actual working time." This is qualified ■ only to the extent that slight modifications are necessary for the average miner's possible wage and working day. It is added. that the opportunities for' promotion appear to be at least as good as in the majority of cccupatipns of similar status, and that the many positions in the mines above the grade of miner are. nearly all filled by men who began life at the lowest grade. With so much in its favour there does not seem to be any reason why (he coal-mining industry in this country should not become a model of. efficient organisation instead of being a horrible example of what an industry ought not to be. It i?, of couisc, true that there arc somewhat serious entries on tho

other,side of the account, but'all of them, a3 far as can be judged, might readily be eliminated or very greatly modified. "With some creditable exceptions the housing and other living conditions in the mining settlements are deplorably bad. Although in some cases the mine-workers are , partly responsible for their sordid environment, it is the yilain duty of the State and of the mining companies- to institute a conipiehensivc policy of housing reform in the mining townships. The conditions in which a large proportion of the mineworkers and their families live would certainly have been remedied long ago but for the habitual antagonism of the parties engaged in the industry and its effects in diverting energy and initiative into channels of • futilp strife. The mine-workers have grievances also in such matters as a shortage of doctors and riMscsi

and lack of adequate hospital am

educational facilities, in regard to which they are' entitled obviously to reasonable consideration. The final conclusion in light of all the facts so clearly presented by the Board must be that there is no insuperable obstacle to so organising the mining industry and improving the environment of those engaged in it as ■ wago-car'nors as

to give the latter every reason to be contented with their lot and create conditions much more favourable to efficient production than those which now exist. The introduction of a better order depends essentially upon the ability

of the mine-workers to recognise that they would promote their own interests as well as those of the industry and the public by abandoning their present aggressive and irreconcilable policy for one of friendly co-operation with their employers. Granted such a change of attitude, it should not be impossible to arrive at an equitable adjustment of company • interests which would permit the reorganisation recommended by the Board of Trade, under which mine-workers would be given a voice in determining the business policy of the industry and in its managerial control.