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The Dominion MONDAY. FEBRUARY 23, 1920. THE COAL SETTLEMENT

The settlement reached at the Coal Industry Conference' on Saturday is in the form of a draft which is to lie submitted for ratification to the various miners' unions. Good prospects arc raised, however, of the complete settlement of a dispute which- has been costly to those engaged in the coal industry, and very much more costly, in the aggregate, to the people of the Dominion generally. If expectations are realised in the matter of ..the immediate abandonment of the "goslow" policy, a full agreement will no doubt follow in natural sequence. To the miners such an agreement means taking up the' opportunity they have all along been offered of earning good wages in return for a normal output of coal. To the public it means some hope of relief from conditions of industrial dislocation, and also from the prospect of a winter of severe hardship occasioned by a 'coal famine. Measured with an eye to attendant circumstances,'the "go-slow" strike which has been in progress in the coal mines for nearly six months will rank probably as one of the costliest and most futile in the history of the Dominion. The reduction of the coal output occurred'and was continued during moaths in which all sections of the population had even more to gain than at normal times from a- brisk and well-sustained industrial effort. Rapid' progress in making up the leeway of the war years and expanding all forms of useful production is a primary''condition of prosperity for the whole community. By their limitation of the output ot coal, the mine workers succeeded in hindering this process of recovery to a very serious extent. The total loss incurred as a,result by the com-, munity can be estimated only vaguely, but was certainly enormous. The shortage of coal hampered or dislocated more or less seriously nearly all forms of transport and productive industry/ The building trade in particular has been heavily affected, notably by the reduction to a minimum of the output of cement, one of the most important materials used in building operations. Here and in all other directions the evils of the coal shortage have been felt most severely by the fellow wageearners of the miners-and by their dependants. At the same time the minors have sacrificed their own comfort and that of their' families for a period jf close on six months by restricting themselves to something like half wages. The terms of the draft agreement are withheld for the moment, but there is no reason to suppose that it contains anything that might not have been as well arranged in August last, year. It is to be hoped, at ; all events, that no unjust concessions have been extorted by "direct action," and public opinion from the outset would have solidly supported the miners in obtaining such concessions as they have, a fair right to claim. Apart from the direct hardships they invited under the "go-slow" policy, the miners, in adopting it, took the best means of retarding the satisfaction of such legitimate grievances' as they are , able to show in regard to housing and living conditions.' The extent to which the miners have damaged their own prosperity and that of-the country is worth emphasising, not, certainly, with { any idea of reviving or perpetuating bitterness between the parties to the dispute, but because the facts demonstrate so clearly that every section of the community is vitally interested in preventing the recurrence of such disputes, and in amending the conditions in which they are allowed to arise. There never was a plainer case of a onesided account in which there is nothing to set against the heavy , loss incurred by all concerned. The detail issues of the coal dispute'and of others as futile which preceded it are of slight importance in comparison with the broad fact that [ disputes of this character occasion ; only loss and waste, and are an ini fraction of the rights of the community against which it is bound to protect itself. It was a noteworthy feature of what it is to bo hoped was the final phase of the dispute that the Piujie Minister presided over the conference between the representatives of the mine owners . and their employees. Mr.Massey's presence in that capacity implied a definite, if somewhat belated, recognition by the parties that the public had a right to be considered, and at the same, time afforded a guarantee that the' interests of the community would not be violated in ) framing the draft settlement. From - what has been allowed to transpire.

Mr. Massey scorns to have played

the part of a taaful chairman. Both sides have, spoken well of the manner in which he' presided over their "deliberations and promote 1 agreement. It is evident, however, that he had other assets than his

native tact to depend upon in facilitating a settlement. At this conference, as in all his public activities, lie represented the community as a whole, and no doubt, fplf-. it M s duty to intimate that the public could Miofc be expected to tolerate indefinitely, and without taking measures in it's own defence, such conditions as were brought about by the coal dispute. That fact, in any case, obtrudes. Conditions in which a limited section of the community hampers and partially paralyses the activities of the rest of the communifcy are not such ns any self-respect-ing and freedom-loving people can afford to tolerate or allow to continue. The merits of the case are, however, so clearly drawn that tho common sense of those who have been most inclined hitherto to indulge in industrial strife ought to impel them to adopt a more rational procedure. After their late experience, mine workers are particularly well placed to perceive that industry and a reasonable spirit of co-operation are the real key to and improving conditions..

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19200223.2.24

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 127, 23 February 1920, Page 6

Word count
Tapeke kupu
980

The Dominion MONDAY. FEBRUARY 23, 1920. THE COAL SETTLEMENT Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 127, 23 February 1920, Page 6

The Dominion MONDAY. FEBRUARY 23, 1920. THE COAL SETTLEMENT Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 127, 23 February 1920, Page 6

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