The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 1909. AN AMICABLE SETTLEMENT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2412, 29 January 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 1909. AN AMICABLE SETTLEMENT.

The new Minister ol : Minos, Mr. E. McKenzie, is entitled to hearty congratulations upon the success ol' his mediation in the bluntly strike. The deadlock that had occurred seemed particularly serious,, and unless a satisfactory solution had been come to there is: no telling where the trouble would have ended. The cutting off of the fuel supply as was threatened would very quickly have paralysed most of the industries in the Dominion, and the suggestion, that Now South Wales miners were likely to refuse to load Newcastle coal for Now Zealand indicates protty clearly the determination of the men to make their strike entirely effective. ,ln bringing about a settlement it is all the more gratifying that the Minister succeeded in. doing so without compromising sound principles, being able to induce,,the miners to concede the point which was their chief reason for objecting to return to work. Jt'. will be remembered by those wh/ have followed the progress of the dispute that four of the workers' accepted the terms of their employers and submitted tliemsolves' for medical examination in. order that the company should not bo saddled with a liability that might otherwise be unjustly incurred. They then went to work, and were instrumental in keeping water from ruining the mine whilst / the works were idlo. Incidentally it-should be borne in mind that they were, not only acting with loyalty, to their employers but also towards the Government of the country, for the Premier bad pub-

Holy urged the miners to. adopt the course these four followed. The other miners, however, not only refused to take similar action, but strongly resented the stand taken up by the four mentioned, but when, subsequently, concessions were made which removed any cause they might formerly have had for refusing to go to work, they still declined to do so unless the lour were disrated in their respective capacities. Apparently the miners professed to believe that the four would be able by reason of the positions they occupied to make matter's somewhat unpleasant for them when they returned to work. They probably realised that the outrageous treatment they had meted out to the quartet wa - sufficiently provocative to merit substantial punishment by way of retaliation, and they did not depm it wise to give the so-called “blacklegs” an opportunity to give effect to their resentment, however justifiable it might lie. Naturally the company could not tolerate such a condition, and it is satisfactory to know that in effecting a settlement tho men have conceded this point. All tho company lias been compelled to agree to in this connection is to disrate the men if they -are found to be acting towards their fellow-workers in a revengeful spirit, and the employers are to be the judges in the matter. It is satisfactory, therefore, .to lie able to record a settlement on a basis’ that does not compromise either party to the endorsement ol* wrong principles, and if tho Minister of Mines is able to continue with such successful diplomacy in liis new office lie should prove of eminent service to the community.