"STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION"

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 51, 23 November 1937, Page 9

"STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION"

•Press Aasooitttion.)

Coal-Mines Legislation Passed UNION OFFiCIALS' POWERS

(By Telesraph-

WELLINGTON, Last Night. The Minister of Mines, Hon. P. C. Wobb, moving the committal of th| Coal Mincs Amendment Bill, which was read a second time pro forma on November 3, said one of the provisions of the measure would give inspectors the right to have mines worked in such a inanner as to ensure the safety of miners and also to exploit the mines to thoir fullest capacity and extract from them every ton of coal recoverable without un« necessary risk to the lives of miners. Both coalowners and miners' representatives had agreed to the provisions concerned being included in the Bill. One of the new provisions would give power to insist upon. companies building houses for their miners or contributing towards the cost of tranSporting miners from their own homes tp the mines. Speaking ■ of the problem of slack coal, the Minister reiterated the statement he had made on the occasion of tho first reading of the Bill, that he did not wish to bring in legislation forcibly .to deal with the" matter. It had bcen* satisfactorily settled in the Waikato, and the Bill would give the Minister power to call a eonference in Southland to reach a method of solution of the difficulty there. With the passage of tho Bill New Zealand would* have the best mining laws in the world. Even without it, our mining legislation was better than that of any pther country. The Minister of Public Works, Hon. R. Semple, congratulated Mr. Webb on the Bill and stated the clause in the mCasure providing for the examination of eyesight and hearing of gas-testers at regular intervals should have beeu placed in the Statute Book of this country many years ago. The provision of plans of underground workings was most essential. They had lost somo 50 per cent. of .the coal available in mincs, the reason for the great percentage of this loss being the lack of proper underground planning. They should get 70 to 80 per cent. of the coal in "mines in some areas if plans were properly earried out. • Another welcome point in the measure was the lifting of the age of boys entering mines from 14 to 16 years and also the raising of the age of mine managers. Tho Bill also dealt with prevention of accumulation of coal dust in mines, a most essential provision in ^.pr.eventing danger. from 'explosionsii : , Mr." W. • A.x" Bodkin (Opposition— Central Otago) said-it Could be generally conceded that the Bill was a good ■;one, but he objected to the clause giving Tinioit secretaries powers -to ascertain from employers the hours worked by miners s.nd the wages paid them. This information should only be provided by the man himself. Mr. Webb: The secretary, of the union is empowered to get that information upder the present Act. Mr W. P. Endean (Opp. — Parnell) urgcd for the greater co-operation by miners with mineowners and asked the Minister what progress had been made with the investigation of a means of extracting petrol from coal. Both Mr. W. J. Broadfoot (Opp. — Waitomo) and the leader of the Opposition, Hon. A. Hamilton, congratulated the Minister on the Bill, the latter stating it was a step in the right direction. He congratulated Mr Webb on the administration of • his departmcnt. The Minister had consulted both parties concerned before bringing in the Bill and the result could be supported by the Opposition. The Minister, 'in reply, said the "work of extraction of oil from coal was still in the experimental stages. The work which had been done, however, showed coal was an enormous national asset, and in the not distant future they would see a stampede for coal in order to get oil from it. In the mcantime the Waikato decarbonising plant was doing good work. He referred to the coalfields survcy and said it was being made so that they would know exectly what the coal . resources of the Dominion were. He thanked the Opposition for the fine reception it bad given the Bill, which quickly passed the committee stages and also the third reading.