PREMIER BALDWIN

Hokitika Guardian, 6 August 1926, Page 3

PREMIER BALDWIN

MESSAGE ON COAL STRIKE

[Australia & N.Z. Cable Association.}

(Received this day at 11.0 a.m.) LONDON, Aug. 5.

Premier Baldwin lias issued a signed statement to the United Press Association of America, which reads:

Replying to your enquiries on behalf of the American people regarding the relief of distress among the miners, the following are the facts: There is no foundation for any .statement regarding starvation among the mining population. More help has been forthcoming during the present dispute than in any previously. There are boards of guardians in England and parish councils in Scotland whose expenditure on relief shows that the freest resort is being made to them during the present emergency. Under the decision of the law courts, the miners taking part in the strike are debarred from receiving relief from the Guardians, but it is estimated the Guardians have paid away through the wives and children dependants of miners in England and Wales not less than £250,000 sterling in Juno. As a result of these activities there is little or no indication of severe distress.

At the beginning of the strike tho Minister of Health requested inspectors throughout the country to make special enquiries into eases of mal-nu-trition, especially wives and children. The reports of inspectors show that nowhere is there mal-mitrition, much less starvation. Indeed there is good ground for thinking that in many areas the children are actually better fed than before the strike. The education authorities arc also providing hundreds of thousands of meals for school children daily, and many soup kitchens are opened. There is no truth in the assertion frequently made, that the coal dispute is tho first step in a general attack upon wages and hours. In accordance with the report of a Royal Commission, some immediate readjustment in tile costs of production bv concession on the- part of the men is essential. Throughout the Government has done all in its power to bring the parties together, and are prepared to media'te again if there is any indication that the efforts would be fruitful, hut Government cannot assent to a further subsidy, possibly extending another four months. Tho earlier subsidy, exceeding twenty million, was too large in extent to he borne by other industries, in which some workers are less well paid than the miners. All the relevant facts are now , available for the purpose of negotiations for arbitration. There is no justification to impose further burdens ori tlie community at large.