A HAPPY HUNTING GROUND.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 1136, 21 August 1913, Page 4

A HAPPY HUNTING GROUND.

Who would not be a socialist, red-fed., and all the rest of it for £i a day, free coal, section at a nominal rental, and bouse built out of State funds for which a very low rate of interest is charged, says the Feilding Star. For that is the state of things existing at the Government coal mine at Point Elizabeth, and that is where the great majority of recruits for the Red Federation are enlisted. That the State coalmines do not pay is a natural sequence, but the general body of workers throughout the Dominion do not realise that they are paying more for their coal to enable such an extravagant rate of pay to be kept up. Is it not natural that the men at this mine and their leaders want this state of things kept up, and realise that the only manner in which that can be done, after the community is roused to a realisation of what is going on in the locality of one of the pet schemes of the Continuous Ministry, is by getting hold of the reins of Government themselves and securing for years to come an unfair share ot what really belongs to the people as a whole. At No. 2 mine it is calculated that there are at least 60,000,000 tons of coal available, of which at least 49,000,000 tons are workable, or nearly 100 years’ work. We fear that the true position is not understood by the general public, but the time has arrived when it is necessary that the community should be thoroughly seized of the position ,• and if the Government will take a bold stand in the direction of keeping the pay and conditions within reasonable limits, it should take care that a strong backing is available to maintain the welfare of the whole of the people, instead ol giving a small section unheard of privileges at the general cost.