ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1318, 28 June 1880, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

COLLIERS' STRIKE AT SHAG POINT. TO THE EDITOR OF THE ©AMARU MAIi.

SrR, —In the Dunedin Evening Star ot the 23rd inst. I find a letter from the manager of the above colliery, and also on extract of a letter signed " Veritas," fyvken from your journal. Now, the question to be proved is who is correct. I that men are actually receiving, according ,to the manager's report, 13s or 14s per I day ; and I am sorry to say that such & statement is not true, only about acpup of men amongst eighty or ninety mine« receiving such pay, and that the miners on an average cannot make more than 8s per day, working eight hours, where formerly they have been working eleven or twelve hours per day. Therefore, as the tnatrfj states, it is high time the public know the exaot truth, and learn bath w« eS of the question. A great fasa has been made in having the polio© from, Dunedffl and country attending on the spot, asjj some serious riot waa contemplated, w all for no purpose. The miners, on j whole, at sha'pi,t aye a very crediU''! I of men, and all they wish for is i honesty fair dues % , . . . . • sooner a government inspection of imin,e3 is effected the better. Then' ! would prove a special boon to the [ and settle all disputes in future wttj* r ? c " gard to the various strikes tW .. occurred of late with regard to. tho B& 1 mines.—l am, &c., Veritas. [Our correspondent will observe have deleted that portion of his 16; , with reference to, the steps taken to ®l® j the men from their dwellings. He W know that, as the ejectment of the men now a matter whioh tho law court called upon to deoide, the subject open to newspaper comment until . Bench has given its deoision. -En-

TO THE EDITOR OF TBI! OAMAKU M All ' Sir, —A strike in Shag Point ha ß occurred. Every person must ffo wy ( why such is so frequent in that lo® 4 Three strikes within a twelvemonth l' precedented in a colliery the siao , rt Point., either in this or the Old Oof The miners employed therein nIU no r eithQr vsvy dissatisfied olass of" 1 they miuat be very badly managed- , csa latter is the opinion of tha min er 3 ~ Wteveatß X now write in. As ft D Lj men we we sensible of the ftep tv,r

effects of atrikes on ourselves, our emrfovers, and the country at large ; yet we feSwe are doing what is right not only for ourselves but for the interest of workmen throoghontthe country in refusing to work till we gain our points in the present dispnteasadvertisedin yoorissueof to-day, which Mr. W. H. Williams, manager, in voor issue of the 22nd inat., tries to quash. I don't know whether we have kd the outside public to imagine we are « faadlv used lot of men or not, but I will try in reply to Mr. W. H. Williams' latter of the 22nd inst., to lay before the public the true state of afiairs in dispute. We have been payed 3s 6d per ton for drawing and digging since the price was reduced from 4s per ton about twelve t" months since, which 6d per ton we were ' faithfully promised to be paid again so soon as trade revived. Trade has revived so much that we areunabletosnpplyorders. We are asked to work longer, but will not jo it. Mr. Williams wants to know the reason why. It is not because we can earn 33 much in seven hours as we want to, tut because we work nine and ten hours. We usually begin to go down the mine from T to Bin the morning; work 13 knocked off at 12 noon for dinner, which repast is usually consumed, in about a quarter of an hour; at work again preparing for shifts starting at 1 o'clock ; then knock off at 5 p.m. or half-past 5, when the general body of men come out. These we consider too long houra, without any addition to them, for any man to work below ground. That i 3 one reason, and if any of the men leave work before 5 p.m., although the air is of so noxious a character that men arfe scarcely able to burn their lights, they are threatened with instant dismissal. Men who have had great experience in mines have been instantly dismissed for leaving work when they thought the air bad. It is a wellinovm fact to all miners who have been, ■or are, working at Shag Point, that the mine is badly ventilated. The last day the miners were at work several had to be conveyed out, unable to walk through the effects of the foul gasses. Men falling from the effects of foul air is not an infrequent occurrence at Shag Point. This air is not of the fiery explosive nature, but what is called by miners black damp, which 'sends those who inhale it to premature graves. It would be for the benefit of the miners if there was a more rigid examination in the mines, such as there is at Home. That ispnother reason why we will not work longer honrs. As to making 133 or 14s 6d per day, if Mr. W. H. Williams will prove that the miners of Shag Point have averaged 9s per day of eight hours for the last three months, we will go in on hi 3 terms. As to his allusion to the Christchurch sonp kitchen, Mr. W. H. Williams was the first to mention such an institution in trying to frighten the men by so many unemployed being in that town. Mr. W. H. Williams think* it is time the public should know how little safety there i 3 for anyone to embark capital in any undertaking when yon are at the mercy of men who without a minute's notice leave work, &c. I have been through many collieries both great

and small, but have never met a more respectable peace-loving, intelligent clas3 of men than I have met at Shag Point. Miners are generally counted a rather rough class of men. If so, Shag Point is an exception to the rule, as there has not been a case for the police this last twelvemonth. The public, before investing their capital in any mining undertaking, shoald see that it is under the management of one who practically knows mining, and has a certificate of competency, and knows the guiding of a body of men. If the points in dispute had been argued in an harmonious, conciliatory spirit instead of the antagonistic manner it has been .done, I have no reason to doubt the strike ' would have been at an end, instead of bringing bodies of armed men to eject the \ men out of their dwellings, adding fuel to "-'fee, and making the breach the wider. I say, instead of such, had the directors or those in power come as they came last strike and discussed the question with the men in the same reasonable manner they did at last dispute, the men would have been at work, and until such i 3 done I don't see how it is to come to an amicable termination.—l am, &c. BOBELIXD.