The Daily News SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20. THE NEWCASTLE STRIKE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 244, 20 November 1909, Page 2

The Daily News SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20. THE NEWCASTLE STRIKE.

No more paralysing blow can lie deah t , modern industry than the cutting-oil' ol |, coal supplies, and the regrettable strike v ol the coal miners in Suw South Wales, unless quickly settled, must very .soo'i |. bring .practically all 'business to a .standstill. It is the almost universal re- v liancc of the workers upon coal ttr't (J cnakes a general strike of miners so s widely elleetive. Illogical as it mac seem, however, it is in this great power , which miners' unions are able to wield { that their weakness lies, for it has been ( proved over and over again that no ] strike, be it civil or otherwise, can sue- ] j eeed that has not the weight of jmblic ] I opinion U'hind it. Unless, therefore, the ] J New .South Wales miners have right on ( their side, and the sympathy of the ( I people behind them, their capitulation | should quickly follow the exhaustion of ' public patience. >o far we have been . unable to judge the merits of the matters in dispute whereon the miners took their extreme step. As a general rule our sympathies are with those wno delve in the bowels' of the earth for a livelihood. Their conditions of employment, the enormous risks they run of injury or death in its most horrifying lornis, are out of all proportion to the , lot of tlie average worker, and entitle | them to special consideration. But the | special treatment to which they are cntitled gives them no special prerogative , for defying the laws of their country, j which provide specially - appointed courts for the settlement of industrial disputes. To merely lament the defiance of the law, however, does' not bring the j difficulty any nearer solution. To aiI tempt to deal with twelve thousand men for a breach of the law is an undertaking | lo country could view with equanimity, ami in this case cannot ue entertained. The fact is too obvious to be denied that, where thousands of men unitedly take such a .stand, however illegal, compulsory legal jjrocoss cannot be applied, ami the law is helpless. |m> unfortunate circumstance r>, that the tragic consequences of a strike, whether the grounds prompting it are real or but trivial, are not conliued to the parties immediately concerned, and thousands ot innocent victims are made to siiiicr. Hie wider the sull'ering, the pooler U the chance of the objects of a strike 'icing attained, lor the .strikers can onlv "oM out »o ioug as a sufficiency ot pay w available to keep the'won "•(Jin the door. So long, therefore, as a strike is conliued to a particular in dtisLry, ii may be prolonged because the assistaure of union workers in other in•instius may be relied on. Where mi aiv concerned, however, the source ot monetary supplies is immediately cut '>H, and the result is inevitably a vicio, lor capital, the workers being literanv starved into submission. X 0 one wishes to see such a condition of affair"joHgl.t about in Australasia, but tl,, I'lhiuUt IS to liuil a means whereuv lII' possibility may be completely obvi--5'.; Um ' sides loyal to the arbitration tribunals, there ivould he no i.'Use lor apprehension; but the unfortunate fact remain* that in the present case the Arbitration Court, has been i" ' alll ' obviously uotliiu..- eau be . done to compel its recognition j t is ipnte apparent iliat some other system »'»>»»'■? 10 Ik. devised before the era o, industrial |,eaee can rule. To us (lie Tni,','!, "v'l' ' s tliafc of -Mails- ol the largest industrial mTh'iV'ir i' 1 ;," and ,m tl,e Co"tiii. tie , n ! - ( ' x l K ' nm|, nt of slinrl eir ' .ifl'' S , "'' Ul tI,P ' ,ro<h,ec « «f <•» wi. Itli, ami in every ease that lias ""t notice, (lie results |,u-e »'»™ f'»<» .i'lstifled „ IP ,o,„hWe orl-er" 1 f n'"' I "'''"' Tl,t ' ,ll ' mani1 * » f » »iK<;'s for the lia I ioiialisa t ion of inj nro undoubtedly .prompted by s CM,,deration, and „-e ,ire cinyi'ioeil !»»■■ b"'S;n\: n,,St