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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 202, 15 January 1913, Page 4

THE SLACCIITERMEX. It looks as if we are in for another big and disastrous strike. The Wellington Slaughtermen's Union have thrown down the gauntlet to the companies, and the latter have decided to close the extensive works at Petone and Ngahauranga until further notice. The strike 'may extend to other parts of the Dominion. It is known that, the slaughtermen throughout the country have recently been completely organised, and that a general strike for improved pay and conditions has been freely discussed. The companies, too. have been quietly organising and making preparations for the trial of (Strength. The men demand a new agreement, providing for the payment of 30s per 100 head of sheep killed, instead of 255. The companies have offered 27s 6d. This offer has been "turned down" by the men. ,The men also seek better conditions. These the companies regard as restrictive and vexatious, and they will not submit to their imposition. The men are throwing arbitration overboard. They are after "the whole hog," and do not seem disposed to allow their claims to he adjudicated upon by the Arbitration Court, in which, they say, they have lost confidence. The general public will regret that the men have seen fit to resort to the strike weapon, for which there is in this country absolutely no need. Such an industrial disorganisation can only end in a genieral loss, and the ones who will feel it most will be the workers, their dependents and the tradespeople in the meat freezing towns. The growers, of course, would be inconvenienced by the closing down of the freezing works for any length of time, hut they could hold out longer than the slaughtermen. In a sense, it would prove a. blessing in dis> guise to the farmers, for a lengthy cessation of killing would enable them to build up their flocks. As far as the companies are concerned, the stoppage of work will not seriously affect them, as raost of them have big reserves, built up for meeting such a contingency as is happening. The slaughtermen as a body are not numerous, but they hold the key of the position, for the numerous hands employed in the works are quite dependent upon them. We know little about the merits of the case, except that at 2.">s a hundred many butchers, to our own knowledge, make big cheques, running up to £0 a week. The work is hard and very unpleasant, and the hours long, aud we believe the butcher is entitled to good payment for his services. The season does not last very long, and it is being gradually reduced, the companies endeavoring to get the supplies of sheep and cattle put through as quickly as possible. Spread over the year, the ordinary butcher's earnings will not average more than £3 a week, if that. The immense profits, the disposal of which is not always easy, and they can afford to lie liberal with their employees. The increase they offer the slaughtermen may be reasonable, even liberal. We do not know; but we do know that in going the way they are aliout it the slaughtermen are making quite as great a mistake as the Waihi Federationists made, and the effects to {rteni and the other workers affected will prove equally as disastrous. There is no necessity for taking such an extreme step when the machinery exists for settling their disputes and redressing their wrongs, if they have any to redress. Their action but serves to bring the arbitration laws of the country into disrepute again, laws that were enacted for their and other workers' benefit, and under which they have secured numerous advantages and concessions. The effect will be a renewal of the demand for abolishing the arbitration system and reverting to the old system of freedom of contract. And how can the demand be resisted when it has been so forcibly shown that one class, the employers, are practically hound by the decisions of the Court, whilst another, the workers, can simply cancel registration and throw the Court overboard whenever they are dissatisfied with an award or with the prospects of securing another award? The position is as untenable as it is intolerable. It must be either one thing or the other—effective arbitration, binding on all parties, rir absolute freedom. And the sooner this is brought about the better il will he for the country as a whole.

SOLID OIL AS A .MAI I ,INK ITT.L.

Tim question of a solid fuel for ocean liners in the shape of solidii'ied petroleum is being taken up of late in Europe, and the outlook for this kind of fuel seems promising. Tests have been made in many countries with spray fuel burners, but when it came to actually applying these on shipboard an obstacle arose, as the new method would lend to a radical transformation of the existing apparatus. Xot only are special oil burners needed for the furnaces, as well as regulating appliances, but the devices for loading ilie liquid combustible on board would need to be changed. liesiues. great storage tank's are needed for the liquid, and the action of the latter upon the walls of the tanks would be strongly felt when the vessel is rolling at sea. It was decided quite recently at an important meeting of shipowners at London to go into the production of solidified petroleum .liriquctt.es on a large scale. These are obinined without any great chemical manipulation. The crude oil is boiled and to it is added a certain amount of stearic acid with an alcoholic solution of caustic soda. Upon cooling, there is obtained a, transparent ma-s somewhat resembling glycerine soap, and it has sufficient cohesion to allow of making if into square-shaped briquettes. The.-c are easy to handle, as they are not "brittle nor do they cause dust. Such blocks have a slow and very regular combustion owing to their uniformity of structure. The weather does not seem to affect them, and they always remain clear. Even boiling water is said to have no effect on the briquettes. The heat production from them is such that a ton of solidified petroleum serves instead of 2'/ ; tons of coal. The great saving of space on shipboard is evident, and another point is the great all-round economy realised for producing an equal amount of steam.