STATE MINES PURCHASE OFFER.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 May 1917, Page 7

STATE MINES PURCHASE OFFER.

SOME OF THE TERMS. Chrixtchurch, May 3. In an interview with Mr. Wilson (representing a group of New Zealand financiers) on the subject of the pro- , posed purchase of the State coal mino, a reporter gathered the following facts: ' (I) The syndicate aVe prepared to accept an option over the properties for twelve months, on terms to be mutually arranged between the parties. (•2) The syndicate will be prepared to give a royalty of a ccrttlin amount per ton of all coal hewn from the collieries. (3) The syndicate are willing to purchase on a straight-out price agreed upon by two arbitrators appointed by eacli side,'the price to be determined by the number of tons available on the present ' conditions of development. (4) The syndicate to guarantee full supplies for transport and railway service in the Dominion. An alternative proposal has been submitted to guarantee the Government » per cent, per annum on losses sustained 1 during a certain period of the operations of tho Department until the total has been liquidated. , Asked in reference to the supply of labor, Mr. Wilson stated that the exemption of miners from the operation of the Military Service Act, coupled with ! the fact of the undoubted patriotic feeling in the Dominion, as shown by the \ recent municipal elections, and other re- ' liable sources, left no reason for doubt on the point. I