The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1919. THE COAL MINERS' CLAIMS.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 August 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 20, 1919. THE COAL MINERS' CLAIMS.

Whether the representatives of the Alliance of Labor who waited on Cabinet Ministers on Saturday furthered their cause or not is matter for speculation. Their arguments were intended to prove the justice of their claims for increased pay, better conditions, the right to make a new agreement, the abolition of the contract system, and, above all, the nationalisation of the coal mines. Great stress was laid on the necessity for considering the question from a national point of view, but the remarks of the speakers clearly demonstrated that the interests of the miners alone loomed large in their limited vision, and Mr. Hempton, while professing to study the needs of the whole community, was emphatic in his reply to Mr. Massey in refusing to consider any other claims but those of the miners. Judging from the press reports of the meeting, there was a decidedly dictatorial vein in the speeches made by the delegates, for the Prime Minister was interrupted when expressing his views by a demand for an official reply. However, such tactics are not likely to affect the consideration the Government will give to the claims put forward. It was well that the delegates, who laid such stress on the cost of living, should be reminded that the effect of their claims, if granted, would be to burden the community with higher charges, but that was an argument to which they turned a deaf ear. There was nothing new brought, forward bearing on the dispute, except that the State miners offer better conditions and pay than the private mines, but the delegates did their best to sheer off from ligures except where they suited their contentions. Mr. Massev .rightly reminded the deputation that,,the cause of the miners was? not the only one to be considered, but that the first consideration was the welfare of .the whole community. So long as there are privately-owned mines the employers are just as much entitled to fair treatment as the workers, but the claims of the miners are such as would kill any industry. We confess that the attitude adopted by the delegates representing an Alliance of Labor should have so studiously and insistently put on one side the weilfare of the workers generally and concentrated their energies on bolstering up [■the exaggerated claims of a very small section of allied labor. It only shows how labor leaders can be led astray, and how little they actually represent the whole of their fellows. This aspect of the question is one that entirely disposes of the claim for national organisation and 'makes it a farce. Instead'<of taking a broad view, [ there is only a narrow sectional | view that robs ihe main argument ! of all its force. .Some figures were quoted showing the advantages of the State miners, and in support of the contention that during the war the average output was increased,- but the deduction to be drawn therefrom is condemnatory of the falling off in output and of the abolition of the contract system. All the grandiloquent pretensions of furthering national organisation count but as chaff before the wind in view of the disorganisation of industry, the suffering and loss through the lack of sufficient coal. The miners evidently care not one iota for tlie rest of the community. Instead of acting m a conciliatory spirit they have compelled the owners of the mines to make a firm stand, and because of this, the miners turn their eyes towards nationalisation of the coal mines, probably under the idea that they can coerce the Government easier than they can the mine owners. The result, of their obstinacy is that they are increasing for the rest of the community the evil which has been made the lever for their claims, for every increase in the price of coal directly affects the whole of the public in many ways. Had the Government tackled the cost of living in a businesslike way there would have been an end to the absurd makeshift expedient of increasing wages to meet the increased cost of necessaries—a process which, like the French definition of charity, creates more evil than it cures. It was contended by one of the speakers that the only way to increase coal production was to make the Conditions attractive to labor, and nationalisation of the mines was to be a lever in that direction. There is not the slightest analogy between the railways and the coal mines, nor is the contention that labor troubles in the State mines have been due to fermentation by men in private mines, in any way tenable, though it is surprising that such a statement should have been made by labor delegates. The more the remarks made by the Allianee speakers are examined, the more evident it becomes that they hold a brief for a special purpose, and lost a great opportunity of proving their sincerity as the champions of justice for all. The public is always on the side of a

square deal, but naturally resents either a one-sided bargain or out and out exploitation.