The Daily News. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1920. THE COAL SITUATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 September 1920, Page 4

The Daily News. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1920. THE COAL SITUATION.

"The coal situation is becoming serious again." This statement by our Parliamentary reporter appears to be amply justified, though it is doubtful whether the acuteness of the position is sufficiently realised. According to a Press message from Greymouth, the "irritation strike" at the State mine is understood to be part of an organised attempt to keep down coal stocks, as a means io secure civil rights for conscientious objectors, and the repeal of the war regulations, but the ostensible cause is the dismissal of men owing to the surface work I being completed. The result is [ that not only has work ceased at | the mine, but miners have recent- [ ly left and taken up railway construction work at a time when an ■ increased output of coal is vital to Dominion activities. There are two outstanding features in connection with this latest development of the miners that call fori serious consideration. The first point is by far the most arresting, for it demonstrates to what length the workers are prepared to go to enforce- their dictates, and it emphasises the ugly fact that the strike weapon is being used politically and not as a means for recti- ' tying grievances connected with the particular , work ' on which the men are actually employed. The minor point has 1 reference to the employment by one department of the State of men who are deliberately i flouting the Government and causing a serious dislocation of industrial activities by throwing up their work under another department. By using strikes as coercive means for' controlling the policy of the Government, a position is created that is absolutely intolerable, and unless it is effectively dealt with nothing but disaster and anarchy can be expected.: Practically it is a rebellion against law, order, and authority, and cannot be handled with the gloves on. There is, states our Parliamentary reporter, a growing impression in official circles that attempts to settle the coal mining disputes are really useless, since the leaders appear determined to produce a fresh crop of disputes immediately the old ones are removed. There is no other conclusion to be drawn from the arbitrary tactics adopted by the miners, and in view of the possibility of a complete stoppage of coal production, the serious nature of the crisis becomes apparent. Instead of the patient and persistent efforts to adjust the miners' grievances being successful, they appear to stimulate the men to adopt a more uncompromising attitude, and to inculcate the feeling that the greater their resistance, the stronger is the evidence of their power to dictate their own terms and compel submission thereto. The Waikato strike is a case in point, the principle involved being that if the workers anywhere wish to gain concessions which are in the hands of the Government alone, and the Government is unable or unwilling to concede them, the workers can at once turn round to their employers and say: "We can't get this- from the Government; you will have to concede it." This new development cannot be ignored, and the question is: How can it be dealt with? Every worker has the right to work or •not as he pleases, but in the case ...of an induftr£ such jag the produo-,

tipn of coal, which is so vitally essential to the nation, there should be some means whereby men engaged in the industry should not be allowed either to go slow or strike without being subject to severe penalties. If it is a punishable offence to obstruct the use of the pathways and highways of our towns, it is certainly a far more grave offence to hold up the activities of the whole country, and cause great loss and inconvenience. The idea of statutorily regulating any section of the workers is repellant to all classes of the community, but desperate emergencies call for drastic remedies. Apparently it is hopeless to expect sane action by the extremists, and Parliament may deem it necessary to face and overcome a state of affairs that bids fair to lead to disaster unless some satisfactory remedy is provided for safeguarding the country from a dual control that may culminate in a serious conflict.