A MINERS’ ASSOCIATION.

Thames Guardian and Mining Record, Volume I, Issue 120, 27 February 1872, Page 3

A MINERS’ ASSOCIATION.

The miners of Sandhurst have set a good example to the miners of Ballarat. Whilst here Jupiter, in the shape of Parliament, has been loudly and repeatedly called upon, at Sandhurst the miners have resolved to help themselves, and have gone to work in earnest to form a Miners’ Association. We do not purpose at present to fully discuss tlic question of the reduction of wages from £2 ss. to £2 2s. per week, because we have, as yet, heard only one side, and it is just possible that tlx!* companies concerned may he able to adduce strong reasons in favor of what they have done. It is strange, however, that the reduction should have been made at Sandhurst. The colony has been rather bored for some time past with the iteration of allusions to tlic wonderful riches and still more wonderful foresight of the place which was, to have been, but is not, “the centre of Victoria,” so that no one expected that there would be an attempt to lessen the earnings of the workingmen. The speakers at 1 lie public meeting put this view of tlie case very strongly, and one or them even wanted to know what England and the world would say. Wo may venture, without any desire to lower the estimate which residents there may have formed of Sandhurst, to say that we do not think that the world will be disturbed in the least, or that England will trouble itself about what has been done, and we hope that there will he no further anxiety on that account. Still, the fact that an attempt has been made to reduce wages at Sandhurst is a curious one for the consideration of the miners of Victoria, and we recommend the miners of this district to give it their special attention. At present we hold the companies to be in the wrong. Tlicro does not appear to lie any good reason why the rate usually paid should bo lowered, especially at a time when good workmen arc said to he very much in demand. Of course, it is not easy to reconcile the statement made of late with this reduction, since the companies would seem to have chosen the very worst time, and a time, too, when there is not the least hope of their being able to maintain the position which they have taken up. Further information will he looked for with considerable interest, since the whole business is strange, and lias caused no little surprise. "Whilst wc hold that the miners should resist the present reduction at Sandhurst, we do not wish to be understood to say that the lowering of wages is always an evil. There arc occasions when the miner gains more by accepting a lower rate than by holding out for the higher, since a lower rate of wages often given larger scope to enterprise, and so causes a new investment of capital. In this district at present there is capital but not enterprise. The banks here are said to have more, money than they know well what to do with in the district itself, whilst a new project moves very slowly, when it moves at all. Whilst, however, wc think that there arc occasions when a lower rate of wages is, on the whole, a benefit to the miner, we do not wish to see wages lower here than they are, since we do not think that the benefit would l>e, at the present lime, sufficient to compensate for tlic loss. But wc bold that the miners might do much more to help themselves than they have yet done. By means of co-operation they might open up many lodes which are now neglected, and convince the holders of money that it would he wise to invest. This, of course, involves lower earnings for a time, but with the chance of a future large and permanent profit. Only in this fashion can the wants and aspirations of the working-man be reconciled. It is inevitable that the wages question should arise from time to time, and there can be no doubt that the working miners will have to fight hard to maintain the existing rates, unless they are prepared, as of old, to change their quarters periodically. By co-operation wisely managed they could reconcile the contradictory conditions of their industry, and prepare the way for a very much better future than they have now in prospect. Tlic miner lias to learn to protect himself. In this district the miners' labour hours arc inconvenient,and a change is ardently desired, but if. is not j obtained because it has been sought for j in tlic wrong manner. There is nothing more, astonishing than the faith which is put in platform promises, though their value ought to he known after long experience. If the miners here would exert themselves on their own behalf they could get a portion of what they desire without delay. If they arc prepared to follow the example of Sandhurst and form an association, they can soon redress their grievances, but if they will not do this they must not expect to get them redressed by Act of Parliament. — Ballarat J liter.