THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1909. THE MINING DEADLOCK.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 3093, 15 January 1909, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1909. THE MINING DEADLOCK.

The deplorable deadlock that at present exi3ts in the mining industry <)f the Dominion is not only a matter of the greatest seriousness, but will probably be" productive of much trouble in the future. If any settlement is shortly arrived at it will only be of a temporary character. The whole question must come up again when Parliament meets, and the Government, however inclined it may be to conciliate, will have to make a decision, either .satisfactory, or unsatisfactory, to the miners. It has been proposed that a special session of Parliament should be convened to deal with the question, and it seems to us that the gravity of the situation would justify such a course being taken. The Government are, unfortunately, for the good of the country, showing up very badly, and the Premier's one desire appears to be to gain time in order to find a way out of the difficulty. The Premier, however, will find that tnere is no

"glorious back-stairs" way out of the position in which he now finds himself. Employees, and the general public, are just beginning to appreciate the real value ot the arbitration scheme —the form of the ass in the lion's skin is becoming plainly perceptible to even the most indifferent thinker on economical questions. Labour legislation, all of it we suppose, if we are to believe what the leaders of the ruling political party tell us, has been passed with the object not merely of securing that uncertain quantity, known as "justice for the worker," but to ameliorate the condition of both employed and employers, and to promote hannony between masters and men. Every employer of labour, and every responsible employee knows that industrial success, in which the whole community is interested, depends, to a considerable extent, upon a spirit of harmony being maintained between capital and labour. Legislation, or awards, that protect the workers from sweating is, generally speaking, all that is required: after ■ that the contracting parties should be allowed to make their own bargains. The system that the Labour Unions ara at present working at with frantic energy is not arbitration; but something of a very opposite character —viz., coercion. They adopt this attitude: if the Arbitration fails, then we will make the Government do as we want, and should the Government fail to obediently comply %vith our behest, tnen we will teach it a lesson that will last it forever. That is really the humiliating position in which the Premier finds himself to-day, and the reason thereof is that the Government has been guilty of actions that have simply paved the way for the Unions to treat it with contempt. Legislation must necessarily be of a coerciva character when the Government interferes to the extent it dues with the relations of Capital and Labour. As an instance, we quote a portion of a telegram sent by Mr S. Free, mine-owners representative at Reeftjn, to the Premier. It is as follows:—"We are very strongly of opini.m that if pneumoconiosis is to remain in the Act some form of examination must be adopted, and, further, we think that, had the Government allowed your telegram to Mr Semple of Bth instant —in which you suggested medical examination by a Govern nent officer —to be the last [word on the subject, matters would now be in a fair way towards settlement. As we understand your telegram, if we can convince Parliament that the burden cast upon us by the Act is unbearable, it will b3 brought into lina v. ith the Imperial statute; otherwise, pneumoconiosis must remain in the Act, with the provision added to make it workable. "Is the alternative to be coercion applied to the workers to compel them to submit to medical examination, or to the employers to force them to employ those seeking employment, no matter how undesirable their physical condition may be? Either alternative means trouble of a serious character. If Parliament blocks medical examination, it cannot prevent employers refusing to engage all workmen deemed physically unfit, and such action would cause industrial trouble more difficult to remedy than the present." In a reply, the Premier dodges the very obvious issue as follows: — "You ask whether the alternative to passing such legislation is the coercion of workers to compel them to submit to the medical examination, or to force employers to employ those seeking employment, no matter how undesirable their physical condition may be. As far as I know, no one has suggested coercion, for coercion in either of the cases you mention would be, not only unjust, but ridiculous." , If the proposed amending legislation does not coerce, or force, or compel either the mine-owners, or the miners, one way or the other, then we must confess that we shall be simply amazed at the marvellous "Philadelphian" qualities of our New Zealand lawyers and politicians. The Premier, however, must be the possessor of a very decided vein of humour, for he adds that the Government can do no more than offer the mine-owners friendly relief. In view of the fact that the Government is responsible for the Act that is causing all the trouble, if we did not recognise Sir Joseph Ward's humour, we should have thought that it waa a case of "adding insult to injury."