COAL MINES BILL

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10589, 21 March 1912, Page 5

COAL MINES BILL

INTRODUCED IN THE COMMONS

PROVISIONS OF THE MEASURE.

(Received March 20, 10 a.m.)

The House of Commons waß crowded when the Premier (Mr Asquith) introduced the Coal Mines Bill. Mr Asquith said it was, with great reluctance -that the measure had been brought down. It would only bo enforced for three years, unless the parties concerned desired to prolong it. Minimum wages would date from the time the miners resumed. The district hoards will consist of an equal number of masters and men, with an • independent chairman having a casting vote. The district-boards would make spe- ' cial arrangements for the aged and infirm. . . There were no penal provisions in the Bill. The owners would not he compelled to open their mines or the miners to descend. -. The safeguards to protect the owners included conditions respecting regular itv and efficiency. Non-compli-ance w"ith these conditions would deprive tfie worker of tfc« minimum wage. n Mr Bonar Law, Leader of the Opposition, said he regarded, the Bill •with misgivings and mistrust. He ibought guarantees were impossible.

REASON; FOR THE BILL.

STRIKE PAY EXHAUSTS:-.

AID FOR NON-UNIONISTS.

"ABNORMAL PLACES."

THE BILL DEBATED.

THE MEASURE CRITICISED. (Received Last Night, 9.40 o'clock.) LONDON, March 20. The Premier, in introducing jfoe> Coal • Mines Bill, stated that the Govern- ' ment had, long before the acute stage had arrived, carefully considered legislative action. It realised the difficulties to which the be&t of legislation was exposed. Thus they persevered with their negotiations, hoping to secure, escape along a better path. The "' ever-growing suffering,, and the possibility of a.mutual settlement, mad© legislation inevitable. . Hep. believed .: .that, witflni 'good sense and fairhesV ' there-would be n6:;diffijcul(ty'in settling '/<■ -the minimum. That was all the Government could do. " ' ' Mr Bonar Law, leader of the Op: ' position, said the remedy was perhaps worse tihan the disease. It was evidient that, as the Miners' Union was powerful enough, to obtain a boon, every trade would strike and strive for a similar boon. The guarantees were insufficient. was nothing in tlie Bill to prevent a recurrence." In response to a Labour heckling as to what he would do. Mr Bonar Law said there were , three courses open. The Government could have taken steps before tihe istrike to make cither a strike or lockout illegal befor e arbitration. In the second place they • could allow the strike to run its course by effectively protecting the willing workers. And in the third place they, might have declared that the strike must end and use all pressure to force the owners to open their mines-and compel the men to resume. The means the Government had adopted were certainly not those the Opposition would have employed.,

DISSATISFACTION among miners. (Received Last Night* 9.40 o'clock.)

LONDON, March 20. The North Wales miners' funds are exhausted. \ The tiimltaess of some of the strike pay in Sou {"a Wales is occasioning dissatisfaction.

GUARDIANS ADVANCE MONEY. I (Received March 20, 9 a.m.) LONDON, Marclr-19. The Wakefield Guardians . are granting non-unionists 5s a week. Repayment is expected. The LaxLoasliire education authority is feeding many school children.' One hundred and fourteen Sheffield firms, employing forty thousand perrons, are granting non-unionists who are oitt of work 10s weekly, the mon" oy rto be repaid at tho rate of 2s Gd a week. ' Two pit®, ■ employing a thousand hands, have been permanently closed at Swansea.

MASTERS' OVERTURES BEFORE THE. STRIKE.

(Received March 20, 10 a.m.)

LONDON, March 19. Mr D. A. Thomas, a Welsh coalowner, in a letter to The Times, states ■that before the strike the masters twice made overtures to the men to settle the question of "abnormal places," but elicited no response. The real cause of the strike was that Socialists were controlling theSoutflx Wales iminers. The permanent interests of the country would he beat served <by count-ring syndicalism with a heavy hand. The Government was attempting to euro a cancer with stickingplaster.

FIRST READING CARRIED. | ' NOTICES OF AMENDMENT. (Received' Last Night, 10.30 o'clock.) LONDON. March 20. Mr Ramsay Macdonald sa.id the Labour 4,' arty would prefer to have the minmium expressed in cashjbufr would insist that the Boards should # not have the power to reduce the existing wages. The only compulsion was that the owners would have to pay the minimum. This far the Government had acted wisely. It had not impaired the right to lock out or the right to strike. Compulsory arbitration had not given security in Canada, New Zealand or Australia.. Mr Robert Cecil coupled the indus-