SEIZED BY NATION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 November 1943, Page 3

SEIZED BY NATION

ALL UNITED STATES COAL MINES PRESIDENT’S LATEST ; ORDER GALL ON MEN TO RETURN TO WORK. STRIKES EXTEND TO CANADA. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) WASHINGTON, November 1. President Roosevelt has issued an order seizing all the coal mines in the ' nation. The order directs the Fuel Ad- , ministrator, Mr Ickes, to take immediate possession of all mines producing ‘ coal in /which a strike occurred, or is threatened, together with the property, franchises, rights and funds used for the operation of the mines and to operate the mines in the manner he deems necessary for the successful prosecution of the war. The President has also authorised Mr Ickes to enter collective bargaining with the miners and to conclude a contract for the duration of the war under the approval of the War Labour Board. In a separate statement, Mr Roosevelt informed the miners that the mines will be opened by the Government on Wednesday morning. He added: “As

President of the United States and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, I call on every miner to return to work without a day's delay.” 'The president of the United Mine Workers’ Association, Mr Lewis, refused to comment on the seizure of the mines, but an editorial in the United Mine Workers’ Journal indicates that the miners will return to work. The “New York Times” in an editorial says that Government seizure of the mines is exactly what Mr Lewis has demanded right along. It recalls that he called off the last strike in June under the explicit condition that the Government would continue to operate the mines. The new seizure has left employers virtually powerless in the matter of wages.

The American strike has spread to Canada, where 8500 miners seeking higher wages walked out, tying up all mines in British Columbia and Alberta, which represent 60 per’ cent of the total Canadian coal production. Officials describe the strike which was called by the Canadian branch of the United Mine Workers’ Association as a terrible situation, and explain that some schools; hospitals and public buildings have coal only for a fortnight. Tire authorities have also ordered the street lights in Alberta to be cut in half to preserve the stocks of electric power plants.