THE MINERS' DISPUTE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 128, 31 May 1901, Page 8

THE MINERS' DISPUTE.

SITTING AT PAEEOA

(By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.)

PAEROA, Thursday

The Conciliation Board continued its sittings this morning', Mr. Bagnall

being- absent

Mr. G. S. Kisslingj Auckland, examined by Mr. lthodes, stated he was a director of several mining companies, and had been connected with mining since the goldflclds broke out at Thames. He was secretary of the Auckland Chamber of Mines for some rears, and had followed the ups and downs of mining life at the Thames. The Thames was in as low'a condition as it had ever been. He thought the gold returns were lower than they hflfl ever been, and that unless some extraordinary discoveries were made this state of affairs was likely to continue. He was in touch with foreign investors and capitalists, and they were disgusted with the results of mining- in New Zealand, and it would be impossible to get any money for a new mine in Ohinemuri. Tie was not an expert on the cost of living-, but, thought it would be much cheaper now than some years ago, and as cheap as it. had ever been. He knew competent clerks 21 years of age, and strong men, who were not getting more than ETO per year, and he thought they would be much better mining; £125 was a very good salary to pay for clerical labour. He had seen the scale of wages demanded by the Miners' Union. The adoption of such a scale, would lead to a greater loss than at present sustained by those companies not paying dividends, and would lessen the dividends o fthose that are paying. It would also tend to discourage still further foreign capitalists from investing. It would also probably lead to the withdrawal of money now invested in non-paying- mines. A considerable fall during the past month or two in the price of many of the leading stocks had occurred, and it was the general opinion that this fall was attributable to the dispute. Large sums were still necessary to develop the resources of the gold Held, and ithis money could not be obtained locally in such sums as to enable work to be carried out systematically and profitably. Calls df £500 every three months was as much as one could get locally, and this was of no use in carrying out extensive, works. What shook the confidence of the English capitalists more than anything was the dread of a change in the conditions either of labour laws or of mining legislation in New Zealand. .

By Mr Ziman: If-, was a, common thing for local shares to .be sold by auction, showing- that many persons did not pay the small calls, and a large number of companies had gone into liquidation because the calls were not paid.

By Mr Daw: He considered 15 to 20 per cent, a fair rate of interest for such a speculative industry as mining. A fall of 10/ per share on a capital of £500,000 meant a drop of a quarter of a million. The clerks he spoke of had to be contented with their lot.

By Mr Tunics: If wages rose and fell with the fluctuation in the price of goods at short intervals ifc would lead to endless complications. The same rate of wages had ruled at the Thames during the last 3 or 4 years. He thought foreign capital should be encouraged to invest in mining, but considered that an increase of wages would have the opposite effect to this. Regarding office expenses, the whole expenses of the Waiotahi, of which he was secretary, outside of the mine, did not amount to £200 per year, and he did not see how that could be redticed.

By Mr Hardy: According to the Waihi Company's balance-sheet, the original value of the shares was £1, and/10/ was paid last year in dividends, representing 50 per cent. But, assuming those shares were £12 last December, the 10/ paid in dividends for one year was only a little over 4 per cent, to an investor. People who purchased at £12 and had to sell now at £8 would be considerable losers, and if that loss resulted from the unsatisfactory nature of mining conditions it would be a strong deterrent to investors putting their money into Waihi or any other shares.

By Mr Drumm: In the old days at the Thames, men working- on gold received extra pay at the rate of 6d or 1/ per day. Mining in Waihi, from what he had heard, was in a flourishing- condition, and several mines in the Upper Thames had very good prospects. The facilities for getting goods to Waihi and such places should be much greater than six years ago. He thought clerks were often underpaid, and would be much better mining-. Contracts were not let in the Waiotahi. A mine could be over-capitalised, and such vvas a great mistake; but he knew of no such company in this Peninsula.

By Mr Morgan: He had known clerks work for Aveeks 1C hours a day. Clerks got two weeks' holiday annually. v By Mr Potts: In the Victoria Claim, Thames, during- the last two years no wages had been paid except to the manager. The ground had been worked on tribute. Many other mines on the Thames were in the same position. The Miners' Union, so far as he "was aware, had never hampered any of the companies in their operations.

By Mr Tunics: He did not think a minimum wage should be fixed by the conditions existing where living was dear; but where it was cheapest and the conditions of living easiest.

The following letter was read by the Chairman at this stag-e from Mr Gilfilla:), legal manager of the Barrier Beefs Company: "With reference to the letter banded to your Board at Coromandei by Mr Skelton, which virtually accused the company of discharging tym because of his position as a delegate of the Great Barrier Branch of the Miners' Union, in connection with your Board's sitting-, I am instructed to say that a copy of the letter in question was forwarded to our mine manager, Mr J. S. Vivian, with' a request to report thereon. Mr Vivian has replied as follows: The man Skelton was dismissed simpty because he was incompetent to timber up and make the place where he had been working secure.. I told him and his mate that they were not working the stope as they should, and that they were exposing themselves

to great danger, and advised them what to do. 1 told Mr Shore about the matter, and he took them .from the place and put two others there who understood timbering. Skelton did not like the procedure, and talked much too freely about it so in the interests of the company Mr Shore and 1 thought it best for him to leave with the others. As far as his being a. delegate of the Miners' Union is concerned his dismissal had nothingwhatever to do with it. The Chairman of the Union of this Barrier Branch asked Skelton if he thought it was because of his being a delegate for Conciliation Board that he got discharged, and if he wished a committee to be formed to come to see me on the matter, and Skelton said '.Xo it was not for that i got the sack.' Mr Suiter, one of our miners, who also went as delegate, is expected back to fill his place in the mine as be lore. This fact proves that Skelton was no.t clisruis.-=eci hecause he happened to be a delegate of the Union. I omitted to contradict Skeitoifs statement re double time being given for Sunday work. As I said when in town, time and a half was allowed at the mill. If the men worked say two hours they would get three hours and so on. 1 think your Board will agree with me in deeming these remarks of Mr Vivian to be a, complete refutation of Mr Skelton s charges, and 1 shall be glad if 4 you will give them equal force by publicly reading this communication at the earliest possible sitting of your Board." , Charles Rhodes, general manager of Ihe New Zealand Mines Trust, stated that the first matter he would deal with would be the effect on the mining industry. It vvas obvious that an increase in cost would make it a great deal more difficult to work some oi the mines. Excepting in two or three mines Ihe margin was extremely low. He thought, therefore, that investors would he greatly discouraged by any increase in the cost of working; in fact, that a rise in wages would so seriously interfere with the operations of these'companies as to mean the dismissal of a great many of their men, and practically all but the best of them, as it would be only by the pick of the men that the cost of working coulfl.be kept to its present figure. "He knew by personal conference with shareholders and investors in London, and by continual correspondence with them that they are anything but satisfied with the position of affairs, the low results from their operations. So little more was required to absolutely disgust them with the results of New Zealand mining that a rise in wages at this juncture Mould do enormous harm, both to the companies and to the workmen. He was a residept'xrfthis district for a good many years, and previous to the district being taken up by English investors and money put into it, it was in a very languishing condition. He meant by that that the capital resulting from local enterprise was totally insufficient to develop the field. Of his own knowledge he was aware that the Ohinemuri district was not a poor man's field. It. required large capital. He believed it would be impossible to obtain the necessary sums of money for developing the Ohinemuri mines locally, or even a quarter of it. ]n his opinion Waihi depended almost solely on the mining industry and Ihe operations of the Waihi Company; in fact, the whole Peninsula was chiefly dependent on mining. He thought that any cessation of work would affect the major portion of the residents in the Peninsula. In • tke event of a rise in wages he believed at least 1000 of the present workers would in a short time have to seek other employment. He. had had figures prepared, and he believed the ris of wages demanded would increase the cost of working 12 to 20 per cent. It would cost the Waihi Company £25,000 per year. He was in a position to state, three concerns which could not stand any increase in wages, but would not name those concerns, seeing it might do them harm. Re the standard of living for some years, he was manager of the bank in this district, and it was his duty to pay the wages. He thought some index of the spending capacity of miners could be found in the fact that at holiday times they left the district in thousands. On the last' Christmas holidays, when he was in charge of the bank during ten days before Christmas, the cash withdrawals exceeded the deposits by £22,000. He had reason to believe that last Christmas it was a great deal more. He said that this money was carried away, and there was no indication that it came back. During his residence he had opportunities of judging if the miners and their families lived in reasonable comfort, and he believed they did. In Tuesday's paper appeared an account of an interview with Captain Hodge, at London, in which he stated that London speculators were still very much dissatisfied. As chairman of a*-meeting of mining representatives, held in Auckland the day after the citation of the companies, a scale of wages was agreed upon, which he thought should be the minimum, and which he put in as follows: — Amendment to clause 2 of miners' scale: That the divisions of labour and ratC3 of pay shall be as follows: In mines: Shift bosses, 9/ per day; shaftsmen and rock drillers (in charge)., 8/; miners, 7/6; engine drivers and blacksmiths, 9/; tool sharpeners, 8/; carpenters, 8/6; timber men, 8/; truckers and labourers and mullockers, 6/8; boys up to )7 years, 4/; boys up to 18 years, 5/; .boys "up to 19/ years. 6/; boys up to 20, 6/8. In mills; Shift bosses, 9/; eyaniders, 6/8; stamp hands (amalgamators), S/; vanner men, 8/; engine drivers, first-class, 9/6; engine drivers, second-class, 8/6; blacksmiths, 9/; fitters, 9/; carpenters.. 8/6; firemen, 7/: sluicers, labourers and greasers, 6/8; boys the same as before; men in dust l/'per day above the corresponding wet rates. . /

The above rates were already paid at one or other mines in the district, or by the counties. . . - ■

Mr Potts said that he hoped the representatives of the mining- companies would not die of enlargement of the heart.

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