RESTLESS MINERS.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 66, 18 March 1919, Page 10

RESTLESS MINERS.

POSITION IN NEW SOUTH WALES. PREPARING FOR A STRIKE. SYDNEY, March 5. The refusal of the Acting-Prime Minister to re-establish the Coal Board has accentuated the unrest anion" the miners. It is claimed 'by the miners that tlie coet of living has increased so enormously since their last award that every advantage they gained by their struggle of three years ago has nowdisappeared.

The unrest on the mining fields hae been growing more and more manifest during the last three months. The recent refusal of the proprietors to grant en increase of 25 per cent, has served to fan the flames of unrest but a restraining influence lias been exerted by the general secretary of the Coal and Shale Employees' Federation (Mr. Willis), who has urged the men to exhaust all constitutional machinery before deciding on drastic action.

■Mr. Watt's refusal is regarded in some quarters as the last straw of endurance. The officers of the federation are more hopeful, however, but at the same time they decline to accept any responsibility for any action that the miners may take. They state that timely -warning has been given to tlie Government and the proprietors, and every possible effort has been made to have the men's claims heard before the Coal Board. Public bodies and private enterprises who were seriously handicapped during the last coal strike are making provision for any constituency by enlarging coal supplies.