THE COAL TROUBLE.

Auckland Star, Issue LI, 3 February 1920, Page 4

THE COAL TROUBLE.

The Mayor has made a praiseworthy attempt to assist in the settlement of the coal dispute by proposing to the Prime Minister that the miners' demands be referred to a epecial tribunal. Aβ a> representative of that great but little considered third party to industrial disputes, the public, the Mayor has a perfect right to make such a proposal. It is one of the weaknesses of the arbitration system and the methods that have taken its place that there is no recognised channel through -which the interests of this third party can be represented. The loss and inconvenience caused by the shortage of coal are becoming intolerable to people who have no responsibility whatever for the situation. Indeed, the results of the "goslow" policy arc prespjng more heavily on some outsiders than on either of the two parties directly concerned. The miner gets a regular wage, and if he earns less than he did, that is his own fault. The coal owner is able to sell a certain amount of coal at a good price. Neither is so badly off ac the man who loses his job because the factory where he works cannot get coal. Mr. Gunson's proposal is an attempt to get over the difficulty caused by the owners refusing to meet the Alliance of Labour, and the loyalty of the miners to the Alliance. He proposes that the tribunal to consider the demands should consist of two persons appointed by each side, who shall appoint a fifth member as chairman. None of these four men "shall have been directly concerned in the dispute." j Exactly what Mr. Gunson means by • this is not clear; the exclusion of both owners and miners might impair the I competence of the tribunal as a judge of conditions in a difficult, dangerous, and complex industry. It would be interesting to know whether Mr. Gunson's conditions would exclude representatives of the Alliance of Labour. If not, this proposal might open the door 'to a settlement for both parties. The miners, who refuse to give up the Alliance, might be satisfied with a tribunal on which the Alliance was represented, and the owners might be willing to meet the Alliance under such circumstances. As Mr. Gunson says, the parties must come together sooner or later, so why not now? And as we said the other day, the question whether the Alliance should come into the negotiations or not is not vital, and the men's adherence to that body is an application of the principle for which Labour lias long fought, that workers have the right to choose their own representatives in industrial negotiations.