STRIKE NOT LIKELY

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 242, 9 October 1920, Page 7

STRIKE NOT LIKELY

IN BRITISH COAL MINES. MILLIE APPEALS FOB PEACE. lOTHEADS IN A MINORITY. P.y Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright.'; LONDON, October 8. Although the miners' executives in nany of tlio lending coal dis-tricts have leclarcd against the owners' terms,' the lovernment does not attach importance 0 their notion, believing that though lotheads have captured the machine the 'ote of the average miner will be cast or peace. Mr. R. Smillie, president of the Miners 1 •federation of (Ji"at Britain, has issued 1 strong appeal, declaring that it will h» in tlie hest interests of the miners 0 accept the owners' proposals as ii emporary measure, and to utilise tin IUXt three months to secure a satisfac :ory agreement. Buch a course will alsi (ivo the miners an opportunity to prove lint the declining output is mainly du< ;o the owners rather than to the miners It is understood that, after varioiii liscussions the. Triple Alliance made ii -lesir to the miners that they must pur ;iie a reasonable attitude of give an( lake. The miners could not ask largi bodies of-workmen to strike when tin jifferenco between the two sides wa: only a shilling a day.— (A. and N.Z.) HAVELOCK WILSON'S VIEWS. SEAMEX VICTIMS OF MIXERS roues - . The coal miners have by no means tin undivided support of those classes o labour to which they arc accustomed ti look for sympathy and help in their dia ptites. Among others to speak plainl; was Mr. Havelock Wilson, Ml., bock tary of the .National bailors' and Fire men's Union, who in the "Daily Tck graph' , of August 29, discussed the prol: leni at some length, and showed how tli miners' policy hiw already caused grie> ous harm to the seafaring clauses. "Th policy advocated by the most prorainen miners' leaders," he said, "is that ther should not be an increased produvtlo until the mines are taken over by th State. Such all idea proves to mc tha those me.ii who advocate such nonsens have had small experience of the real ties of life. A moment's consideratio would have satisfied any reasonable ma that mine-owners and others are nr prepared to hand over their capital an their interests simply because M Smillie or somebody else says they should. Just now there is a world shortage of coal, and nearly every country is hungering for it. The shortage in Great Britain for the last two years has had a mo«t deadly effect on the interests of the seamen, and while the policy of the miners' leaders may have helped to improve the condition of the miners generally, it has certainly not improved the position of the men of the sea. But a more serious position is in front of us. For over 100 years we ha-e had an absolute monopoly ill the supply of coal to the whole of the Baltic ports, to the Continental, South American, and Mediterranean ports, and the principal coaling stations abroad. What is the position now? Contracts have been made by the Swedish State Railways, the Danish State Railways and the Norwegians for the import of huge quantities of coal from the United States, whereas these places would be supplied, under ordinary conditions, from North of England ports and the East Coast of Scotland. 1 LOSING OUR MARKETS. I "The most marvellous thing is thai 'at the present moment there are seven steamers en voyage bringing coal from New South Wales, in Australia, to Denmark. Before the war we were sendI ing 5,000.000 tons of coal per annum to Argentina and South American ports, and now it stands at less than 50.000 tons. Roughly, 5,000.000 tons require ' 1000 ships, large and small, and 8000 or 0000 seafaring men to handle them. Not ! only are we losing our markets as far !as "the foreigner is concerned; we are j losing them so far as our own colonies are concerned. For instance, from Natal huge quantities of coal are now being sent to coaling stations that were hitherto supplied from Great Britain. Purine my visit to the Continent in the past fortnight I discussed the coal question with some French trade unionists who informed mc that the Frencli miners were very much opposed to the policy advocated by the English miners leaders. An impression was prevalent in France and in other Continent countries that we were deliberate 1} planning this short supply of coal U foreign Countries in order that we miglH get nil advantage over them by bein;. able to keep our own factories anc workshops going while the foreigner" were not able to do so by reason of tn< shortage of coal. ! "The threatened stoppages for nation ialisation, wars in Russia and Poland and heaven knows where, are all navinj the deadly effect of undermining tin confidence of business men. How cai anyone make a contract when he feeli that he may not be able to carry it oift ' or can give no guarantee that he will d< ' so? That is the condition into which w are drifting at present., It is not onli I the sailors and firemen who have boci affected by the coal difficulty. It J true that- we were the first to feel th. ! effect to it, but now it lias extended to the dockers, the trimmers, and the , I teanvre, and to the men employed in ship ;■ repairing, and so, in the course of time. jit will affect every trade. If a strike 1 were declared to-morrow the miners , i could lav down their picks and shovels f I and be "paid to the very moment they I I ceased work, but in the case of the other i trades the great bulk of the men have already had a severe experience of unemployment and poverty, so that yon would" have one man starting the strike with a full stomach and the other fellow Starting impoverished and starving with hunger. It may he good trade unionism, but I can't describe it as ilrst-i-Uuw cricket Although we are out to bcnelit our own m-.-n all we can, we must have a little consideration for others, for it will come back upon us in the end if we don't. A strike at the present moment, in ray opinion, would be a dire calamity for the trade union movement. It would cripple our finances, it would make poverty worse lor a large number who are already impoverished, and it would certainly not help the movement forward."