COAL MINES CRISIS.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 59, 10 March 1921, Page 5

COAL MINES CRISIS.

1 NATIONAL WAGES SCHEME. | AN OWNER'S PROTEST. | LONDON, March 8. | During the discussion on ihe Coal ! I Mines Decontrol Bill Mr. V. Hartshorn I i I Labour I said that owners wanted an 1 : agreement fixing the wages of each dis- ■ trict based on tlie ability of the. most I unremunerative concern in that district (o pay waTes. They were not going to i get it. A settlement was impossible I except on a national basis. Mx. G. C. Gould, in a fighting speech. I said that the country was suffering from I the rapacity of the coal miners, de- I j manding wages beyond the possibility of I the industry to bear. He shipped coal fron> Australia to Sweden cheaper than it was produced in South Wales. I'nder these circumstances they could not expect to retain the markets. Tlie unifua tion of wages scheme would be a whip I I with which the Miners' Federation could l 'scourge the backs of the rest of the com- j munity. He counselled the ( 'overnm»nt ' to deal firmly with the minors, and advised the H"oii9erto stand by the Govern- | ■ ment. — iA. and N.Z. ( able, i