WILL THEY AGREE?

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 272, 16 November 1926, Page 7

WILL THEY AGREE?

MINERS AND SETTLEMENT. - DISTASTEFUL TERMS ] OFFERED. __— i BUT BEST OBTAINABLE. _— ( By Cable.—Press Association.— Copyright-) LONDON, November 15. The country is waiting anxiously the ■ iecision of the miners on the terms of J settlement offered. These were characterised by Mr. , Joseph Hall, financial secretary of the Miners' Association, as distasteful, but j the best that the men's leaders could obtain. Although the terms were the worst that any industrial movement ever nad forced upon it, he said that the alternative was the complete breakdown of the Miners' Federation. Speaking at a railwaymen's demonstration Mr. J. H. Thomas. M.P., said nobody had won credit over the handling of tlie coal dispute. All parties, the owners, the Government and the men were equally to blame. There was now a moral obligation on all sections to try and save something | from the wreck. The first thing to be avoided was any gloating over the defeat of the miners. The men must be allowed to go back feeling that there was a genuine desire to "play cricket" and make the best of the circumstances. A BRIGHTER OUTLOOK. In an address at Middlesbrough, Mr. C. T. Cramp, of the National Union of Railwaymen, advocated the establishment of an industrial Parliament to deal with trade disputes. This, he, said, should be free of party politics or class domination, every interest being represented. If a certain industry could not give a proper subsistence wage it siiould be reorganised. If this were impossible it would be better for that business to be closed down altogether. "Prepare for a great flood of trade when the coal muddle ends," said Mr. Gilbert Vyle, president of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce. "We have been able to hold a good deal of business by our goodwill and prestige, and people abroad nave believed in up, so I hope all the business which was in sight before the strike began will not be lost." LOYALTY REWARDED. BONUS FOR CHRISTMAS. LONDON, November 15. The Bolsover Colliery Company, as a mark of its appreciation of the loyalty of 10,000 miners who resumed work in its Derbyshire mines on August 20, nas given them a ten week's bonus. The men received sums varying from 5/ to 12/ a week, which will enable them to enjoy the Christmas festivities.