CO-OPERATIVE MINERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 213, 8 September 1928, Page 17

CO-OPERATIVE MINERS.

THEIR FREEDOM TO WORK. PREMIER'S GUARANTEE. HOT WORDS FOLLOW A , STATEMENT. <l!y Iclcgrajih.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Friday. Ihe rami which has pervaded the si i innsphere in the House of RepresentaliVc.4 this session was milled considerably in consequence of the Prime Ministers statement reviewing the recent dispute at the Cascade coal mine, on the est Cuast.. The Leader of the Opposition and the Labour members asserted that Mr. Coates had made a statement for political purposes, in view of the approaching election, and at the close of the discussion there were some heated « \ciianges between Mr. Holland and Mr. C «<a Les. Mr. Coates stated, arising out of dis-cu-sifins which took place recently between representatives of several Labour organisations and Mr. Moynihan arid his party a friendly settlement of the trouble was arrived at, the effect of which was that Mr. Moynihan and his party were to continue to work a section <it the Cascade mine under the co-opera-tive system. If, however, it was found that steps were being taken to intimidate the men, and the Government was approached to terminate such an offence, it would be the bounden duty of the < ■overnnierit to take such steps as might be necessary and advisable to see that members of co-operative parties were permitted to enjoy that measure cf liberty of action to which they and each of us had an established right.

\h J . H. T. Armstrong (Christchurch ]'.;i.-t) declared that the Prime Minister was dealing with a, question he knew i)l»ulutely nothing about. Someone had ] concocted a "scare"' report for the Prime < Minister to read. J liy should a charge be levied against ! Iliis party any more than against the 1 Reform party?" he asked. Mr. Coates: Does the cap fit? I did < not do anything of the kind. Mr. Armstrong: No, the cap does not fit. The Prime Minister tried by all the means he could to make the cap fit. It was tho Prime Minister's object. He is ! bankrupt of argument, he is bankrupt of 1 policy, and he is looking for a scarecrow ' that will send the Reform party's stocks ' up prior to the general election. He has wade a hopelessly bad job of it. Perhaps ] the Prime Minister will inform us who ' yrote his speech. ' Mr. Coates: Doesn't the hon. gentleman like it? Mr. Speaker Intervenes. Mr. Armstrong: I like that portion of 5t which is true, and that is mighty little ! of it, and I suppose no one knows that j better than the Prime Minister himself. 1 Mr. .Speaker: Order! I think the hon. J member must withdraw that statement. Mr. Armstrong: I withdraw it. The j Prime Minister must have known that it ' >vas hopelessly incorrect. * Mr. Coates: What j»ortion of it ? , Mr. Armstrong: Nine-tenths of it. 1 He declared that the Prime Minister's 1 object was to convey the impression that 1 the Labour party was in some way responsible forihe dispute. 1 Mr. Coates: Who said so? Mr. Armstrong: What other object could the Prime Minister hava in reading a concoction of that kind? Mr. Coates: Point to one word of it that conveys- that impression. Mr. Armstrong declared that undoubtedly the Labour party played some part in connection with the dispute—in settling it. The Prime Minister had been very disappointed to discover that it had been satisfactorily settled. "He wants trouble for electioneering purposes," said Mr. Armstrong, "and we know that he will be a very dissatisfied man if he has not" some sort of an industrial dispute on," such as in" the past has been successfully engineered -when •lection time Mas coming round. Mr. Coates: The hon. gentleman knows nothing about it. Mr. Armstrong: The Prime Minister knows less. Mr. Coates: Give me half an hour, • nd I will salt the hon. gentleman up. "Making Political Capital." Mr. Armstrong repeated that tho object in raising the subject again was to endeavour to make political capital out of it. Mr. P. Fraser (Wellington Central) asked the Prime Minister what object he considered would be served by the sort of thing he had done. Mr. Coates: Does the hon. member suggest that I have not been approached and asked to give some statement ? Mr. Fraser: I don't know. The Prime Minister can explain the reason. I am going to ask the Prime Minister what does he expect to gain as far as benefit to this country is concerned by making etateinents of the description he has made to-day? Mr. Coates, said Mr. Fraser, had summoned a conference for the purpose of promoting industrial peace, and the Opposition side of the House had been giving him credit for fostering such peace, but now they found him making an ex parte statement about the trouble which had occurred, and which had been peacefully settled. He did not khow whether Mr. Coates had consulted a single miner, yet he made what amounted to serious accusations against a section of the community at Dennis- ! ton. That was not conducive to industrial peace. It threw a reliction on the sincerity of the Prime M nister. and the Labour organisations <f the country would ask what sort of iinl;mtrial peace was being asked for when they were not given the opportunity of saying anything in their defence in reply to the remark made by the Prime Minister reflecting on a considerable section of their members. "A Whole Bag of Air." Mr. Coates said that he had listened to Mr. Fraser very carefully. He would ask Mr. Fraser, or any other Labour member, to tell him what different arrangement had been made in respect to Messrs. Movniban and party as compared with what obtained previously. The Leader of the Opposition: I can tell vou. in two words. Mr. Coates: The hon. gentleman doesn't know. He was a whole bag of air. 1-=- yelled, sV-uted and stormed avray, but knew nothing about the matter. He was lost and floundered about, and finally was quite glad to get on to something he did know. Does the hon. gentleman think that I have not been approached ? Mr. Holland (heatedly): Of course you fcavo not. „ Mr. Coates: Does the hon. gentleman realise that I have been approached by the miners? l Does the hon. gentleman realise that it was by the action of miners that the whole co-operative

system was threatened? Does the hon. gentleman know tliat the co-operative parties have asked where the Government stands in connection with it, and whether the right to work to individuals is to be given ? Mr. Fraser: What rubbish! After the thing was settled. Mr. Coates: Long before it was settled, and since, these men wanted to know whether thev had the right to work or were going to be interfered with by organisations who want to prevent them working. Mr. Holland: Give u*s the name! Mr. Coates said that he gave all credit to Mr. Semple and the Labour party for trying to get a settlement, but that was not the point. "The co-operative parties want to know where they are," continued Mr. Coatee, "whether they are to go ahead or be dominated by a section. The (statement I made was calm and cool, and clearly indicated the Government's policy." Labour Voices: When it was settled. 31 r. Coates: We have given a clear indication that as far as the future is concerned, if men want to work they can rely on the Government giving them the necessary protection and assistance. (Reform members. "Hear, hear," and Labour diseent). That is the part the hon. gentleman does not like. Mr. W. E. Parry (Auckland Central) interjected that the condition were not different. Mr. Coatee: There is no difference in the conditions under which they are working to-day and when they started. Mr. Holland: That is not correct. Mr. Coates repeated his statement. Mr. Holland asked him if he. would contradict Mr. Semple's statement. Mr. Coates was making hi« reply, amid considerable interjection and excitement, but Mr. Speaker brought the discuesion to an abrupt conclusion by vacating the chair for tne dinner adjournment.