The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 1939. "MEN WILL NOT WORK."

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 144, 21 June 1939, Page 10

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 1939. "MEN WILL NOT WORK."

For f A* mui« tA<i( ieefce aMtefnnec, For lfc« iorong that reed* resistance, For the future in the distance. And the good that we can do.

The Labour Government from the time o£ its advent has made it clear that it is. vitally interested in the coal industry. The Mines portfolio was allotted to the Hon. 1 , . ('. Wi'bh, whose practical knowledge ol' the industry, skill as a negotiator and broad outlook liHve often been praised. From tlie outset of his administration he preached co-operation, and in order to make co-opera!ion easier lie overhauled the mining laws in lf'.'l". The miners had earlier in tin , year secured a new agreement involving an increase in wages. Mr. Wcbli continually emphasised that the industry was expected to provide practically all the coal the community required, and to that end he discouraged importations. He also encouraged the use of devices to eliminate waste and increase efficiency. "If ever there was a. time," he said in June, 1936, "when the coal industry had to be organised up to the last point of efficiency, to meet the competition of oil and electricity, that time is now." He declared in March, 1037, that the Government recognised the right of the companies to a reasonable return for their outlay. At the same time it felt that the treatment meted out to the miners should be "of the most liberal nature." AVhat is the result of this liberal administration? Has the Dominion become self-supporting in coal? Is the industry now more efficient than ever? Both questions are bluntly answered in the negative by the president of the Coal Mine Owners' Association, Mr. C. C. Davis, in his statement published to-day. He says that coal U being imported at a greater rate than formerly, and that this is due to reduced output in the New Zealand mines. "The trouble is that the men will not work." The truth of thnt accusation no doubt will be denied by miners' leaders, but there are ntnbborn facts to support it. What has Mr. Webb to say about it? In 1936 he told a tnnsa meeting that he and Mr. Sample had fought for the miners in 1914, "and we will continue to fight for you if you give us the loyalty we nre entitled to expect." If Mr. Davis' statements are substantially accurate Mr. Webb and the Government have not had the co-operation they expected and merited. What follows t It is for the Minister to show, now that the methods he favours have been given, a trial, whether he knows of any other methods, and whether he hue the courage to adopt them.