CORRESPONDENTS' VIEWS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 236, 6 October 1942, Page 2

CORRESPONDENTS' VIEWS

MINERS AND THE STATE

(To the Editor.)

Under the heading Strike Iso** No. 3 you say the Government hSS the power to force an immedSS . return to work. The GovernmSt did order an immediate returnt work, so did the Federation of Lai? our and the Miners' Unionminers laughed. The Government could have ordered the companvSl pay the amount in dispute. Ucnujjj have been done, but that would ha*» made no difference. There ar» already several tribunals, public■ otherwise, war ;vyu!ations etc they, are all controlled by ©thi* agencies outside the Governing which can only inflict punishment™ individuals or .-mall groups of la* breakers Using th. 1934 incident k just a red herring. That was a nea«£ time incident; to-day it i s The miners are in the front Un» home trenches—it is a war industry The mines should be under notftS* ernment but military control (ST ernment control is a farce—thereT* no such thinp. Certainly there wa* something behind the recent strik# That something was, first, Gov&n] ment control for the term of the war Has anybody any delusions that means? Does anyone belin» for one split second that it wiUsSm there or be handed back when tS war ends? CITIZEN