THE KAITAGATA COAL MINEERS DISPUTE.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 3030, 24 January 1899, Page 5

THE KAITAGATA COAL MINEERS DISPUTE.

Sib,— Aajrosis.^afps^wafe, .for, some .time pMt the ttntnlMnico^ Mi« .Mtaer»V,Unlon, .at : KaltanyatW'hWte I btHk fittiiif igrievanpe^wlth : the company owah* I the EalUng%ta. mine, ud nave rnaiie two abortive attempts to bring their grl^anoise^frire the Gonciliatlori ■ Board. ' Tbf/^t' Wairtbii'"the ; dispute ws* referred to =^[!^^^i^^-^»'^ September last, but the old Company being then in liquidation in, .oonsequeijoe, of its .' changing handstthe. miners, ,actlr«, on the advice of the chairman (Mr Sim), withdrew,, their olaime: ♦rithont>-pr*iudloi',»iAi ; theyi understood,' bebaute the ; proper ownerirwere not 'tt>' : be' 1 fbbndr In the meantime the Company f which' had "b&n 'lost was found; and jhe dlspote ha'ving* beett'sgalri filled; 1 the" Conoiliatlpn Board ; ]*tf»i fw ©iiJßeiainJtti 1 the latter end'/.of. ' ;* buVi3jporiied ! tbe : hearing. tllMhe fart;»f^K^ingiiti. '' ' A l . forther ad joo(t O ,ment of tiJl.the 19th lost wasmad^ and^^ acqordingly the Board, . met In the ■ Athenseam here yesterday ,at 9.20 a.m , when lo< and behold, another 4ltH« flaw in the "prboiEedlngß >wm discovered,^ remltlng in »' **XBL fottner 'delay :> 6f the baser I understan<S,,\howeV'er^> ( thit;;th^^ determined to have jußtioe, and will rectify •t once this technical error and again appeal to the ConoiUationfßqiard;^^herjß was one feature about ye«terday,'« proceedings worth noting. There were two well-known solloltom from Dunedln present 'during^ the Mttfng, prompting tb» Company'i representative. Thongh the Ohatrman of the Board ruled that this was oriieri U'bccnrsltQ me. that this is a violation of the spirit ,of the Act, if not of Its letter. I* would be as well forUoionista to make a note of ; this. To one who is at all acquainted with the. history of this very serious dispute It must be apparent that attempts have been made to drashfth'e Union out of exUtence, and thus prevent, the dispute ooming before the ConolUatlon Board at all, when oerUln ugly faots would be revealed to the light of day. Ia it not significant that as soon as the oase came first before the Board in August last a large number of employees of the mine— all of were members of the Onion and ' officials— were discharged? Sir, this struggle has been going on for many months now. It is a struggle between a hard-working, oppressed and intelligent body of fellow men (whose occupation ia always aooompanled with danger to life and limb) seeking redress in a lawful manner, and a wealthy company whiob for years p»Bt has been one of the most prosperous going concerns in New Zealand. The people of Kdtarigata outside the miners themselves are indignant the treatment the men have reoeived, and Bave already shown this in a practical manner. Last night the management called a meeting of the employees of the mine at Whloh but a handful were p eaenfc, while in the largest ball in the towaebip another meeting was held at the Bame time to oon* rider the situation which waa crowded. Sir, thU tattle of the KaitaDg*ta miners is a battle of the workers of New Zealand f-om the Bluff to the North Oapa. and it is to be " hoped also that workers in every department of labor will show their sympathy with the Kaitangata miners in this struggle in a way whenever they may be called upon.— l am,.&0., LlGliT, y^ Kaitangata, January 20. - ToThkEditob Sib, — Will yon kindly allow me Bpace in your, valuable paper In which to ventilate the trouble which has been going on for the last five or six months, between the miners of Kaitangata and the Company past and present. I feel certain that when I explain the whole case to you In an impartial manner, you will in all fairness be prone to admit that the whole dispute has reoeived but ■cant attention from the Conservative, and of course, biased preu. Well, Sir, to be as explicit as possible, some six or beven months ago the hewers and truokera at the Kal tangata Mine came to the conclusion, thas (after years of patient suffering, at the bands •i the management), the time bad arrived that in justice to themselves and their fannies, they should avail themselves of the Inducements held out to them by the ' Arbitration Aot, passed by the " People's Government." The question was how to set . about plaolng themselves under the law of the land . Would you believe it, Sir, they were actually afraid to dioouss the subjeot witfa one another, for fear that their objeot would come to the cars of the management, which would mean instant dismissal. Howaver,- after a lot of anxiety and trouble (trying to acoept what the law offers), the men were duly formed into a registered society, the Kaitangata branch of which alone numbered over 100 members, and baa jjgrown to such an extent that at the present there are only about 12 hewers of ooal who are not enrolled as members, yet at thai time yon will remember "the Union tratf composed of only a few youths " vide •Dally Timer. 1 Well, Sir, the men decided to take their oase before, .the Conciliation Board ; at that time there was a talk of the Company ohanging hands, but the rumor wai looked npon as only a piece of bluff, on the part of the 'management. I can assure yon, Sir, had the men of known that Mr Bobert l Lee waa so soon to become their manager, tbby never would have dreamt of taking the oase before the Board. I may state prior to this stage, hatchet of men were getting dismissed, or, M the local manager pats it, "were suspended-in the meantime as the trade did not warrant keeping them on " (how very! thinrf Now Sir, all the men suspended, gome 20 or 30, are/ 'members of the Union, and a number of them' the oldest employees of the Company. I think Sir yon willadm^ that comment is gute nnneoessary. As you" are . awaje ;tn> pa«e came ; before the Board in I)unedin when no owner could be found, and Mr' W. P. Watson denied that hej was the general manager; although oiT August W.Mr W. M. Shore, the local manager, acknowledged Mr Wataon as the 3|tnajll ffajuf«r» |"W» ttft \'offl btWUt

••the little business" proceeded by leaps »n4 bounds^ Fir** of Wa^n > ap/ pwed 1 •« ih« mine »nd requested the miners . to sl£a l -c^§|^tt (tthlbli th> ttejoftfcy/ :oi . : when .; fair .words,, wfenid jrzWKt'JV&to'*^ the -M^^W, •t*ouw ; . offered : to ! ; <!p'*y'.^ttaM^ontrjjbiiison? ,\t- o&^-Vtyb Unionist who would out iiimielf adrift f torn the Society and sign thoee ; rimpV-p»pei*}; bat the men's minds were s made>p; attdthV resultfwaif tliiil'tKe Onion wairsl^gthened* oin«fd6r&a3r ; ?hfjr- ' 'yeW; } ' ciawitibriable taotibs o! the raansgement. 'I m»y. ffientlon ibat;^;^ ;;i^^^%. v kf: r «fiiof actually dismiwed twp t^l the employiws fbjr not slgolpg,, but w&en U^w^^dwboyejr^d tha". they were- no* ,P^ioniefca ; tbej ,jr,«e. requested to borne baot tpwork. ;Welli Sirr if you do; >fcbty weary I will >onoh aligbtly J, on the eventa of the past week. '■.: fhe Board: B at at Eaitangata, and after a considerable time the Ooin'pany found ■'■■ that through adme Uw q nibble they^re again'gi'antecl a respite': ' ifrom the trqiibleß of -th'e intuerß| J "lt i^qalte' ' unDecesßary^Jp.r^ "place, a»' you 'a'lTp^y : kn.j)W.'/.jAß^oon V 'tiie .men fouad,they,,wp^ Committee of the looal Union m^t, , and decided to hold a meetiog.,o| minera.at ,7 o'clock the nme evening, land motioet to that cffoot were potted in oonßpiououa* parts of: •the town. As k- counter - move the manage-' ment requested the employee*' 1 to miaet Mr Lee at the mine. Ac soon' ais the bbmmittee of the looil Uaibn tfeard i 'tliaV i MV"'L6e'wA«" deßirious to meet the men they at ouoe sent him a courteous invitation ito^ meet the men . in Mr M'Veign's hall, . which off *r waa not •coeped. I will give you a short description of what took place at the mine. There were about 90 men present, but do not for one moment run away with vthe idea that they represented the' miners (although Mr Lee was led J>o undeißDand that they 4id) I will tell who honored Mr Lee with their the railway surf acemer*, station^ plerks, pit-headmen, fi euaen, bla«k<>mitha» and Bhift wage men, a body of men who bad ,nothiog to complain of, at the «ame time they did what was quite right when they, responded to Mr Lee'a invitation to meet him, and there ia not a miner or resident in Kaitaogata whogrndgea for one moment the hearty reception Mr Lee met with. loan, assure you, Sit, that the people of Kaitan^ gata always recognise a gentleman when, they oome in contact with one, and the the workers in the mine believe Mr Lee to be all that he is represented — a man of honor. I am afraid, Sir, that I am encroaching on your space, but just allow me to state that at the miners' and trackers' meeting I should say that there wer6 100 presenf , and listened with marked attention to a lnoid address from Mr Millar, M.H.8., and all expressed confidence in Mr Lee. It is a pity that he does not meet the workers, and have a quite little talk with them, notwithstanding the opposition of the management, when 1 feel certain that matters would soon be brought to a speedy aad peaceful isßue. I As a resident of Kaitaogata ot longatan ing t would be glad If yon would open a snbI scription 1 at in aid of the distressed miners. I enclose a guinea. —X am, &c, Jusiiok. Kaitangata, 21/1/99. [We shall be glad to do as suggested. — Ed-. B.H.]