STRIKE IN WAIKATO

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23744, 16 September 1942, Page 4

STRIKE IN WAIKATO

Consideration By War Cabinet “LAW WILL BE OBSERVED” (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Sept. 15. “This is a time for the strongest action,” .said the deputy-chairman of the War Cabinet and Leader of the Opposition (the Hon. S. G. Holland) in a statement to-night on the Waikato coal strike. “I want to assure the public that the law will be observed'; and that those who break it will be dealt with fearlessly and firmly. "There can be no thought of any arrangement that interferes with the processes of the law, by which those who break it are punished. "The Acting-Prime Minister has issued a statement on behalf of the Government, and I need only add that the forces of lawlessness have again challenged the authority of the Government, and that the question of who is to rule this country must be settled once and for all.” Mr Holland added that the question of the stnxe was now being handled by the War Cabinet, which had had conferences with the other Ministers immediately concerned—the Hon. P. C. We’ i. the Hon. A. McLagan, and the Hon. W, J. Broadfoot. Many of the Waikato minters had had their 1 military service postponed because they were engaged in the essential production of coal, said the Minister of National Service (the Hon. W. J. Broadfoot) to-night. As by their own act they had ceased to be actively engaged in that industry, appeal boards would automatically bring on their cases for review, as the grounds for postponement no longer existed. The cases were now entirely in the hands of the appeal boards, who were the only authorities who could say whether or not a person should perform military service. Mr Sullivan’s Comment Asked tp-day to comment on the refusal of the Waikato miners to return to work, the Acting-Prime Minister (the Hon. D. G. Sullivan) said that the attitude of the men in refusing in the present emergency to produce coal—a commodity vitally essential to the operation of the military and supply transport system—had exactly the same effect as the torpedoing of a New Zealand supply ship by the Japanese on the high seas, and had the same reaction for the public as though the sinking of the vessel had been done by a New Zealand bombing aeroplane with a fifth column crew. The capacity of New Zealand to fight the war. to preserve the country against aggression and invasion and to protect the people of New Zealand, men, women and children against Japanese brutality, was enfeebled by the action of an irresponsible minority. That was the measure of the miners’ responsibility. They were partially paralysing the railway system which carries supplies necessary for the men who were fighting and dying in the Pacific for the defence of New Zealand and its people. “Desperate Need Disregarded” “The miners concerned have made a decision to do this thing, not in ignorance or with their eyes shut. The whole truth was told them at their meeting yesterday morning,” added Mr Sullivan. “All New Zealanders throughout the length and breadth of their threatened homeland will know from what I have said what the Waikato miners are doing them and will quickly find the only word which describes such conduct, The miners have defied their own unions’ governing rules, their own miners’ executive, the -Federation of Labour, and, above all, the Government of the country. They have disregarded the desperate need ■ of a nation at war. "I therefore ask full support for the Government of all true New Zealanders—every responsible-minded man and woman in the nation—for all the action the Government finds necessary to take to meet the situation. The steps necessary may mean a further deprivation, but the people will prefer to endure, and suffer if need be, to any extent necessary rather than to surrender to either an internal or an external aggressor, each of whom equally threatens the security of the nation.” Production Figures The Minister of Mines (the Hon. P. C. Webb) said td-night that an increase of 33,986 tons of coal was shown in production for the first six months of this year, compared with the same period last year. The output to the end of June was 1,312,099 tons, which Mr Webb described as very satisfactory, as production had been impeded by heavy floods on the West Coast. The number of men employed during the half year showed a decrease of 150, compared with 19.41, and there was an improvement in the output of every miner employed underground of 18.7 tons, and an increase for each miner on the payroll of a little more than 13 tons. Coal exported had increased by 8480 tons, and importations had been decreased by 10,748 tons. Consumption was steadily increasing, and the need for greater production could not be emphasised too strongly. “It is a crying shame,” he said, “that such an excellent record should be marred by the action of the Waikato men, who have allowed themselves to be led into revolt against their own organisations and the Government at a moment when every ounce of energy is required to fight off our external enemies.”