MISCONCEPTION SUGGESTED

Press, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23751, 24 September 1942, Page 4

MISCONCEPTION SUGGESTED

STATE CONTROL, NOT SOCIALISATION

MR COATES’S STATEMENT

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, Sept. 23. "I feel there is much misconception as to whether control of industry for war purposes involves socialisation, said the Minister of Armed Forces and War Co-ordination (the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates) in an interview to-night. “I personally believe there is a distinct difference between socialisation and the form of control it is proposed to ad “jfor instance, it is common knowledge that , when a vital industry is the subject of interference in war time because of the failure of those engaged in it to accept their obligations as citizens, the Government has a duty to intervene. For the purpose of removing any doubts I ask if any principle is violated by declaring an industry so vitally essential as to require a measure of Government control. “The controversy now being engaged in by many people as a result of the stoppage of coal production in the Waikato has arisen over a misconception concerning the degree of Government control which is proposed. In this instance, the Crown has taken steps to place the coalmining industry in the Waikato in the first rank of importance, and on a basis similar to that of the men in the firing line. “Without this coal production we could not fulfil our obligations to our own people and the soldiers, nor could we meet the. contracts entered into with our Allies. “Government control of the mines is not socialisation. There has never been the slightest intention to socialise these mines. The measures adopted provide complete safeguards for the existing shareholders in the various mines. “All that is intended is a degree of Government control sufficient to ensure that the output of coal is maintained without stoppages or delay which would militate against continuous production. Coal is so essential that it should be classed in the same category as materials of war used in the fighting line. "Of course, opinions are expressed that Government control of war industry will not achieve the desired re - sult, but only trial alone will prove this point."

DEVELOPMENTS DEPLORED

CHAMBER’S TELEGRAM TO MR FRASER The latest developments in the Waikato coal strike were discussed at a special meeting of the council of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce yesterday, a resolution to send the following telegram to the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser) being announced after the meeting:— “The Canterbury Chamber of Commerce deplores the position which has developed in the Waikato coal strike, and calls on the Government to maintain constitutional authority in the Dominion, and to avoid any action that would mean abdication to those who flout the law.*’

MANUFACTURERS’ RESOLUTION

A resolution condemning “the flouting of constitutional authority by any section of the public” was passed at a special meeting of the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association last evening after 50 minutes’ discussion, in committee, of the Waikato coal strike and subsequent developments. The resolution stated:—“ That the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association supports the federation president in his condemnation of the attempt of any section of the public to flout constitutional authority. The consequences of such action must go far indeed in the weakening of that framework of justice which Is fundamental in our society and which is one of the principles for which our country is at war to-day.”