BLACKBALL STRIKE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 170, 11 April 1908, Page 6

BLACKBALL STRIKE.

IJ3PORTANT DEVELOPMENTS.

. DISCONTENT AMONG THE MEN. STATEMENT BY THE UNION'S SECRETARY. EXECUTIVE INTEND. TO RESIGN. (By TEt.EORAPn —PRESS ASSOCIATION.) Creymouth, April 10. There has been a complete change in tho position of the Blackball strike during the last' few days, and now thero is great discontent in tho ranks of the strikers. One of the strikers, indignant with the way proceedings were being carried on, has written along letter to tho Greymouth "Argus" (published yesterday in The Dominion) exposing tho. doings'of the Exccutivo. THE SECRETARY'S LETTER. Mr. W. Rogers, Secretary of tho Blackball Mirers' Union,. replies to the letter as fol-' lows:— "i\ letter appeared in your issue of this morning (April 9, 1908), signed 'One of the Blackball Strikers,', Mr. Editor. In reply to this individual, who appears to be closely related to the management of the Blackball Coal Company,' I may state that the statements mado by him are altogether contrary to facts. . We admit that the telegram from Mr. Tregcar. is, quite,correct, but that telegram ■ was only mere suggestions, that did not ombody resolutions that the Committeo were bound by from a general meeting. The proposals formulated in Mr. Tregear's mind were as.follow:— \ ! The directors to grant, within a fort-. . night, thirty minutes' 'crib time and res- . toiation of discharged men to their for--1 mer ppsitions. The ■ men on their part to guarantee that' if these concessions ! .are granted they will return to work at orcc. If' tho men will ask the Minister • ,to intervono with Mr. Stoad the'mattor need not bp made public in any way; In fact, it would' be an entirely private arrangement, and ono that would bo con- \ fidential .'SO far as tho Press is concerned j, . "We, the Committee, on receipt of the abovo telegram, owing, to its privacy, \ were disinclined-to discuss the same in any > way, but; seeing that wore only suggestions of Mr. Tregear wo decided to reply, with the ■hops of getting' something' more definite - before ' placing it before .tho general meeting. The Committee replied'to the above telegram toitbe effect that if the Minister could get tho thirty minutes' crib time granted tho men would resumo work immediately.; This was in accordance with:tho resolution passed by the general' meeting. Up to tho present, no. reply has been received to 'that wiro. THE COMMITTEE'S ATTITUDE. : "Now, sir, this individual is all at sea in stating that the committeo notified Mr. Tregear that the miners could not entertain such .a proposal as the above. The wire will speak for itself,' showing that the committee were doing their utmost to bring about a settlement in accordance with, ■ the resolutions passed by a genoral meeting. : '- ' " We'would like to impress upon you and the general public that the Union at a general meeting earned a resolution by a very large majority not to resume work unless tho ■half-hour crib :time' was granted; also, we 1 would again .' remind you that we had re-' oeived no proposal from anyone, merely suggestions from ..outside sources. Mr. Tro£ear mentioned that -ho could not -say that the terms suggested by him could now be obtained, lior could he say that the suggestions' stated could be brought into the terms. ; ' : "Then,, regarding the telegram received,, signed by :Messrs. Hickey and Hogg, of' the Socialist" party, recommending that the, terms Mr. Tregear suggested should bo accepted. Now, wo have»it on-the authority of Mr. Hogg,. that, ho knew : absolutely nothing of the wire that .was sent, urging us to resumo work, signed ■' Hiekey and Hogg.' ;He emphatically states that 'at no time' has he urged the Blackball miners to accept, any terms. In. fact, , ho states, in his letter to tho secretary of the Socialist Party, • that ho hevor sanctioned Mr. Hickey to use V his name,! and ho never saw the -telegram that was .sent' bearing his namo, he being at his home at Johrisonvillo at' tho time it was sont. " It; appears that Mr. C. ■ Algie, junr., brother-in-law of tho mine manager, received a correct duplicate of.,the wire.sent by Mr. Tregear to president.. On receipt of this "duplicate wire, Mr. Algie and Mr. James Leith,' a cousin of the p'fesent mine manager,, immediately took actioriJVand went round the town' canvassing, for ten'names, which took them the best part of a day. Tho requisition was then handed to the' secretary,, stating the nature!of tho business to bo dealt with. The .wire again, being,placed in front of tho committeo, they again decided that it was not-intended'for ; a general'meoting. 1. A' SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING. • "The president,- out, of oourtesy, to the ten mombers, called a special general meeting to givo them an opportunity of 'placing their business-.before' the meeting. • Tie president, in opening tho meeting, addressed the meeting in the following manner;—• '. ''.'Gentlemen,'oar special meeting haa been called by your committeo on tho requisition duly signed and delivered to ' ' your secretary. Business is set out as follows:—" We desire to have the matter ro wire from Mr. Tregear, reconsidered, and give- members a chance, to discuss; them." Now, gentlemen, my position here to-day does not tend to, make me feel very happy,"as I feel sure in doing my duty by carrying out the rules of thiß Union I shall offend some of the 1 members present; but, I mean to deal . in -a straightforward way, no . matter who I please or offend. There has been a wire" received, by your president of a private, nature, from,.whom I shall not state.; , I' have laid' that wire ' twice before your committee, and as it contains no only a few suggestions, -the Committee could not submit it to a gen- , eral meeting. I wish to call your attention to the following, rule: —'That the:Committee is bound by any resolution of the Union passed at a special or general meeting.' So -you see that the Committee is bound by former resolutions that have been passed there from > time to timo, and from them we cannot depart. I cannot help, on this occasion, expressing my opinion, as I feel it a direct slur, on your Committeo, and an attempt to split the ranks of tho Union. Now, gentlomon, as Rule 14 distinctly states that such requisition shall specify tho, nature of the business to bo transacted, there is nothing left for me but - to declare, this mating closed. I do not intend to carry out these steps, but will give these ton members a chance of expressing their views.' THE POSITION DISCUSSED. "The result of the meoting was that tho wire was read on finding the duplicate wire was correct. Before reading the wiro, Mr.

James Leitch, cousin of the' manager, asked that these messages should bo kept private, aud not given to tho Press. A long discussion took place, Mr. Jas. Leitch being on tho floor eight or nine times without being interrupted by the chairman. Wc may state here that it was on tho motion of one of our executive that tho wire was road. At tho conclusion of tho meeting a motion was carried by acclamation endorsing the action of the committee. ".We may state, for tho information of the public generally, that directly the public mooting was over Mr. Jas. Leitch visited tho residence of the mino managers, and was seen coming out. No doubt tho public will know after | reading the above letter where tho letter Signed 'Blackball Striker' emanated from." The editor denies the imputation that Mr. Leitch wrote the letter. ' A CREAT COMMOTION. The publication of these letters has caused a great commotion, and the executive are receiving some very hard knocks from the public and the local Press. Tho executive of the union has notified its intention of resigning, and a meeting of tho union will.bo hold to-morrow morning to rocoivo the resignation. Tho secretary of tho Wharf Labourers' Union was presented with a requisition, duly signed, to-day by tho members, asking' that an extraordinary meeting 'be • called for tho purposo of considering the position of the strike at Blackball. Tho meeting has been set down for-10 o'clock Sunday morning, when an effort will bo made to rescind .the resolution ' giving ■ support to tho miners. Last week tho donation from tho Wharf Labourers' Union reached £17, being 5 per cont. of tho wages earned. ASSISTANCE FROM THAMES. IBX TELEGEAm—PRESS ASSOCIATION.) Auckland, April 10. The members of the Thames Minors' Union met to-night to discuss the position of tho Blackball strikers, and to decide whether assistance should bo givon. The meeting was not open,to the Press, but it is understood it was decided to recommend the executive to ■grant assistance..