DEADLOCK AT MINES

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 407, 16 January 1909, Page 6

DEADLOCK AT MINES

STILL NO SOLUTION. NO MOtiEY AT BLACKWATER. THE POSITION AT REEFTON ACUTE. (DT TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION.) . J Reefton, January 15. • donoral dissatisfaction in expressed, here at tho boating time attitude persisted in. Soma blame the employers, some blame the • union and the federation, and some the Government.' ,The position is that tho mines are wanting men, and the men are wanting em- * ploymont, but ' the mines are' spoiling 'and tho . men are idlo., ,; At Blackwater there is grave disaffection .at tlio condition of things. -A number of .men there, who,have nothing to do, aro hard up after the ' holidays, and cannot get away. The boardinghouse is talking of shutting up, : and tho men are very discontented. To-night'B "Inangahuß Times" has a strong . Jotter from the secretary of: the Inangahua . Minors' Union, who asks, in order to clear up .any misapprehension,- that the employers interpret threo things:— (1) That Mr. j Free (owners' attorney) on December 22,. said: -"The course we have, decided to • adopt is to arrange : a medical examination of all .workmen, and any found i Buffering from,'any. disease, or-injury will be ,- asked -to sign i- an indemnity' in conformity wifch .Scction.l7, agreeing!.hot ,to' : claim compensation at any .future .date, if laid aside, by any: trouble existing at the date of examination." The men, says the secretary,; strenuously oppose. signing: away- ? their privileges - nndor the Workers' Compensation Act. (2) .Again, Mr. Free,: as spokesman of the employers ion . January, 14, in a wire to the . Primo>Ministof,.States,■; according.to the,tatter's reply, _! 1 That the. ground on. which the employers! insistence on medical examination :' is that' those, among-the :men' who .are .'suffering from phthisis -. may, if. ' they : continue. ;. work, be classed by a - friendly medical. practitioner ;as suffering from miners', disease." ... How does this, asks the secretary, compare ' the announcement;of January 14? He asks; then, the following questions of the employers: , (a)". Does : the -December 22 statement represent tho present attitude?, '(b)Does insistence on medical examination for pneumoconiosis only represent the same? Whon these questions are intelligibly and honestly' 'MSwero'd,;'tho, J \ executive; of; the Miners' Federation will'then be . able to retract what .their., manifesto claims; ', .' The employers Kt-ate that a conference will 'bo held' .Mxt-.week in '-Wellington; Mr. Free,' for the local''employers', has already left,-via Otira.' ...... .. ,j;;, . - -.The' miners are.inot'- too pleased ...regarding the offer ,madei; yesterday' by.; the companies,,. which: include snot only; those mentioned, but the New Big River, Nsw Ulster, and Keep-it-Dark Mining_ Companies. The insuranco risks Are not, as''risks at all; Indepcn- ' dent men consider the insurance rates as published 'a,iearful, impost. On the average of £150-of individual annual .wages there is an additional tax ,of £1500, or nearly, on this £cld. "NO. DEVELOPMENT." ; IBT IELEOHAriI—PI!HS* A3SOCIATIOM-) ' Christchurch; January 15. Interviewed on his arrival from Timaru to-night,-' the 1 Prime:. Minister '- 1 statedthat there had beeii no further development in connection with tho mining trouble.

"GRIEVOUSLY DISAPPOINTED." EMPLOYERS 1 FEDERATION WRITES TO THE PRIME MINISTER. , As aresult of the recent■ meeting ofnthe 'Advisoryv.iioard .of .the/Now Zealand >;F.nu • ployers' 'federationJ the' secretary- (Mr.- W. A J ryor) ;has written, to, the Prime •Minister (Sir Joseph Ward) as follows:—= . » "By direction of my Advisory Boards J have the; to hand you herewith a copy- of ..the opinion of Mr. (J;--P: Skerrett, K. 0.,; upon. Clause ,10 of .tho-.l\Vorkers'; Com- . pensation 'Act,'; 1908,copies'ofwhich., 'have also sent to :the .various employers' as-, fiociations; interested,' and, their; consideration requested.. My Advisory. Board, I am instructed to say,/ is grievously; disappointed, and respectfully expresses: dissatisfaction with, -the.action, of-the Government in'authorising the State.^lnsurance under ; in--to issue .policies, .covering' the ; lia-' bility of. employers under Clauso .10; vuntil Parliament .meets.,. The mine-owners; having! acted/' reasonably .'-and! constitutionally.. .; in .dealing with . the position forced upon -them by the, Act, .had .every- reason to : expect - the v support , of '.Government,:, - 'in view ; of -tne-.earJier ; communications ofyourself and. Hon. J. ... A.- Millar., to the president of ; the. Miners? Federation, instead«of which without the mine-owners being con-' suited in any way.-proposals -"are..now made ; which, while not being of; any assistance to them, would, it is ■ believed, result' in ruin to the. industry if they wore adopted; ' ' ."I have /to point out also- that'; Govern-. Jneut has given no indication whatever as' to the . direction ;in which it, proposes - to amend/., the -.Act, i.and:'" that such information it is clearly, impossible for tho minerowners to. jdepart. y the - position' they have, taken-, up. .-Although nearly aweek - has; elapsed ..since; Government's.'announcement. was made, -up to the present it if i™Po3sible f to,'ascertain upon what'terms the State .Insurance Department- is- prepared -..to protect...the--mine-Owners' interests.' Dis-appointtnent;-is 'also' expressed."at' the -action of Government in having conveyed its intentions .tl.p, president., of .the Miners' Meration,:.while,/the mine-owners' and the New Zealand, .Employers' federation had to depend, on -newspaper reports- and information .conveyed to - them by-the Workers" L 1 ? 11 ' ' ?? ;tethcr jnstructea mention Wjiat, my.. Advisory, ■ Board considers the undue -preference, given; to. the State- Insurance i'epartment by.Government's .proposals. It ,is . respectfully .submitted that 'even if the proposals had been acceptable -to the mineowners,;, the (arrangement, proposed shouldhave, been such that the legitimate business of the insurance companies woUd .be secured to them. • -. The.: whole question of "what' fur-' ther actioa is. to bo taken by , my'federation has_ been submitted to the>various affiliated bodies, and .upon.receipt of their replica my board will in all .probability, again communicate with you." Mr. Pryor, who left for tho south last night on his-annual,holiday, will-confer with' Jhj. ®. .tree, the. mine-owner's att-ornoy, INSURANCE STANDPOINT. , THE "STATE'S WAY OP COMPETING, (BT TELEGEAPH—PIIESS' ASSOCIATION,)'.. \ . m"'- : • 1 . . Auckland, January 15, . Ihero is. considerable resontmont m local msuranco circles at the method adopted by the. Government to scttlo . tJio " mining trouble, namely, by indemnifying tho' State Insurance _ Department against risks in connection, with the miners dispute; "Wo feel ; ;that;it.is iiios't unjust that the Government should thus assist its own Department; by backing ,it up with tho general funds of the Government," said tho" manager of-one of the private companies to a reporter to-day. "Of course; the Government will not 1 extend the same privilege to us, as wo'aro not going to take the risk as regards pnoumoconiosis. It: simply means that, pretty well the whole - of the business will go . off our books and into tlie handß of tho Government. We-strongly resent 'the; attitudo of.the Government. It is unfair competition—most unfair." ' , : ... .

Asked how tho insurance . companies:: are dealing with their clients,,: this gentleman replied that they aro- raising as fowdifficulties; _as; possible.' : that the position has been thrust upon the mining jompanies, who in; many cases must go to sho Government ' office tor :' the insuranco. This the insurance companies are . quite prepared to facilitate. The Prime Minister aad »sked the employers and employees to meet him in the matter, as far as possible, and the insurance companies were helping tho employers by refunding any unearned^premiums. It was further stated that tho business the

private insurance companies stand to lose by the action of the Government will run. into several thousand pounds. It might,only bo a' temporary loss, but the companies would ■ have to fight to. get . that business back. Thoy were still united in saying that they would not take the-risk'in respect to miners' complaint. The' main reason for this was that they did not know-the degree to which the. 9000 or ■10,000 miners in the Dominion might .bfr'affccted, by the. disease. There was no means of ascertaining this without the ordinary life insurance precaution of medical examination.

. The manager of a leading insurance company > Bays that, assuming 'that only ono. per cent; .or,,the minora of the Dominion con-, tracts miners' complaint each year,'the an-. ; nual'loss under the new regulations would be '£■15,000 per annum. WORK RESTARTING. AT SOME OF THE NORTHERN MINES. ; [ (by .teleg&aph—press, association.) Whangarei, January 15. . Work was "restarted this morning at the coal-mines owned by the Northern and Hikurangi companies. Many of . the miners are absent at present, but work will probably be in full swing again on Monday. - ,: The , ordinary railway running . has been resumed. •: ■ Thames, January 15. . - notification ..was received locally by several mine-managers that the mining companies had taken advantage of the offer made' by tho Prime Minister regarding a covering policy, for "miners' complaint" for a yew,' or; at any rate, until Parliament meets .to ' discuss Clause 10. ' The trouble having ended,. the men are returning to_ work at once. !•. Similar intimation was forwarded to Tai,rua, where the Broken Hills, Golden Belt, and' .other properties are resuming work with the usual complement of men. At .the Thames some of. the. miners have already recommenced work, and it is expected that by 'next . Monday all the men will .'be ■ employed/'; This'has given much satisfaction locally. ' OTAGO STILL WAITING. Dunodin, January 16. • Tho Otago coal mine-owners and employees are .. still marking time, awaiting- develop-' ments in the north. .■ . ' WAIHI COMPANY WILL DO ITS OWN INSURANCE. (BT TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION.) Auckland, January 15. It is understood that the Waihi Gold-mining Company, owing to the. extra cost of insurance under the new conditions, contemplates undertaking the_insurance.of its employees' itself. ■: The additional expense would, it is stated,:otherwise. increaße the company's outlay .by-about £7000. ■