COAL SHORTAGE, ETC.

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 214, 4 June 1919, Page 7

COAL SHORTAGE, ETC.

Sir,—Can you me any idea how long decent, law-abiding New Zealanders ai'b going to allow eome 3000 coal miners to bring general discomfort into every house, hold in the Dominion, apart from the fact that these men by their "go-slow ,, policy, led by -a'few men of Bolshevistic tendencies who should be kicked right out of this country with as little delay as possible, are also tying up more ov less all our industries P. If there 1» anything wrong with the conditions which coal miners aro working under, and the wages they are receiving, it is the business of tho Government (save the mark!) to rectify such matters without delay and arrange that, the conditions and wages shall in future bo ench that colliery work will be eagerly sought after. When this happy position, which should be easily arrived at, is reached a condition of engagement should be that every miner engaged would have to produco & reasonable quantity of coal por hour worked, such quantity to be taken from an average of working years previous to 1911, and any man not producing to the required standard should bo "fired" and a position found for liim as a mombet of Parliament, for that, jud/jing by tho amount of useful work which has' been done by our Parliamentarians during tho last fivo years, would about average out to what could bo done by tho wasteiportion of the "go-slow" slackers. It is certainly a great pity that we have not got a man in the Dominion with enough courage to tackle this question without fear, instead of the Ministers we have, who aro apparently trying to humbug a long-suil'ering public with e'verrecurring letters explaining why there is ii shortage of coal. The public knows quite well why there is this shortage, which is simply owing to tho fact, as I said bofore, that about 3000 men are being allowed to play up just as they like with tho balance .of one' million people. If these men will not got the coal out, get other men to do the work and protect thorn. If there is to be a fight, for heaven's sake let us have it. It's got to flomo as everyone oan see, and very soon too.

Does the Government imagine that the public is going to allow a few misguided people to stick up the work of the Dominion generally, to stick up any simmer whero and whenever they like, particularly just because half a dozen or no I'olshovists aro .intimidating the worst Government which the. colony of New Zealand has ever suffered under?—l am, etc., ALPHA.