The Dominion FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18. 1921. AN ATTACK ON ALL CLASSES

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 124, 18 February 1921, Page 4

The Dominion FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18. 1921. AN ATTACK ON ALL CLASSES

Ax industrial outlook already clouded by the refusal of the ivatersiders of "the Dominion to work in terms of their agreement is not improved by the action of the miners in presenting the extraordinary demands which are detailed in our news columns to-day. Anyone who reads these demands will realise that they could not IL conceded even if the employers concerned and the community in general were willing to submit to the most outrageous extortion at the hands-of a militant labour group. Under existing conditions the price of local coal has risen to such a height, and supplies have so far diminished that business people and managements of transport and other services arc glad of' the opportunity of importing coal raised from pits on the other side of the world. If an attempt were made to grant the miners of the Dominion the concessions they arc now demanding, the price of coal would soar to such a height as would forthwith bring many industries to a standstill. It would then become verv much more profitable to import coal than to obtain it from local sources, but it would, of course,- be impossible to obtain full relief in this way. The demands advanced by the miners can only be regarded as the latest move in the campaign by which revolutionary extremists arc endeavouring to bring industry in general to standstill. It hardly needs to be pointed out that th® abolition of the contract system and the establishment of a high minimum wage and heavily reduced hours of Work would speedily com-plete-thc ruinous dislocation of the mining industry, which is already manifest in the declining production and ever-increasing cost of _ coal. An improvement and cheapening of coal supplies is a vital condition of industrial recovery and expansion, arid improvement on these lines is quite consistent with a fair adjustment of wages and working conditions in the mining industry. But if the miners got what they arc now asking for, coal from the mines of the Dominion would nt once bbcoinc a luxury which hardly anyone could .afford to buy for any purpose. Tim people of the Dominion are no doubt awakening to the fact that the time has gone by when they could afford, in the hope of peacejand quietness to yield to extortionate and extravagant demands by this or that section of militant Labour. The community as a whole bears the cost of unjust extortions, whether by the watersiders, the miners, or any other'group, and also the greater Cost of the dislocation of industry which goes hand in hand with such extortions. During .years of prosperity the community has time and again submitted .to such exactions, but it is now faced by an absolute necessity of taking a firm stand asrainst further exploitation of this kind. At best the peonle of the Dominion have _ a hard fight ahead of them to maintain the general standards that have been attained during a lengthy period-of nrosnerity. and it is clear enough that, anv individuals or bodies of mon who at the present time aclont any course which is prejudicial to the smooth working of trade and inciivtrv are undermining popular welfare—they are doing what they can to destroy the only conditions in which prosperity can be maintained. Whatever they may profess, extremists of this type are. not attacking and penalising employers or any particular class: they are attacking and penalising all classes. There is a responsibility resting on the members of Labour organisations outside the particular industries which are at, present causing trovlVe to nrotect themselves and their families by nt least discountenancing tactics of exploitation. The average waire-earner in the Dominion understands perfectly well that ait best more or less trying times are in prospect dnrinir the. next year or two, and that the only way of c-ett.ing through tlios® years in reasonable comfort and prosperity is to keen th® wheels of industry runniire smoothly and well. Every worker who has any regard for bis own interest, and the. welfare of his wife and family, is bound to s®t his face resolutely against tactics which if they were further tolerated, would inevitably occasion unemployment, poverty, and distress on a greater and more serious scale, than this country has ever yet experienced. A stage has been reached at which it is supremely necessary in the. interests of the whole community that a stand should bo taken against .the tactics and demands of extremists .whose apparent aims are to exploit the public and cripple industry. The employers of waterside labour have taken the right course in intimating that if the watersitbrs .persist in ” n fusinc tn observe their .agreement no further engagements of labour will be macle until a satisfactory guarantee is given by the Federation and the unions that normal working will be resumed and maintained. As firm an attitude must be taken up in reference to the impossible demands submitted by the miners. A determined stand on these lines may entail heavy loss to all concerned, and hardship t,o a great many, but condit ionsi

have been reached in which weak concessions and half measures are no longer possible, even if they were desirable.