NEW SOUTH WALES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 72, 22 September 1906, Page 9

NEW SOUTH WALES.

•A boy oi fifteen, at White Cliffs, Broken Hill, has found a " pocket" of opals worth £1500. Witrf'refefenco to a statement in the House of Representatives that the Aiis-, tralian Mutual Provident Society is using its position und funds in favour of a political organisation, Mr. Meeks, the chairman of directors, states that any such irsinuation is absolutely without foundation. The position at Newcastle is being watched at Broken Hill with great interest. The prices of metals are so good that If a strike incurs, aud the local mines have to close down for want jof coal, heavy losses will be incurred. .With regard to the local mines, the position is regarded as serious. The Minister for Works, New South Wales, i 3 so impressed with the potentialities of the artesian supply in minimising tho effects of drought iv tho north-western portion of the State that he has determined to press forward with new works. By thi end of the present month twenty-fivo bore trust districts will have been constituted under tho Artesian Wells Act, embracing 1,616,000 acres. Settlers in tbo western districts are meeting their statutory obligations satisfactorily. A Sunday observance test case was decided in the Supreme Court, Sydney, on tho 12th Inhi. Mr. A. Edward Bullard alleged that the officials of the Zoological Society were^ by reason of havinc charged for admission to the gardens on Sunday, keepers of a disorderly place within the meaning of an Act of George 111., and he sought to recover the sum of £200. Tho case was brought to test the legal question whether the society had the right to charge for admission on Sunday* Mr. Justice Prhig granted »

non-suit. H« held that there was no evidence i.hat the place was, disorderly, and that the gardec6 mieht havo been open against tho wishes of defendants. Activity in the Federal electorate of New South Wales is daily increasing, and the candidates selected by the Democratic Union are already prosecuting the campaign with vigour. The lines between thn Socialists and Anti-Socialists are becoming more sharply defined, and whatever happens in other States there is no doubt that in New South Wales the elections will be fought on a straight-out issue of Socialism versus Anti-Socialism. It is stated that the ficht in South Sydney, with Sir Jarnss Graham as nn opponent of Socialism, -promi&es to be so severe that a movement has been set on foot with the object of inducing Mr. Watson to seek some other constituency. •' The all-engrossing subject is the mining dispute. The first move wae made at Kunknrri on the night of the 9th, when the miners failed to appear at the " dog watch." At South Maitland and E?st Greta, the collieries, with plant '■epresenting a million sterling, are at a standstill, and about 3500 me-n idle, and trade aggregating £20,000 a week is sacrificed. There are special reasons for the retention of the shift objected to. In the East Great collieries unless a certain output is maintained penalties will, follow, and it is said that the standard output of the main East Greta Mine cannot be maintained except by working three shifts. Another reason is that the existing rate^ of payment were fixed upon and made relatively higher because of the three shifts system. It is contended by the strikers that the want of labour has been primarily „ne cause of the proprietors' obstinacy. They say that the output, at practically the whole of the mines, could be maintained if more hand* were available for the additional working places that could be opened out in the mines. A matter which is of importance to the men is whether they are locked out or on strike. They contend that they, are locked out. but the proprietors hold quite on npposite view. They have been specially careful not to create the situation that now exists. They said to the men in effect- 'There is your work, and you can go to it as before." They made no alteration whatever in the conditions; therefore it must be' presumed that the men, in not continuing the work under the existing system, are absenting themselves from their employment, or, in other words, are on strike. The men , d<*clnre that they have to fight this question to the finish, since they have failed by constitutional me-ms to effect a settlement. The proprietors, on the other hand, were never before better prepared tb take a stand. Something will have to be done by ai> indepenr *nt party if anything approaching a sefrnrment is to be effected. ' If something ue npt done in the way of bringing the strike to a close in the next few weeks it may bo that the. Newcastle men wilJ cease work rather than contribute to a heavy levy. ' i • "There is," says the Sydney Herald, a recklessness and impatience in the attitude of men which argues utter dis- - "Regard either of immediate consequences to themfielve* or ultimate consequences to the industry by which they live. Large as their demands are, they have received no final refusal from the mine-owners. Compliance is a question of time only — of reasonable notice and delay. Hven in the matter of the 'dog-watcb 1 ' the proprietors (surprising to say) appear willing to yield, after the end of the present year. This means that they are willing to forogo the right to use their own costly plant and machinery to more than two-thirds uf its capacity. The pits must be thrown idle during eight hours of the twenty-four, because the Maitland miners do not like the, innovation of working Uiem at full pre«rfure. The dog-watch means the ei»plovment of jnnny more hands, but it entails on all of them a night shift for one treek of every three; and rather than submit to that Inconvenience the men decree tint tbo output of the field must be permnnently restricted, and the returns from a great industry diminished "The, demand," the Herald goes on to say, "is also coincident with another for !>n immediate; rise of eightpence in the hewing.rate, which, by the sliding seals agreed to, ueed cot be made until the selling .price of coal is increased by two shilIm'gs U tou, a charga that cannot in any case bo made until tho iiew year, when contracts run out. So the owners are to give wit,h both hands. They are to immediately increase wages without raising prices, and simultaneously forego eignt hours of the twenty-four which their mines are at present worked."