TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 119, 16 November 1909, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Illuminating information from Australia about the coal crisis The Australian is still meagre, but Coal Crisis. the news to-day raises a hope that representatives of both sides may confer with a view to restoring peace. The employers, last week, announced a decision to abide strictly by the letter of the law,, and refused, therefore, to be | represented at a conference till the men ! had returned to work. Possibly the events of the past few days, with the aid of powerful non-partisan advocates who are eager to end the trouble, may induce the mine-owners to agree to take part in a debate with unionist envoys. That willingness' to confer with the strikers' delegates will, of course, de- [ pend on the employers' estimate of the principle at stake. It is not known here whether the struggle is a trial of stiength, and whether the workers, following the example of Swedish' unionists, are out to test the employers' resources. In Sweden both sides had prepared well for tbe fight, and they both knew "that the battle was to be decisive. The employers, better furnished with the munitions of war, proved stronger than the strikers, and won. It is not clear that both sides in New South Wales have equipped themselves for a straight-out battle, but it has been reported that some of the employers had an idea that it was a test case, and wished to contest it, strenuously. The position now is that the strikers' conference, though it declares that it has arranged the preliminaries for a general strike, has resolved to "use every legitimate* means to bring about an open conference between the mineowners and the men," and if these efforts fail, the Government is to be called upon "to take over and work the mines in the interest of the general community." The Government, however, is not likely to plunge into a sea of troubles by taking over the mines. The Premier, Mr. Wade, has spoken about enforcing the Industrial Disputes Act to prevent any section of men from "waging war upon the public." This "war" has already had some effect on factories, and has reached as far as a wool sale which had to he postponed. On present appearances, it is fair to infer that both parties will be conferring in the near future. A peculiar element has been introduced into the debate abou£ An Agreement licensing reform. At and a Bill. Petone last night the Rev. A. Dewdney, who was one of the No-license Party's representatives at the conference which produced the, "agreement," stated that discussion on the published terms was premature. He quoted an anecdote about a little boy who was discovered leaning over the keyboard of a* piano, gazing at the music instead of practising, and the little fellow remarked that he was "practising the pauses." Mr. Dewdney used the story to point an argument that the people should "calmly ! wait" till they learned the contents of a certain Bill. "We had," he said, "already enunciated our demands both to Dr. Findlay and through the press. And we do not abate one iota of those de mands. We have neither eaten our principles, nor departed one hair's breadth from that platform." This statement cannot fail to bewilder the public. The people are indeed put into the position of the small boy at the piano, "gazing at the music." New Zealand has been given to understand that representatives of both parties agreed to certain terms, which, of course, have yet to be confirmed by Parliament, and conferences of men, churchmen, and others, are vigorously discussing 'those terms. If there are other factors — in that Bill — they should be promptly furnished to the public. There will naturally be some indignation if the disputants find that they have been discussing a reported A minus B, when really the problem is a reported A minus-- B plus an unreported C minus D plus X minus Z. Will not Mr. Dewdney and his friends have' some pity for the puzzled boy who is "gazing at the rousic"? A very heavy current of electricity is being generated to give the Municipal City Council a "shock, Trading, and induce it to drop the lamps and other articles which it supplies cheaply to consumers of municipal electricity. Private tradI ers have communicated with the Industrial Association and the Shopkeepers' Association, and have sent deputations to the Employers' Association, the City Council, and the Mayor. The grievance of the private traders is that they have imported goods at certain prices, and they will not be able to retail these articles at a reasonable profit, or possibly any profit, if the corporation persists in reducing the figures to the dimensions proposed by the electrical manager. It is almost impossible for outsiders to assess the legitimate extent of the traders' grievance. They may be entitled to some protection to clear the stocks for which, they state, they paid more than the council proposes to charge for similar articles, if they can demonstrate that they lacked knowledge of the corporation's intention to "cut" the prices. The Mayor' 4 answer to the arguments is that the council has no wish to squeeze out the private traders, but is anxious to prevent electric light--ing from being unduly loaded with high-jpriced lamps and fittings. Obviously, if the initial charges for the installation of electric light are high by comparison with gas, the council may find itself at a disadvantage in the competition with the Gas Company, which takes care to keep a shrewd eye on the "fitting" element of its business. The municipal lighting and sale of current for power purposes should not be handicapped by unnecessarily high "incidentals," involving a loss* to the general public for the benefit of a section, of the community. Be the current ever so cheap, the householder may not desire it if the lamp is at a formidable figure. The Mayor put the case fairly when ho said yesterday: "The lamps will not be sold at less than a payable price. The council is determined to do the best in the interests of tjie citizens, and it cannot do so while fittings are co dear."