Evening Post TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1942. STRIKING AGAINST TEH PEOPLE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 66, 15 September 1942, Page 4

Evening Post TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1942. STRIKING AGAINST TEH PEOPLE

Setting their face against appeals by the Government and their own industrial organisations, and even ignoring a decision obtained by secret ballot in the affected districts, the Waikato miners, with the. exception of those at two mines, have declined to resume work. As a direct result ok their action, drastic reductions in railway services will become operative as from midnight tonight. Thus a small section of workers, acting in a most irresponsible and irrational way, have struck a critical blow at the. whole transport system of the North Island at a time when it is more vital than ever that essential services should be maintained. New Zealand today is faced with' difficulties enough without having them added td by senseless and wholly unnecessary interference with production. Already the necessity to conserve petrol and tyres, as well as man-power, has resulted in the elimination of many road services and big reductions in others, and the railways system, working on the narrowest of .margins, lias had to take the strain. Even with an assurance of regular supplies of coal, the job would have been difficult enough. Now, with one of the main sources of supply cut off, it is impossible, and the Minister of Railways (Mr. Semple) has had no alternative but to order cuts which will reduce goods services by 50 per cent, and will greatly restrict many passenger services. But that is not all. Coal has to be* distributed over a large number of locomotive depots in various • parts of the North Island, and Mr. Semple estimates that within seven; to eight weeks the whole of the rail transport system in the North Island will be practically stopped unless the present dispute is very quickly settled. It is well that the public should realise what the action of the Waikato miners means to New Zealand. The cuts which will operate as from tonight will bear most heavily on the civilian population. , According to Mr. Semple, preference will be given to food and material for military requirements, and also food for public institutions, and the general public. Timber not required for military services will not be carried, live stock not required for immediate slaughtering will not be carried, and requirements for the, civilian population will be reduced to the absolute minimum. That is serious enough, but, if the miners continue to ignore the plain duty they owe to their country at this most critical time, the position will become much worse and the nation's war effort will be seriously impaired, if not completely disorganised. If the miners insist in their present wholly indefensible attitude, no supplies or materials will go forward for military, shipping, or civilian purposes. This fact, says Mr. Semple, coupled with the extremely serious shortage of rubber for tyres and fuel for •road motor vehicles, will definitely immobilise all our military forces, create tremendous hardship for the whole mass of the people, and leave our country an easy prey for any attack that the enemy might decide to make. In other words, the action of the miners constitutes a direct challenge to the security of the State. It is a clear case of a smalLindustrial section placing not its own interests, but its' irresponsible impulses before the interests and safety of the nation at a time when, in the words of Mr. Semple, "our very existence as a free nation", is in the balance. Clearly the dispute should never have been allowed to reach its pre-. sent stage, and just as clearly it must be brought to a speedy end. In addition to the machinery which exists within the. industry itself to settle differences between employers and employees without recourse .to direct action, the Government lias ample emergency powers to deal promptly and effectively with industrial trouble. Appeals lo reason (where apparently no reason exists) and vigorously-expressed warnings by the responsible Minister that the challenges of "industrial wreckers" will be accepted by the Government are obviously not ■sufficient. The public arc becoming thoroughly impatient of mere words, which, however admirable and in keeping with j public opiniun they may be, do nol prevent disputes and stoppages o( vital production. The public arc in no mood to tolerate sudi stoppages. The times arc too serious and too pregnant with danger. If the Government feels thai, even the widepowers it-possesses, are not sufficient to meet the present situation, and to ensure that such stoppages will not occur again, then it may rely on the public to support it in any further action that it deems necessary to take. But there must be action, and effective action quickly. No section of the community, small or largo, can be allowed to stand in the way of the nation in its determination to see the present struggle through to victory. The warning given yesterday by the Acting Prime Minister (Mr. Sullivan) that the danger to New Zealand is by no means over and. that a show-down in the Pacific area is imminent is repealed today by Mr. Semple. With an external enemy at the gale*. there can lie no compromise with those who choose, for their own ends, lo iind'-rmine the whole war organist! ion of Hie Dominion, lle^'lule ;icli"ii run.--; he i taken now to briujr ihe present dispute to an end at once.