STATE MINES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 57, 5 September 1944, Page 4

STATE MINES

MINISTER'S COMMENT

REPLY TO MR. PATERSON '

By a very simple process akin to saying that black is white, Mr. Paterson asserts that he has proved his case m detail and that his facts have not been refuted," said the Minister of Mines (Mr. Webb) today in reference to the recent statement by the chairman of the Associated Chambers of Commerce at Dunedin (Mr. Stronach Paterson). "It must be obvious to all thinking people," said Mr. Webb, "that either Mr. Paterson doesn't know and doesn't care or he does know and doesn't care what he says on the subject of coal; and, whichever it is, the measure of his culpability is the same, for no man is more deserving of censure than one occupying a responsible position who speaks carelessly and recklessly on a subject of grave national import. . "There is nothing furtive or semisecret about the affairs of the State mines, or its transactions," said the Minister, "nor does the Government indulge in such methods. The affairs of the State mines are published each year and its report submitted to Parliament in considerable detail, and rightly so, because the mines are owned by the people, and so also, in the Mines Statement each" year, full details are given. Nothing is omitted. Is there any private colliery owner willing to place his cards face up on the table for the public to see in the same manner as the State mines? "CHAMBER MUSIC." "Whilst professing public interest, Mr. Paterson, with a reprehensible disregard for the truth, shows a complete lack of interest in the public; in fact, the theme of the 'chamber music' he has been chanting for some time indicates a more fervid interest in profit for the colliery owner than in coal for the householder. "However/ 1 continued Mr. Webb, "I imagine the average citizen is not greatly interested in or concerned with argument —he is ' interested only in facts., I have already exposed the lies about Mossbank, Wallsend, Blackball, and Dobson. lam ready to deal with Mr. Paterson's so-called facts ,which he says cannot be disputed or refuted. I am going to ask him to answer a few very easy questions. "Firstly, Mr. Paterson says that owing to the policy of the Govern- j ment in forcing the mine owners into uneconomic operation, sound progressive • development has been prevented and the mines have thereby failed to produce the Dominion's minimum requirements.' My question is, Mr. Paterson, which mines are you referring to, name them, and indicate the development work which the owner wanted to carry out, but was prevented from doing. "Secondly, Mr. Paterson asserts that notwithstanding the Prime Minister's promise, a policy of nationalisation has been practised by me. My question here is, would Mr. Paterson, rather than purchase the mines offered for sale to the Government by the private owners, have preferred to allow the-mines to close down and so deprive the country of about 1250 tons of coal daily, with resultant chaos to the Dominion and severe loss to many of his associates in the Chamber of Commerce? "Thirdly, Mr. Paterson has stated that the Government's policy has been to force the privately-owned mines into virtual bankruptcy so that a sale to the Government would be unavoidable. Come on, Mr. Paterson, tell us the facts of each case, and if you like, secure from the former owners of the collieries concerned a statement to back up your case. ABSENTEEISM. "Fourthly, Mr. Paterson claims that the Government's policy of continuing to work mines which would otherwise have closed down, and which he terms 'nationalisation,' has resulted in increased absenteeism and indiscipline. All I want to know in this case, Mr. Paterson, is the figures on which you base this statement. "Finally, I ask Mr.- Paterson to recall the position towards the end of the last war, and what state the coal position was in at that time and what the private coal owners and the Conservative Government did then to provide coal supplies for the people of this country. Will he state also what recommendations were made by a committee of non-Labour members of the then House of Representatives on the subject of the ownership of coal. "I am inviting Mr. Paterson to give a plain, straight-forward answer to these questions. If he fails to do so, I will publish the facts myself, and there, as far as I am concerned, the matter will end."