"A SIMMERING POT."

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 March 1910, Page 4

"A SIMMERING POT."

- -«♦••- Till. NEWCASTLE SIUIKE -AND ,\ETEK. Tin u],|) TKOI IiLKS UEMAIN. SYDNEY. March 12. '| 111 NT'WI .1-1 K- -Mike I- definitely ~\,-l. ;iinl llli- met) IX'tUltl 1" Work "II Mai, h 14tli, after a littl« ui"ii- than four months' idleness. For the last fortnight Ni wcastle papers have heon hinting thai the strike was really a liH-k-.nit. since the men were willing to return to work oil ihe old terms upon any old terms. For the. last week Sydney papers have heen repeating the hint. I In- pr< ss has power ; and the ;i|."i| pr<ipi iet"i • came suddenly lo agreement. The p:ls cipeii : ihe in" a Li*• hack ; the hoard investigatcs. \ seme i>f men whose places have I n filled miisl find another joh. IVrliaps two score made unnecessary In ihe introduction nl coal cult iug iiiacliinei \ in one pil v\ ill lie employed in utliei pils as oppori unity offers. Ihe inditsi rv read jusls itsi ll , I lit* ■ great coal st i ike is nU'i lia :he i mie heilig. 1 'iil\ hti ihe time being. The men's j c|je\,ii|ces .■: alleged grievances re--1 mam ; ihe fe, linu "I antagonism he- j t u.'.-ii men and master- i- i v hiller i h.-i n i iri, Tie' meiiioi \ of friends I ' and Icidei ■in jail, iln memory o| j l'i-tei I',' u In: ;.< in ilnlis, >'\l:-»- lo int'"ll'•ii'. ii I'lii well nil ailing < 'oiicilial urn Hoard ha - commenced the long task oi i mpiii in:' into forty sets of conditions in foi i\ pits aial linding a reasonable common iiih-ol employment, with vari.iii' ii- thai will please both sides in j i ach case. |',u| h mantel - and men aji pear hostile lo 'lie Board, hopeless of j its iielji. The hoard itsell appears j hopehs-. With aiTil rary power, hill J without pit Mige, and amid g. neial ill j prophecy. Nearly everything is 'aVi'li were ' hut imir months have heen wasted, the iudusl rial prolit o| four j lllontlis have heen luM, the loss stretch- j e- away into Ihe fui me. The propriel "i- remain masters of the situation. Yei I nolo thai ihe men also, on their side, j are equal masters of the situation, and I

.'iiT admitted in lie. The battle is drawn. Tin proprietors iii.i i m,ii n their position : hut they nothing. N'n attempt was made 1.1 fill ihe places of ill.- st.iikers. Th<. mines stood i,||,., waiting their pleasure to return. Itwas conceded thiii an\ .-it i<■ 1111. ttn III! their places was impracticable, useless. That being so, it is evident thai when the men have theii job, anil their job is perforce kept ope,, (,„■ ihem, tlie essential power is nalh with tin- men.

The law against strikers has not been enforced, ami a.hints of a similar impotence in face ~j massed Ihousan.ls. The meshes of its net catch the her- >''»{,'. !>nl the whale breaks through. The law against strike-promoters has mi] risoned several mi n for two months, throe tor eight months, ami one for two '"><l hall years. Ami in so doing [, |,., s put steel int., the hearts ~l' te*n thousand men t,, resist the law. or to evade

'I- or (n use their voles (o oikl it. Kvcmt jailed strike-leader is a Labour spur to ill., polls, a spur to many l.a- ---'"""" sympathisers to cast a wavcrint! vole. " The Premier's \'eu Zealand reference It. "mob law and disorder" has in.il been wan-anted. In all the months, with all idle men, (wo assaults have been reported, neither of moment So leaceful ;l strike probably could not be carried on anywhere else in the world Even the arrest of strike-leaders in the middle of a crowd of a thousand excited sympathisers failed to cause an angry blow.

For the rest, the men's pockets are emply, their belts are drawn tight their families are on short rations Ul '"■ •"'••"Is lintiß down. After the winter they will be as independent as over. And the strike has shown that «\v are as essential as (lie mines (o ( '" Tr "'"-'."''- v ' s goal-supply