COAL THE KEY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22625, 30 April 1948, Page 5

COAL THE KEY

BRITAIN’S RECOVERY BUSINESSMAN CRITICAL

MINERS AND WATERSIDERS (PA) INVERCARGILL A.pril 30. “If Britain could produce the same amount of coal as she did in 1939 the country would be out of its present difficulties in two years. With the number of men and the amount of machmery now in use Britain should be exporting enough coal to make a substantial contribution to her dollar funds” said Mr. H. Parker an English businessman who arrived at Bluff yesterday in the Napier Star in the course of a world tourBeing on the board of, directors of many big British companies, including Goodwin Simons, fruit marketers, ot Liverpool and connected with one of the biggest haulage companies of the city, Mr. Parker has had ample opportunity to study the present economic situation in Britain. As a result of'his observations he believes the people who are mainly to blame for Britain’s difflcultes are the miners and the waterside workers. “In Britain,” said Mr. Parker, "the men on the wharves are working five hours 20 minutes a day when they should be doing eight hours and, as a result, they are producing about 50 per cent, of their pre-war output. "The same thing is happening at five Australian ports that the Napier Star visited on her present trip. Waterfront workers throughout the world appear to have lost all sense of industry. I have watched them dodging work in many ports. In 1939 this ship would have been doing three round trips a year but now she is lucky to do two. Discussing Australia, Mr. Parker said it appeared to him as a land of opportunity for the young people of Britain. The young men in Britain were working for a pittance and they should go either to Australia or New Zealand to get away from the conditions in Britain.

Among the work handled by the haulage company, with which Mr. Parker is connected, was the clearing of debris on the Liverpool waterfront during the blitz. Seventy-five per cent, of the clearance work was carried, out by the company which, at one time, was employing 500 men. Goodwin Simons, the Liverpool fruit marketing concern in which Mr. Parker is interested, is the main company in Britain for handling New Zealand fruitOn Iris present voyage, Mr. Parker negotiated the purchase of 25,000 boxes of New Zealand pears, which will soon *be leaving the country. -