The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 1924. STRONG MAN-AT THE RIGHT TIME.

Gisborne Times, Volume LX, Issue 9798, 7 May 1924, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 1924. STRONG MAN-AT THE RIGHT TIME.

| With important disputes in progress j affecting the staffs of two Depart- | ments of State —the Railways Departj ment and the Post and Telegraph DeI pertinent—of which lie is the political head, tho Hon. J. G. C'oates to-day j finds himself more prominently in the i public eye than at any other time in ! his political career. It is, unquestion- ; ably, a critical time for the Govern- | ment and the electors, irrespective of i their politics, are watching, very inI tently, his methods in dealing with the grave industrial disputes which ! confront him. On every hand, it is ! agreed that what is wanted is the I display of a firm, but just, hand. As : far as the railways trouble is con- : cenied, Mr Coates must be widely' ; credited with having, in conjunction ; with* tile Government, adopted the 1 only possible attitude which could keep the State paramount and condueo to the maintenance of its constitutional authority. Unhappily many families throughout the Dominion will have solid reasons for regretting that such an ill-advised, not to mention also such an ill-timed, strike should have been so unwarrantably precipitated by the autocratic leaders of such an important and such a numerous branch of the railway workers. In the case of the strikers alone, it is estimated that- their aggregate loss in wages was well above £50,000. But that is not all. It is well-known that hundreds of non-railway workers, and particularly casual workers, also temporarily found themselves out of work, but, in their case it was through no fault of their own. Maybe the womenfolk who will go short of the wages that have been lost will, m most instances, when they are attempting, futilely, to balance the family budget for the month deplore the fact that government has not yet reached the stage when tho wives of inflamed workers should, too, he given a voice on the question whether or not tools shall be put down. In this regard, we believe that the number of innocent sufferers through the recent generally deplored upheaval who will he disposed to blame Mr Coates will he few and far between. There should, and most likely will, he much praise for Mr Massey’s energetic lieutenant in that he displayed the requisite amount of political backbone to mako it plain to the agitators behind tho strike that- the Government intended to maintain its dignity. What the misguided strikers now think of their leaders is not, of course, known. Tho misguided men could not, at any rate, have felt pleased when they "noted, incidentally, that their executive liad to climb down so humbly—in other words, surrender unconditionally—in calling off the strike which it had forced upon them. In the circumstances, the action of the-A.5.11.5. executive sup-j plied the Jrcst possible testimony to i tho effect that the Government was j in the right. And now, pending a

full settlement of the railways difficulty, the Hon. J. .G. Coates., id his capacity of Postmaster-General, is called upon to handle, in the case ot the P. and T. /officers’ grievances, another problem almost, if not equally, as thorny. Here, again,, Mr Coates will win golden opinions for his decisiveness. It will be held even by his political opponents, that his firmness—and fairness —are nothing it not very refreshing. * The public can see, from his crushing rejoinder to the P. and T. executive’s claims, tha£ what was demanded from the State could not be agreed to. Preposterous it would, indeed, be if the principle were accepted that increasing age should be the main qualification for high salaries for the bulk of the P. and T. officers! Whilst everyone will sincerely hope that the best possible wages and conditions will be given to' tl jo servants of these important Departments of State, it cannot bo gainsaid that the Government must remain the masters of the situation and that in the Hon. J. G. Coates the Government has an administrator who can bo trusted to know what is and is not a fair thing all round.