THE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FUND

Grey River Argus, 13 May 1925, Page 2

THE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FUND

WHAT IT MEANS TO THE COAL MINERS '

By

H. E HOLLAND. M.P

This year the greatest political battle in the history of the Labour movement of New Zealand will bo fought—a battle destined io be "v»ught with consequences that will be eilhec beneficial or detrimental to the workers of the Dominion. It is of su.irem ■ mo nient to the wage-workers whether the Labour movement achieves \ieforv nr suffers defeat. And whether ' irlory be won or defeat endured rests with the workers themselves. LABOUR CAN WIN. Labour can win—if the workers are true to themselves, to their wives and children, to their own cause. To win, we must not only have unbred .m soli l arity— we must also have the money with which to conduct our fight. Tin'

anti-Labour candidates will be backed with the money of the big furuu ini institutions which profiteer at the expense of the people as a whole, the mercantile houses, the shipping mono poly, the wool kings, the coni comnanies, the vested interests generally. The fighting funds of the Labour Party will be provided wholly by tlm industrial and political organisations of Labour, individual working men and women, and such of the business element's and the intellectuals who are of democratic thought and stand for Socialist ideals.

“BETTER A DAY’S PAY NOW.” Air Al. J. Savage, M.P., in appealing for assistance for the National Campaign Fund recently, insisted that it was far “better to give one day’s pay before the election than to lose ’many days’ pay after the election.’’ And that is what it amounts to. Let Labour suffer a set-back at the coming election, and wage-reductions will have become one of the inevitabilities. The wage-worker has everything to lose and no.thing to gain by the success of the anti-Labour forces; and in this series of articles I purpose making an endeavour to demonstrate the truth of

this statement, and incidentally t» impress upon the members of the various industrial organisations how essential it is that political unionism (the indispensable counterpart of industrial unionism) shall prevail—how. if the cause of the workers is to win out, political non-unionism must go, and the complete solidarity of Labour’s forces on both the industrial and the political field must bo demonstrated. THE COAL MINERS.

In the present article—which is the first of the series dealing with the coming contest—l propose to direct my remarks to the coal miners, who (under the existing system with its production of coal for profit-making rather than for use. and its utter planlessness in regard to both production and distribution) suffer probably more

than any other group of producers in the Dominion. Their lives are lived and their work performed in an everlasting atmosphere of danger. The history of coal mining in this ami every other land is written red in the blood of the men and boys whose lives have gone out in l«ng processions of disasters, explosions, etc. And at every stage of that history the miners have had to light for every small concession, as well as for every reform making for safety of life and limb. Even in the war years, when they were creating both Dominion and world records m the coal output per man underground — and when war-time conditions, plus war profiteering, had lifted tlte cost of living to the mountain peaks, —— they were fought with the utmost bitterness when they sought wage increases sufficient to enable them to provide their wives and children v. ;th a minimum of food, clothing and shelter. Their officials were then dragged to prison while Reform and Liberal representatives were busy securing from Britain the price increases which the capitalists were demanding for commodities needed for provisioning and clothing the soldiers in the rrenches.

THE LESSON OF THE LOCKOUT. Let the lessons of the past bo to membered. AV ho has forgotten the experiences of 1913 —when the laws were ruthlessly broken and bogus unions were formed to meet the wishes of the shipping and mining capitalists? Those offensives against the workers were only made possible because the opponents of Labour had possession of the Treasury benches. Let the lesson of the latest lock-out be remembered. That lock-out was the inevitable development of the wage-reducing legislation embodied in the I. C. and A. Amendment Bill of February, 19--, which measure was strenuously opposed by the Labour Party (then consisting of only eight members). The lock-out meant nearly four months of compulsory idleness for hundreds of miners—it meant the loss of round about £lOO,OOO in wages to miners and other workers affected by the stoppage of the. mines, and consequently it meant, inflicting shortage and hardship on a multitude of women and children—hardship that was endured with a cheerful heroism that eventually secured a measure of victory for the miners on the industrial field. The coal-owners responsible for the lockout were never required to answer a charge in the law courts; they were accorded immunity from prosecution. Had a Labour Government

occupied the Treasury benches, the wage reductions would never have taken place, and consequently the lockout would not have followed. If a lock-out had eventuated it would not have lasted fourteen days —for the busi nous of a real Government of the people would be to si‘e’ that production is maintained, and that, those responsible for the output are accorded the very best, of conditions and remuneration that are economically possible. The miners had Io pay an enormous price in the lock-out because the opponents of Labour were in possession of the Treasury benches, while the exploiters wen' in possession of the sources of coal production. SINCE THE LOCK OUT. Since the lock-out. the experience of the miners in a. great majority of the mines has been that of intermittent employment. We have seen notices handed out wholesale at Millerton, Hikurangi, arid other mining centres, and, to obviate the breaking wp of homes and married men being sent on futile searchings for work at other collieries, the miners have unselfishly agreed to share the work. Which, of course, means additional short. time for all the miners at. the mines thus affected. Those who rend “Hansard” will remember the figures quoted in my speech on the Mines Statement, presented by (he Minister of Mines on September Kith of last year. The figures referred to were* furnished to me by (he respective secretaries or the Miners’ Unions throughout New Zealand, and they revealed that in nearly every case the miners were working broken time. For one period of sixteen weeks the State miners had worked only half time; for months the Millerton miners had worked exceedingly short time —

in a number of cases only half time; t-hc Co-operative miners at Seddonville had been idle from 60 to 95 days in one year; the Iluntly minors had worked only three and a half days per week for a period of eight weeks, and nun:

bers of miners were being discharged; the Stockton manager had announced that, it was impossible for his company to give the miners more than seven shifts a fortnight; Blackball and Roa had averaged only 8} shifts for a fortnight for more than six months; Kai tangata miners had been idle for forty days in a. seven months’ period, and

COAL RESOURCES AND IMPORTS. And why is it that, the minors, who are willing am! anxious to work, are thus held idle? It is not bee ’use there is any shortage of opal in the Dominion. Tt is not that there is n ; , demand for coal. New Zealand has 610.000.000 tons of “proved” coal: and her “coal probable is stated by the geologists to he 1,821,000,000 tons. Our average coai consumption annually is 2.300,000 tons. This means that if we were to consume Ne*w Zealand coal only, and if our present rate of consumption should be maintained, onr “proved” coal is sufficient to supply our needs *or the next 265 years! Our “probable” coal, if the geologists’ estimate should prove to be cor-rect, would give us a sufficient supply for nearly 800 years. And yet, with these enormous resources, and with probably every grade of coal super-a’nthrocite that the world knows, we are bringing coal to New Zealand at the rate of far mo;e than half a million tons a. year. In-.let <l, last year our imports amounted to nearly 700,000 tons. In 1921 New Z ■aland imported one ton of coal for <t\ two tons produced locally. In 1922 we imported one ton for every three tons produced locally. Tn .1923, v.e im-

ported one ton for every four tons produced locally. On an average we are now importing 25 per cent of the coal we consume. To the cost of production wo have to ad-4 the cost of transport. This means that much of the coal we use is now costing us more than is necessary. It also furnishes us with the reason why our own coal miners are standing idle a considerable portion of their time. Which means again that their spending power is reduced, and the workers in Qther industries —food, clothing, boots etc., —suffer accordingly. Tn the meantime, we have been treated to the spectacle of coal being dra'wn from Blackball to the Grey waterfront by locomotives fired with coal from Newcastle! And the same sort of thing has happened at other mines.

OUR IMMIGRANT MINERS. While we are importing coal, we are also importing coal miners. We bring these State-assisted immigrant miners from ten thousand miles away, promising them work and compelling them to bind themselves to the coal industry for twelve months. But while the New Zealand Government “promises’ then', work, it doesn’t “guarantee” them work. And so, while the immigrant is required to remain a year in the coal industry, he may only find himself able to get six or eight months’ work m the year. The Labour Party’s policy means a working year’s full work, not only for the immigrant, but for ail other miners. WHAT LABOUR PROPOSES. The Labour movement in control or \hc Government of the Dominion would

proceed to nationalise such of the coal mines as have a life and which could be worl-ed to the economic advantage of the people of New Zealand. The State Mines Department would be administered by a Mining Council on which the miners would have their own elected representatives. The Miaing Council would undertake the work of providing an adequate fuel supply --

coal, coke, etc. The hous>r.g conditions and remuneration of the mine workers would be first consideration; and a foundation principle of the system be that New Zealand coal should be used for New Zealand purposes. It would be recognised that to bring coal anything from 1200 to 19,000 miles over the sea to a country that abounds in coal is uneconomic an-J, absurd. EXAMPLES TO FOLLOW.

Howev-er, to make th?. economic changes that ‘will ensure full employment to the miners, it is necessary that wo shall be in a position *o put the Labour Party’s policy into effect. And, therefore, we must win through to politics 1 power. To so win, we must have the most complete political organisation of Labour. To secure complete organisation on the political field we must have every industrial organisation militant enough to become an affiliation of the political Labour monnient. In addition, we must have the finance with which to pay our way in Die eortfion contest* We must make literature one of our main methods. Wo must also send our speakers into every -centre. This can only be done if we have the money with which to do it. The need for solidarity of efforr i« being recog

nised this year as it has never b en recognised before, and Wellington and many other centres are setting splendid examples for all the rest of New Zealand to follow. The WelHngton Waterside Worki'rs’ Union— single industrial organ is.a! ion—has contributed £4OO to the National Campa Lui Fund. The Cooks and Stewards’ Union has donated £3OO. The Denniston miners have made a first donation of £25. The Hikurangi miners have made special collections with excellent r< suits; and other industrial ami poli 4ieal affiliations, recognising the supreme importance, from the viewpoint of the wage-worker, of this year’s elc-toral fight, are .adding their eoatribul inns

the National Campaign Fund, v.h-ch they regard as a polit !<••• ! insu ani-e against, wage-reductions, low wages, in termittent employment, .and unemployment. APEEAL TO THE MINERS The coal miners of New Zealand have never yet been found wanting when any of the great fights for Labour were being waged. And I am "onfident they will not be found wanting this year. They have quite as much th gain as any other section of f lie workers-; they have even more to lose. It’s up to them to get early into the fight — ns T know they will —w?.) tlmt enthusiasm ar.d determination w-i 1 h is (he:r own characteristic. Let M” S.t-*ig«wor be remembered: “ b-uter to give one day’s wages before the election than to lose mane -lays’ wages after IL* election.’