PARTY POLITICS

Grey River Argus, 8 October 1942, Page 4

PARTY POLITICS

AND COAL QUESTION MR COATES ON NATIONALIST BREAKAWAY WELLINGTON; Oct. 7. Mr Coates said, to-day, his unalterable view is that under the present circumstances, first principles should be the only consideration. The safety of the people comes first and must be the over-riding principle. Hesaid that at the caucus he put the whole position fully and frankly to members of the " National Party. There was a general agreement upon the' urgent need to get coal out, and that further interruption would have immediate and far-reaching consequences upon urgent war requirements. There was also substantial agreement that sending the men to gaol would not have helped the position. He said there was no positive alternative to giving the men'the opportunity to return to the hewing of coal. • '

Mr Coates revealed that he travelled to Auckland at the express wish of the coalmine owners, that he should accompany any Minister who went up. He was glad to do so, he said, because of his verv keen appreciation of the critical situation that was developing to the detriment of the country. He regretted that Mr Holland and his supporters had seen fit to make the matter a political issue, at a time, he believed, when the majority of the people had little patience with party differences. Similar methods to those adopted at Waikato had to be employed in Great Britain, in respect of workers who engaged in strikes in essential industries, yet there had never be,en a suggestion that British polit’cal unity had thereby been disturbed. Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates and the Hon. A. Hamilton, who are continuing to co-operate with the Government in war matters, :no longer 'depresent' the National Party in the War Cabinet. They have not resigned from the party.