BRITISH COAL CRISIS.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume II, Issue 62, 27 February 1912, Page 5

BRITISH COAL CRISIS.

BRIGHTER PROSPECTS. A AV AY TO AVERT THE STRIKE. [PRESS ASSOCIATION COPYRIGHT. ; London, Feb. 26. The newspapers record brighter prospects for the mining trouble. There is a likelihood of the South Wales, Scotch, Durham and Northumberland owners falling into line with the Miners’ Federation and recognising a minimum wage. The papers comment on the fact that the four days’ negotiations have been wasted. It is explained that the executive of the Miners’ Federation told Mr. Asquith on Thursday that they were not empowered to confer until thej’ had consulted the national conference. A meeting was held on Saturday and Sunday to elect delegates to confer on Tuesday, when Mr. Asquith is expected to address the conference. The leading Derbyshire owner states that the last chance of averting a strike is for Mr. Asquith on Tuesday to ask the miners to postpone their notices and ask the owners to deal with abnormal places immediately, leaving the question cf a minimum wage to be negotiated afterwards. A movement against a strike has arisen amongst the Warwickshire miners, and another ballot will be taken this week. GERMAN MINERS UNSYMPATHETIC. ATTITUDE IN 1905 UNFORGOTTEN. Berlin, Feb. 26. Twenty meetings, representing 370,000 miners on the Ruhr coalfields, resolved that the increase in wages was insufficient to compensate for the increased cost of living. They authorised their leaders to take steps to secure the concessions demanded. The Christian Miners’ manifesto deprecates a sympathetic strike both on political and national grounds. The British miners by their ambiguous attitude in connection with the German strike of 1905 were not deserving of support. They seized every opportunity to capture markets by forcing the Germans io work short time when they lesumed. The Christian miners’ union number 83,000. SUPPLIES FOR FLEET PLENTIFUL. (Received 27. 11.25 a.m.) London, Feb. 26. Mr. Churchill has announced that there is sufficient, coal to make the Fleet independent of the strike for a long time.