THE CRISIS IN BRITAIN.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15862, 27 February 1912, Page 6

THE CRISIS IN BRITAIN.

The delay in securing a-settlement of the coal trade dispute in Britain has produced a very dangerous situation. The notices that the miners have served upon their employers will expire on Thursday and unless the counsels of moderation have prevailed before the close of that day tho industries of Britain will ho attacked at their most vulnerable point. The supply of coal will cease, trade.of every kind will ho disorganised, hundreds of thousands of men will be rendered idle and a direct incentive will bo given to disorders of a very serious kind. The action that has been taken by the Imperial Government and the conference of mayors in London show that tho importance of averting a crisis is fully realised by the authorities. The representatives of the workers will make their final decision after a conference on Thursday, and there seems to be very nttio chance that they will modify their demands. Indeed the minimum wages that are being asked by the various colliery districts are in no case excessive, and the mine-owners themselves would scarcely argue that a miner who undertakes cruelly heavy labour in the bowels of the earth does not earn -7s 9d a day. The contention of the employers is the old one that the fixing of a minimum wage will produce a reduction of output, since there will bo no longer an incentive to each miner to put forth his best efforts. The same objection was urged in New Zealand, and we are still told occasionally, perhaps with a certain amount of truth, that the man whose earnings are fixed by statute is apt to work leisurely. But of course the employer has the remedy' in his own hands. He can offer his employees some special inducement to effort beyond tho living wage which is the duo of every honest worker.. This view of the situation may not appeal to the British coal-owners, but it seems to give the only hope of a stable adjustment of industrial conditions in the mining industry. The miners are determined and are fortified by" a sense of injustice. Even if they are defeated in the present struggle they will simply wait an opportunity to renew the battle in the assurance that ultimately they must win the day.