THE COAL CRISIS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVIII, Issue 18304, 14 January 1920, Page 6

THE COAL CRISIS.

that this is the warmSest season of the year, when domestic ■ttonsumptioa is down to a minimum, JjkW Zealand is Buffering from a very ((Critical shortage of coal. An article in jour news columns makes this clear, ano; L *bows how one of the effects is to cause W scarcity of cement, which in its turn jeriously interferes with the building abrade. Coal is, indeed, such a basio Commodity that a restriction of supplies

Imust quickly have bad influences in a Variety of directions, causing grave Economic injury to the whole of the /community. This is what the coal

hniiners of New Zealand are doing to-i-4ay. They are raising tho cost of living; they are hindering industry; they *re stopping building; they are hurt'fag, directly or indirectly, every class ,%x the community, 'but particularly tk*y "are injuring the working people, who ,oan least bear the pressure. "We put it ,' to tho miners or to any people who may Eave influence with them that it is te'gh time the "go-slow" tactic was 'abandoned in favour of honest work for Jxonest pay. "We do not propose in this •''(article to go into the question of the

■ (■wages and conditions governing the M | Bpal-mining industry. We have an idea t* the men are well paid—indeed, it fmay be that they could not otherwise ■fford the luxury of going slow—but, *lf*wever that may be, we challenge the

miners or their frienda to attempt to justify the "go-slow" policy; and if it cannot bo defended, openly and candidly, it should cease. There are ways and means of settling differences as to pay, hours, housing and so forth. There 39 the Arbitration Court. There is the conference. There is even the strike, whioh may be warranted when other measures are exhausted—though if tho right to strike be conceded the use of the lockout by employers must bo equally legitimate. But tho " go-slow " tactio is neither one thing nor the other; it is a sneaking subterfuge and a degrading practice. Yet this is the cause, of the principal cause, of the present serious shortage of coal, with all its consequential ill-effects upon the varied interests of the people. We have a suggestion to make in regard to this very serious subject, and we make it in sincere good faith and without prejudice. The Labour members of Parliament, it is understood, are to meet in Wellington to-morrow. These gentlemen have just been honoured with the confidence of their important constituencies. They have been elected as guardians of publio interests. We suggest that at their conference tho Labour members should take this matter of the "go-slow" policy in the coal mines into very careful consideration, with a view to using the weight of their influence in favour of ending this partial or camouflaged strike. By following our suggestion the Labour group could go far to vindicate tho professions of good faith which they uttered on the hustings and to justify the confidence of their supporters. We do not believe that 10 per cent of the people who voted for, say, Mr E. J. Howard and Mr D. G. Sullivan last month approve of tho tactics of the coal miners. We believe that nearly a hundred per cent of their supporters, and the supporters of other Labour members, would heartily endorse action on the lines w© advocate.