HON. J. McGOWAN AT THE THAMES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11854, 4 January 1902, Page 3

HON. J. McGOWAN AT THE THAMES.

:■•■'/■;■;..' ;:;:;;|//'///"; : ; ; '■—- )/V';; : // ;^' -;/• i';'"/ DEPUTATION FROM MINERS' "'«■■.' UNION. ■ THE RECENT MINING AWARD. JUDGE COOPER'S REMOVAL ASKED FOR. REQUEST EMPHATICALLY REFUSED. ■ RECENT DISMISSALS FROM RAILWAY WORKS. [BY TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT?.] 1 ."'Thames, Friday. _ The Minister for Mines (the Hon. J. McGowan) was busy to-day in receiving private deputations '* and in attending to matters connected with the different Departments under his control. *»•• //ft This evening ' he received / a deputation from the committee of the Thames Miners' Union, consisting of the president (Mr. M. O'Keeffe) and Messrs. Hodge and Seymour, who brought under the notice of the Minister several matters affecting the district generally. The first matter touched • upon was the question of protection, the representatives of .the union considering that the companies were being unduly favoured in this respect. . Mr. O'Keeffe,-, who acted as spokesman, said that as £25,000 of public money was sunk in the . Thames Hauraki I Company, he would like to ask Mr. Mc- ] Gowan if it would be unreasonable to ask ] him to offer a further subsidy of £ for £ up to another £25,000 : to any company j for sinking the shaft to'a' depth of 1000 ft, ] as originally intended. ; Miners, tradesmen,.{ and everybody in the district considered | the Government should do something in the I matter. The dismissal of hands from the ] Paeroa-Waihi railway was next referred to j by Mi-. O'Keeffe, • who. asked for an expla- j nation for the recent ,- curtailment of work j on that line. Mr. O'Keeffe next referred I to the award given by Judge Cooper in ! the Arbitration Court 'in connection with i the recent miners' wages dispute, and asked I for the removal of that gentleman from the' presidency; of ; that Court. 4 - He /said the i miners of the peninsula had no confidence I whatever in Judge Cooper as president,!! and he considered that gentleman's pre- I vious connection with the various mining 1 companies prevented him from' judging impartially in cases of the kind referred to. Reference was made to the /lowering I of _ the minimum wage that -had previously existed at Coromandel and i Great Barrier. In conclusion, Mr. O'Keeffe brought up the question of Sunday labour in mines and batteries, and asked that the law should be more strictly enforced for prohibiting the same. , /..;; Mr. McGowan, , in reply, said that with reference to the question of Sunday labour in mines members of the deputation would recollect that not many years 1 ago Sunday labour was not only very frequent, but was in fact the usual thing, and it, was not until he himself brought the matter under the notice of the Government, on the representations of a Presbyterian missionary then residing at Waihi', that any change was made. An Act was then;put through the: House dealing comprehensively with the matter, and it was left to; the inspectors of mines to see that the provisions thereof were carried out fairly and impartially. So far as he knew ' there ? were very few '< infringements of the Act at the present time. /With regard to Mr. O'Keeffe's request for the removal of Mr. Justice Cooper from the presidency of the Arbitration Court, he might say at once that he; was very sorry to hear the president of the Miners' Union making the remarks- he had in this connection, because he himself did not consider they were justified in tht slightest degree. He (the Minister) had no intention whatever of removing Mr." Justice Cooper. ; He had a higher opinion o'f that gentleman than that expressed by Mr. O'Keeffe, and could not give any encouragement : to the views the latter had expressed. He considered that in his decisions the judge was. governed by the highest motives, for he was one of; the most experienced lawyers in New Zealand, and. was held in universal respect,> both by members of the profession and by the public generally; If there was one thing that should be , kept free from political influence it was the judiciary of the colony. With reference to goldfields roads and tracks' he might say that he had come specially to the district to see what was the condition of' affairs in connection with this matter. In the ordinary way votes under the r Mines Department were usually expended by the county council, but at the present time it was the intention to see that the money was spent in those portions of the district where employment was most required. I With regard to the question of the dismissal j of hands from the Paeroa-Waihi railway works, the position would probably bo clearly understood when he stated that if [ the expenditure were carried on at the rate obtaining prior to the curtailment of works, the result would have been that, instead of a moderate number of hands being retained until the end of ; the financial year, all those employed on construction would have had to be dismissed in a comparatively short time. The vote for this work had already been expended, and it was only by judicious management that it could be carried on until the end of March. Personally, he was fully aware that this railway was an important one, and would give handsome returns when completed. . He had urged this upon his colleague, the Minister for Public Works, and it was perhaps paring to the latter's anxiety to employ as many men as ' possible in order to complete the work that the Vote had been • spent at such a rapid > rate. Of course, it must be remembered that there ' were 16 votes for railways in different parts of the colony, and the .people interested in each of these were all inclined to forget that the others were of equal importance to their own. The present Goi vernment had been : doing what had been seldom done under previous . Administrations. They had been carrying ■ on their railways for it number of years without negotiating any ; large loans, and he considered that this was the safest and best way of carrying on such works, v He was in hopes that the Minister for Public Works would be able to employ a larger number of men after the holidays. With regard to the complaint that the North Island did not receive fair treatment as compared •with the South, he considered that the people in the North had : no reason; to grumble, as they received their full share of public expenditure. Referring to ; Mr.. O'Keeffe's remarks as to the duty he ; owed to the Thames district, because of his long residence therein, he wished them to understand that as a Minister of the Crown it was his duty to deal fairly - with all parts; of the colony, and he intended to/do so as... long as be retained his position in the Ministry. He defied any man to say that his own district had not received a fair share of expenditure on roads and bridges, /but he could not make any special distinction ; in favour of any part of the colony, even though it happened to be the place in which his own interest had been bound up for so many years. /If ho were to go out of the J Governemnt to-morrow it could not be said that he need be ashamed .of the'way' in I which lie had distributed the votes ; under his control.; The next question touched upon by the Minister was the position with regard to the Thames Hauraki Company./ Ho said he was just as anxious as anyone to bring matters to a satisfactory conclusion. Members of; the deputation -would probably recollect 'the' difficulty 'that;had been:experienced in deciding as to the site on which the pumping plant should be erected. As I an old resident of : the Thames he had called meetings of mine managers and miners in 1 the Borough Council Chambers to settle the : matter, so ;that; there; should be no grumbling, thereafter as to the site upon -which the • shaft was; sunk, ; and finally the present /-site* / was; decided upon, there - being only one r or //two A-. dissentients. \ Thi.-. matter being settled, /the Government agreed to grant the ; sum /of £25,000 towards the .work. -As they were. ; aw are, the company had so ;; expended over £158,000 of ;its own money,' and ha ; was sure ■■ that ; no reasonable miner would ask him to confiscate that, property at once, without giving; the company an : op-

portunity to make some arrangement for continuing the r work. With , regard ■" to the ' question of the Government .. sorting gold mining, :he Was ' afraid they would not enter into such ft speculation even if he ■ were in : favour of it,*- and he ..was doubtful whether it would be wise to do so. Deal- ? ing with the question of protection, the Minister asked Mr. O'Keeffe to. give him a* list of : the claims; that: would; not ■- let ; tributes. /'.' If ■ he would obtain ■ this ;.':.'informa-t | ; lion he (the Minister) would make;full inquiry, because he wanted to see justice done; to/ the miners, ', although , at the same time he did. not . wish 4 to do '■ any ;' injustice ■ i to;' owners ;of properties. . He , wanted -. to * prevent ground from being- held ■■ for absolutely* speculative purposes without anything being done' to man it. Mr. McGowan commented /oh/ the fact that he had re- '■- • ceived : a recommendation from the Miners' Union on behalf of Mr. Walker's application '; for an area, of 640 acres, in spite of the fact that they were now asking that protection should not be granted ,in other; cases. .■ ■ Mr, O'Keeffe said- in reply that although; this recommendation; was • forwarded by order of .' the ; majority of, the union's com-: mittee, he , himself had always opposed < the \ scheme. Mr. Walker had written him a letter asking';.him to; simplify matters ;by speaking to the ; Minister for Mines, blithe had refused to do so. Mr. McGowan said with regard to the Warden allowing companies to work with ■ a reduced number of men, ;he" (the Minis--ter) thought that when ground : was-worked; in that; way it should be worked by-wages men, and he might say in conclusion; that;' if they would-give/him-the names of those i companies that were holding/ ground' and: not paying any. drainage contribution, that• had got : protection /arid were not willing ' j to throw their ground 'open for ; tribute, he; , would make;. careful ; inquiry, and ; see if i matters could not be to some extent unproved. '"''■■ ; The deputation ; then ;; thanked; the Minisd ter ; for nisi courteous i reception, and,re-/ I tired. ;-/./; J Captain Shand, of No. 1 Thames Rifles, J waited on ; the Minister and asked, on* behalf of the .Thames volunteers, /that some | provision should be made for the supply i of the improved form of. targets on• the 5 Parawai rifle range, this ; being /necessary j before the; companies .; could obtain any ; j capitation for 'volley-firing. He pointed a out that the; staff officer of the/Auckland: I battalion had,- stated; distmctly that he' I would not allow them to carry, / out their I volley-firing ;' on the old targets, as they t were dangerous. He asked if it would be j possible to obtain a-- grant to assist them J in erecting targets ■ in accordance with the 3 regulations. ' 1 Mr. '• McGowan promised to represent the I matter to the Minister for Defence. '; i v. Mr McGowan > this evening intimated: I that ■■■■ he did not • propose 'to ; deliver any i public ; address; during '.";•' his ; present - visit I but that he/would probably do so on his * return to the' district in March or April 1 next. -. •'.'-■ ■ ■ ■• l :;-._/: 7=== ■~':;■-.