THE MINERS'STRIKE

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15025, 21 June 1912, Page 8

THE MINERS'STRIKE

MEN LEAVING WAIHI MONEY COMING IN SLOWLY ENFORCING UNION LAWS ALL DESERTERS FINED. MAN EXCLUDED FROMUNION MEETINGS. TOR TALKING TO A WINDER [BY TKLEGRAI'ir. —OWN' correspondent.] Waihi, Thursday. The Waihi dispute being no nearer a settlement to-day than when the strike was declared the exodus has again set in, and as clearances are now being indiscriminately issued by the Strike Committee, a ■ number of miners have announced their intention of seeking fresh fields. Possibly "many of them would prefer to remain if an assurance could be given that the strike fund would meet what is required of it; but the money is coming in so slowly at present that a curtailment of the rate of pay promised by the committee seems certain. According to reports circulated today, it l is expected that a reduction will be made on Saturday unless substantial cheques come from outside unions meanwhile, and there is not much time to spare. The Workers and Arbitration. The opinion recently expressed by certain of the anti-strikers, that a conference between representatives of the mineowners and the workers, under an independent chairman, would be more acceptable in arranging an industrial agreement than reference of the dispute to tho Arbitration Court is shared by a large number of the men. The owners would be quite prepared to adopt this course, as may be gathered from a statement made by Sir. H. P. Barry, superintendent of the Waihi • Gold Mining Company, to-day. He made it clear that it was not necessary that the dispute should go before the Court, . and that a satisfactory agreement could be arranged between the union and tho owners at a " round-the-table conference,". ' conditionally upon the agreement reached being ratified by the Arbitration Court ' and tho union concerned being a registered union under the Act. The Adjourned Mass Meeting. The mass meeting; adjourned from yes- • terday was continued this morning, Mr. W. McLennan (vice-president of tho union) presiding over an attendance of ' 300 to 400 members. The chairman sub- ' mitted a recommendation from the Strike Committee to the effect that the union should purchase from wholesale merchants , in Auckland stores to the value of £100, to be resold to members at rates below those charged by local retailers. The idea was to issue coupons to the strikers, corresponding to the amounts to be paid out i to them, this enabling them to procure such stores as they required should they not require goods to the full amount set forth on the coupons, the balance could be 5 paid them hrcash. inferred that.by _ the adoption of this system £100 would go as far as £200 expended in the ordinary • way. This meant, presumably, that the Strike Committee are under the impression - that the retailers of = Waihi are clearing 9 something like 100 per cent, on their com- . modities. A motion endorsing the proposal was carr!fcd after the rejection by the k chairman of an amendment (evidently t ironically submitted), "That the union should proceed to take lessons in . j economics." Mr. McLennan closed the supplies question with the remark that the course agreed upon was the forerunner of the establishment in Waihi of a big cooperative concern. A Man Who Spoke to His Brother-in-law. _ A discussion followed concerning the attitude of two members of the union, against whom breaches of faith were alleged. One was accused of the grave offence of having discussed union matters with the officials of the mining companies. The delinquent was reprimanded]! and in the course of. the , admonition the gravity of the crime was enlarged upon. The second offender had, according to the charge preferred, been 1 guilty of a still more serious offence, in i that he bad been seen to associate and { hold converse with a member of the "scab" , union (presumably the Engine-drivers' Union).- His defence was that the mem- • ber of the "'scab" union was his brother-in-law, and he had the audacity to inform > the tribunal before which he had been haled that he would continue to associate : with the "scab" unionist just so long as ho saw fit. Some of those present were, ' in view of the explanation, inclined to dis- ' miss the charge without prejudice, holding that they were not justified in interfering , with the private affairs of members; but a ■ motion to this effect was defeated, and it was decided that the offender should not be permitted to attend meetings of the ■ union until the trouble is over. Accompanied by another union member who happened to have the misfortune to : be a brother of an engine-driver belonging to the new union, the guilty man then retired from the meeting. Government Loans. The Chairman next informed the meeting that the authorities of the Government Advances to Workers Department were pressing those who had borrowed money from the Department for building purposes for payment of instalments. The accuracy of the statement was challenged by a mortgagor, who informed the meeting that ho was in receipt of a communication from the Department, in which it wsjs intimated that the Department would , not bring pressure to bear while the . trouble was on. The chairman then ex- , plained that the person who had spoken to him on the subject was in arrears with his payments before the strike. Tho business concluded with the adop- > tion of a resolution inflicting a fine of , £1 per head on members leaving the district without obtaining permits from the Strike Committee. Federation Leaders Gone. 9 a. The last of the federation delegates, e E e T- s E P ?7 and P. Eraser, loft Waihi this morning, with the object of delivering addresses in other centres relative to the Waihi dispute, and collecting funds for the strikers. ! Mr. W. T. Mills is expected in Waihi on Saturday, and will lecture here on Rnndav evening, WAIHI CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY. Ie >f DECISION TO WIND-UP. ' In common with other retail concerns in Waihi, the new Waihi Co-opera- ; tive Society (purveyors of foodstuffs) has been seriously affected by the strike, and i a meeting of shareholders decided almost unanimously to wind the business up voluntarily. / The ' balance-sheet submitted showed an ■v. excess of asset® , over liabilities amounting to Sim (exclusive of book debts), I; which means'that with » speedy winding- » ap the shareholders would receive back •! their - invested capital, plus a bonus or dividend of about . 20s per fully paid-up 431 share- The turnover 1 , which for the i ; 12 month® •: prior to May 1 w»* iJISO per I week, has recently fallen :■ off. by ; close j upon 60 per cent., . and is going back toj L-V-.:. - lli •Hi•» ... -. '>: , ;>•:! -ir-w j;;s vV

[ the extent of £5 per week. The -windingup resolution will be put before a special I meeting for confirmation alter tho expiraI tion of the statutory term of 14 days. | • - ! THE WINDERS' UNION. | A STATEMENT DENIED. j Tho Engine-drivers' Union gives a denial, as follows, to a statement, made bv Mr. Parry : —"We wish emphatically to deny the statement made by Mr. Parry, at a recent meeting of the Miners Union, that an official or officials of the company interviewed one of the drivers at In o. o shaft of the Waihi mine, m regard to the formation of the Engine-drivers' Union. No official or ofticals ever intimated to either of the drivers at No. 6 then* intention of supporting the Engine-drivers Union or of fighting the Miners Union to the bitter end. We deem it only fair to tho public that we should refute such erroneous etatements, as if we did not do so the opinions formed _ would be ,veiy one-sided and misleading." DELEGATION TO HtJNTLY. WAIKATO MINERS* LEVY. Messrs. W. E. Parry (president of the Waihi Miners' Union)' and P. Fraser (a member of the federation executive) visited Himtly yesterday afternoon. They were met bv the president and the secretary of the Waikato Miners' Union. Though the men Working in tho Huntly mines have cancelled their registration under the Arbitration Act, their conditions are still determined by an agreement(registered under the Act) which has 12 months to run. There is no sign of disaffection among the men. and it is believed that any proposal that they should increase their support of the Waihi strikers beyond the five per cent, levy already decided upon would be received with very scant approval. Causes outside the mines have resulted in a good deal of broken time lately, and the men are definitely a verso to "the .suggestion that they might'" down tools" in sympathy with the Waihi miners. ' THE CALL FOR TEN PER CENT. SEAMEN DECLINE TO PAY. tllY TELEGRAPH. — ASSOCIATION.] Wellington, Thursday. The Wellington Seamen's Union discussed a proposal to vote a sum of money for the assistance of the Waihi strikers, but it was defeated by a substantial majority. A MITE FROM GREYMOUTH. [nv TELEGRAPH.PRESS ASSOCIATION*.] Gretuouth, Thursday. A meeting of the Grey mouth waterside workers decided to levy on single men 2s and married men Is weekly to assist the wives and families, of the unemployed at Reef ton. THE POSITION AT REEFTON. MEN WILL NOT GIVE WAY. [by TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION'.] • Rekftox, Thursday. Sir A. Guinness visited Reefton to-day, and was interviewed on the subject of the labour trouble by the Citizens' Committee, and by the secretary of the Miners' Union. .The meetings had no result except to show that the men are determined not to give way on the questions of stoping by contract, or the working of the " popper " drill single-handed. FEDERATION OF LABOUR. WHERE THE MONEY GOES INCOME AND EXPENDITURE. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN' CORRESPONDENT.] 5 Wellington, Thursday. Some interesting items of information are embodied in a balance-sheet of the Federation of Labour which was presented at the opening of the conference recently held in Wellington. The document deals with the financial operations of the federation from September 1, 1911, to May 10, 1912, a period of eight months and ten days. The total expenditure for the period is shown as £2427, On September-1, 1911, the federation had a credit balance oi £501; at May 10, 1912, the amount at credit was £431. The following is the full text of the expenditure side of the balancesheet : — Organiser: Salary. September 25 to May 18, £152; travelling allowance, £62; travelling expenses, £24 3s. Total, £238 3s. Salaries: President, £15; secretary, £35 10s; treasurer, £7 10s. Total £60; also attorney's retaining fee, £75. Investments in Maorilawl Worker: Federation funds, £500; unions, £380; levies, £482 163 6d. Total, £1362 16s 6d. Deputations: J. Glover, to Wellington) £11 7s; P. C. Webb, to Westport, £10; J. Jones, to Whangarei, £1 P. Fraser, tc Auckland, £16 8s; W. E. Parry, to Auckland, £14 18s; H. T. Armstrong, to Reefton, £4 18s ; it Finch, to Paparoa, £4 10s; J. Dowgray, to Puponga, £21165; J. Dowgray, to Westport, £2 12s; J. Dowgrav, tc Westport, £8 8s Id; J. Dowgray, to Westport, £6 16g 9d; P. C. Webb, to W.W.A., £34 12s 6d; W. E. Parry, to Auckland, £32 17s 6d; J. Fulton, to Auckland, £3 18s 6d; secretary's travelling expenses. £12 2s 6d. Total, £187 4s 9d. P. C. Webb, 14 weeks' organising, £56; travelling expenses, £10 0s sd. Total, £66 0s sd. Printing, £57 Is; expenses H. Scott Bennett's tour, £94 12s 9d; executive meeting, £106 7s; sundries, £14 14s 9d; executive and officers' telegrams, £23 14s 9d; secretary's petty cash, £31 5s 2d; R. Semple, to Australia, £110 16s. From the receipts side of the balancesheet it appears that 44 unions are affiliated to the federation. The principal groups are miners' unions 17 and waterside workers 10. The New Zealand shearers are affiliated as a federation. Tho following summarised statement of receipts appears on the balance-sheet: Contributions to federation, £1139 Is 6d; individual members, £1; Maoriland Workei levies, £482 16s 6d ; call at Bennett's meeting, £47 6s 4d ; Paparoa levies, £204 13s 6d; donations to delegates to Newcastle, £103 10s lOd; capital from unions, £380.