THE COAL MINES BILL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17274, 25 September 1919, Page 6

THE COAL MINES BILL.

The importance of the Coal Mines Amendment Bill, introduced in the House of Representatives last evening, is out of all proportion to the length of the measure. It proposes remedies for practically all the economic ills which are now affecting the coal industry, and, while its treatment is simple and direct, there will be general agreement that the Bill deals justly with employers and employees. Responsibility for providing housing accommodation is placed upon the mine owners, the Minister remaining the judge of its suitability and of the terms and conditions on which it is made available for the men. Provision is made in the Mining Amendment Bill for State assistance to the extent of loans to mine-owners from the State Advances Department. In many isolated industries employers already erect houses for their workmen ; under the special conditions of coal mining the responsibility placed upon the owners appears to be a fair one, no less in the interest of the men than in the interest of the public, which is entitled to an assurance that every effort is made to attract sufficient labour for the proper working of mines. The same consideration for public interest has impelled the Minister to ask for power to waive, at his discretion, the conditions now '. attaching to the employment of miners. It is obviously desirable that all reasonable precautions should be taken to maintain a high standard of skill and experience among miners. It is equally obvious that if the standard becomes in j I practice so exacting as to prevent a sufficient supply of labour entering the mines it should be relaxed to the extent that is necessary to keep the industry "going. The power for which the Minister asks may have an important bearing upon "go slow" tactics. A small measure of nationalisation is introduced by the proposal to purchase or hire collieries to be run in conjunction with State mines, but no exception can be taken to a step which is a logical sequel to the national ownership of the mines themselves. Although it has no bearing on present difficulties, the provision that owners of coal-bearing lands may be compelled to work them or sell to the Government is fair and reasonable. The State cannot permit coal to be locked up at the whim of any individual, and the power sought is intended to meet the exceptional cases of landowners who are disposed neither to work their deposits nor to allow others to do so.