MINERS TO FIGHT ON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19419, 30 August 1926, Page 9

MINERS TO FIGHT ON.

DEADLOCK IN BRITAIN. THREAT TO FLOOD FITS. ; STATE SUBSIDY SOUGHT. both sides unyielding. •MEN MEET AGAIN TO-DAY. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (■Received 7.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z.-Reuter. LONDON. Aug. 23. A meeting of the executive of the Miners' Federation is to bo held on Monday to consider the result of the interview with Ministers which took place on Thursday, and other matters. The executive will also meet Labour members of the House of Commons in view of Tuesday's debate in Parliament on the occasion of the renewal of the emergency regulations. The debate promises to be very

lively. The verbatim report of the conversations at Downing Street on Thursday shows that Mr. Herbert Smith, president of the Miners' Federation, said the miners were anxious to see what good offices the Government would render toward a solution of the deadlock; also what temporary financial help the Government would give. , Financial Aid Impossible.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Winston Churchill, replied that he estimated at tho beginning of the strike on May 1) that the country would lose 10 times as much as it had actually lost. The country had shown a most extra* ordinary power in carrying on. Coal was coming in freely at the rate of nearly 1,000,000 tons a week. Furthermore, there was a certain domestic output. They were undoubtedly in the position of carrying on the life of the country without difficulty. That was tho most remarkable, new fact. Mr. Smith: "We are riot here to make a petition but to secure an honourable settlement. Wo can carry the fight a bit further "We have been doing our utmost to avoid flooding tho pits, but after Mr. Churchill's speech we must fight on." Mr. Churchill replied that the Government was prepared to help toward a settlement but had only been asked for • a renewal of financial assistance. That was impossible. Owners' Terms Rejected. The Miners' Federation has issued a manifesto dealing with the situation which has arisen from the conferences recently held with the Mining Association, and the Government. This states that the federation was prepared to negotiate on the question of. wages but. it reveals the fact that the men are adamant on the questions of a seven-hours' day and a national agreement,; The manifesto says the representatives of the miners attended the meeting with the mineowners with a genuine desire and hope that the conference Might prepare the way for a reasonable settlement. Unfortunately the conditions laid down by the chairman of the association, Mr. Evan Williams, were such as to make a settlement impossible. Mr. Williams said the owners insisted on national negotiations and agreements being abandoned in future and on the miners agreeing to the working day being lengthened by one hour. Both these proposals had been condemned by the Coal Commission. Men Resolute and Unshaken. The manifesto proceeds:—"The federation is well aware of the owner*.' belief that the miners will eventually be forced to submit to any terms through the starvation of their families. It is also aware that the owners have been encouraged in this belief by the attitude and actions of the Government throughout this dispute. ('But the public must judge for themselves whether a settlement enforced by the starvation of women and children, and one by means of which the miner would bo deprived of the protection of his national trades union organisation, would be likely either to be lasting or conducive to future peace in the industry. "It is sufficient to point out that the spirit of the miners is far from being broken. It is resolute and unshaken. SMII Prepared to Negotiate. "At the same time the federation Is prepared to enter into negotiations on the question of wages. It deplores the fact that the owners have sabotaged discussion on that point by insisting upon proposals which were roundly condemned by the commission. "The federation is ready at any moment to discuss wages, either with the Government or with the owners, provided that they are satisfied that the reconstruction of tho industry on the lines recommended by the commission' will genuinely be taken in hand by the Government and the owners." HELP FOR STRIKERS. AMERICAN CONTRIBUTORS. SYMPATHETIC LABOUR BODIES. .(Received 5.5 p.m.) Renter. NEW YORK.- Aug. 28. Mr. Ben . Tillett, the British Labour leader, who is visiting America with a party of delegates on behalf of the British miners, announced at Cleveland, Ohio, to-day that 21 Railway and Labour organisations in the United States had pledged their full financial support of the "locked-out" miners, 3,000,000 of whom are unemployed in Britain. A sum of £200,000 is to be sent by these organisations to the British Miners' Federation.