MINING MACHINES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22355, 28 February 1936, Page 13

MINING MACHINES

USE IN WAIKATO AGREEMENT ESSENTIAL ATTITUDE OF MINISTER [by telegraph —OWN correspondent] HUNTLY. Thursday Reference to the use in the Waikato coal mines of machines for cutting out pillars, which were the cause of a recent dispute, was made by the Minister of Mines, Mr. Webb, in the course of a speech at a banquet given in his honour at Huntly to-night. Mr. Webb said the machines should be welcomed and should be made the slaves of the men, but the Government did not want the machines used in such a way as to endanger the safety of the men. Safety depended on good hearing, and if the men could not hear "creeps" in pdlars because of the machines, the machines would have to be removed. Notwithstanding the opinions of the inspectors, machines would only be allowed in cases where the managers and the men agreed that their use was safe. If necessary, he would have legislation brought down to enforce his views on this matter. To the men, he would say that if they did not want the machines because they could make more money without them, then they were not the men he knew 20 or 30 years ago. He had no use for men who would use the cry of "safety first" to make more money. Mr. Webb said he had met the companies' representatives and had found them to be appreciative of the position regarding the use of machines. Mr. Peter Hunter, manager of the Glen Afton Collieries, assured the Minister that there was no comparison between the mines of the South Island and those in the Waikato, the latter being much safer and easy to work. The owners and managers were as much concerned about the safety of the men as the Minister himself. Mr. Hunter also pointed out that the number of casualties in the Waikato mines had been very small.