The New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, MAY 25, 1926. GOODWILL AND CAPACITY LACKING

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12455, 25 May 1926, Page 6

The New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, MAY 25, 1926. GOODWILL AND CAPACITY LACKING

It is significant that Mr Baldwin’s rebuke to the Mining Association is generally seconded by the English Press. The Prime Minister warned the owners in these terms: “You appear to show an inadequate appreciation both of the nature of the proposal and the gravity of the situation.” Above and beyond that, there is the pronouncement that the Government cannot hold open after the end of the month the offer of any further subsidy. Meantime, a million miners and their families are faced with the grim spectre of starvation. It is a tragic business, made all the more depressing because of the unbending attitude of the owners. They stand fast by the reversion to the eight-hour day. The men are equally firm in their refusal to work eight hours or to agree to a reduction in wages. The association’s gibe at “political interference” Hies wide of the mark. Mr Baldwin’s counterblast was demolishing. What was called political interference, he rejoined, had been due entirely to the incapacity, “now and again so conspicuous,” shown by the coal industry, “unlike other industries,” to settle its disputes for itself. That was well said. The miners have had to fight tooth and nail for the small gains in wages and working hours which were secured several years ago. It is admitted on all sides that the coal industry in the Mother Country is in a state of decline. Foreign and domestic consumption has decreased, and overhead costs have increased. From this distance it does seem that, under existing conditions, the mining and marketing of coal, except for a few, is unprofitable. Even so, the traditional policy of the owners has been in the main a provocative insistence on what they deem their needs as well as their rights. If income falls—well, let the deficiency be repaired by longer working hours or a cut in wages. Rarely, if ever, has the association displayed a conciliatory front to the miners’ representations. And to-day, with the Great Strike over, the owners maintain that uncompromising pose, despite the mediatory efforts of the Prime Minister. We are not excusing the men. They have been badly led, all too frequently, by their appointed chiefs. The industry is one not calculated to breed suave diplomatists; allowances must be made for that, too. The tabulated average of the weekly earnings of the men, as compiled by the ultra-conservative “Morning Post,” is another factor assisting to a better understanding of the miners’ case. The figures speak for themselves. It is a truism to say that reorganisation prompt and drastic is essential to the rejuvenation of the industry. So far as we know, the owners have made no serious effort to reorganise along modern economic lines. The methods of yesterday are those of to-day. Such an experiment as converting the coal into electricity or oil at the pit’s mouth is still to be tried. The Germans have profitably applied science to their coal industry; Britain plods along in the same old rut. Mr Baldwin is doing his best to ease a tangled situation. It is for the employers to do theirs. Thus far, they have not tackled the problem with the goodwill and capacity which might be expected of them.