THE BROKEN HILL MINING TROUBLE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10041, 8 January 1909, Page 1

THE BROKEN HILL MINING TROUBLE.

[Br ElectiHc Teibgbafh.—Cofyihght.]

(Pes Pbess Association.) Received January 8, at 9.66 a.m. Sydney, January 8. The Labor Council Jhave.decided to issue a circular appealing for immediate help from all unions for the financial support of the, Barrier miners. The point taken is that the adoption of the resolution was in. defiance of the law. Some of the speakers urged that the Council should ' seize the chance of defying 6uch a law. Yesterday was a quiet day at Barrier. THe pickets, acting on the advice of the leader, show greater caution. The siege of the Proprietary Mine is closely maintained. The men are very determined and are confident of victory. A train arrived early this morning with .1 iuindred additional police, but K. demonstration was made.

A meeting of the Proprietary directors discussed the question of submitting the dispute to the Arbitration Court. It was subsequently announced that a communication had been sent (o the President of the Court, but the nature of the contents has not been disclosed. The directors also decided to offer a reward of i) 500 for information leading to the conviction of the persons who attacked the members of the mining staff of the local office.

INTERVIEW WITH THE REV. C. E. SCHAFER. The Rev. C. E. Schafer, Methodist minister, of Broken Hill, is at present visiting Oamaru investigating the nolicense movement oil bo'lialf of the Broken Hill Temperance Alliance. Spealdrig with a Mail reporter, on the subject of the strike, Mr Schafer said:— "Two years ago the combined unions and the 'Mine Managers' Association entered into an agreement, which expired on the 31st December last. The rate of wages agreed upon at the conference was 8s 7£d per shift for truckers and.surface hands. About six weeks ago a conference was held between delegates from the combined unions and the mine managers. After this conference the Proprietary Mine withdrew from further negotiations with the men. This mine employs 3000 men, which is more than all the other mines put together. The Broken Hill South Mine, ihd Mentral Mine, the Junction North Mine, the South Blocks Mine, and Zinc Corporation were willing- to pay the same rates of wages, viz., 8s 7£d. The Proprietary Mine then posted a notice oil the mine that from the 4th of January the wages of the truckers and surface hands would be 7s 6d, which is the cause of the trouble. The Proprietary Mine then published in the Press that they would help the men all they could in stating' a ease ,for the Arbitration Court, that they would keep' a record of every man employed on the mine, ana* whatever the decision of the Arbitration CoUTt was they would pay. For example, they were to start work at 7s 6d on the 4th January, and if the Arbitration Court met say in February and decided the wages should be 10s per shift, or 8s 7£d, the mine undertook to pay it, which amongst commercial men both in South Australia and New South Wales was considered a fair offer, as the financial position, of the mine does not warrant the old scale of wages being paid with the present price of metals, and the increased tariff on mining requisites, On. the other hand, 1 consider that economy should be first started at the head;, as there arc a large number of highly paid officials connected with the mine. Had this been done it would have pacified the men. I consider that _7s 6d per day as not a living wage, owing to the high cost of living. Wood is 31s per ton weight, and water 5s per 1000 gallons, and 2s od per 100 gallons if carted. Rents are also very 'high, a three-roomed tin house being 9s per week. The conditions of life. at Broken Hill aro very severe. Some days it is impossible to see across the streets for dust, and the. thermometer is considerably over 100 in the shade during the summer months. The population of Broken Hill is 35,000.

"In my judgment, the combined unions made a huge blunder in securing the services of Mr Tom Mann as their leader. •He is being paid £6 per week and expenses, afid what those expenses amount to only a select fe'w know. Before leaving Broken Hill I counselled tlie men to exhaust every possible means of settlement before taking the extreme step of striking. For this piece of advice, Tom Mann termed me 'a traitor to trades unionism.' I attacked Tom Mann in the presence of 6000 men, and pointed out to them that he was one of the greatest enemies the genuine worker ever had, as he wanted a strike at all costs, irrespective of the great suffering it would cause. Had the men secured the services of one of their members of Parliament the whole trouble might have been averted. "In the Amalgamated Miners' Association there are 6000 members, and amongst them some of the finest types of men that could be met on any mining field. I was stationed in Broken Hill during the great strike of 1892, when the nien were so •cruelly misled by their unprincipled leaders, Messrs Sleath and Fergusson. Oiice again the men are being misled by the same class of leader, Tom Mann, who is seeking to get into Parliament as Broken Hill's representative. Probably he will be arrested before long and will afterwards pose as a martyr and put forward his claims to a, position in Parliament. Of realising this goal, I consider Tom Mann has no hope. It is hardly necessary to point out that as long as the strike lasts Tom Mann's salary, which is larger than any miner on the field earns, continues. The miners average from 12s to 13s per shift contract work, and the trouble is not over their wages. "In my judgment, the Proprietary Mine will win, as the financial position it is able to place before the Arbitration Court will plainly show that it cannot pay the old rate of wages. Arbitration Courts are satisfactory as long as they keep advancing the wages; but when the time comies to reduce wages it is considered to 'have outlived its usefulness.

"A quantity of dynamite was stolen from the depot for explosives just prior to my leaving Broken Hill, and so far has not yet been traced.. The blowing up of the line and the preventing of provisions being taken to the Proprietary Mine officials, who are all residing on the mine during the strike will considerably lessen the sympathy that would otherwise be manifested towards the men, and as most of Tom Mann's speeches are inflammatory it will be easily seen who is the 'power behind the throne.' "At the last election at Broken Hill, when the no-license vote was taken, I addressed in the open air 3000-men for nine nights in succession, and 7000 men on the Sunday afternoon. Most of the leaders of the men are personally known to me. , In Broken Hill there are what is known as the Revolutionary Socialists. Tom Mann is their leader. All tho members wear red ties, and are known as the Red Tie Brigade. Tlhey have a Socialistic Sunday School, _ and, teach that the only thing to do with a bad law is to bTeak it, and for weeks whilst this trouble has been brewing they have advocated that men should steal rather than Ktarve, whilst in conversation they stated they would blow up the line to prevent extra police arriving there. "In the Proprietary Mine a fire has been raging for some two or three years, and it requires at least 100 men to keep it from spreading. It is all walled up and -water js continually playing upon it. This explains why all the officials are residing on tne mine, and consequently require provisions. By cutting the rails the men evidently think that they will starve the officials out. Mr Worsley, the official who was wounded in the not last Monday, is a very inoffensive man, and the treatment of him will also lessen the sympathy of the men." .

Mr Schafer thiaks that the appeal for support to the various unions wul not be largely responded to, as the Labor members on. the floor ot the House disowned Tom Mann, and stated that he was not a member of their party. That being so, support -will not bo 60 readily forthcoming. _^