THE GORE MEETING RE THE GOLD MINING INDUSTRY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13675, 18 August 1906, Page 7

THE GORE MEETING RE THE GOLD MINING INDUSTRY.

TO THE EDITOE. Sir,—My attention has been called to the Gore meeting of dredge-owners, reportedill your paper of tlio 30tli ult., and if the report is correct I am afraid Mr Scott lias b*cu speaking through lib neck. Mr Scott is reported It) have said that at List. genera! election a great many ■ members wero pledged to unconditional preference. This is news to mc. lor many years unionists have been battling for preference wider reasonable conditions; but that a. great many members wero raturncd 1 pledged to "•unconditional" preference is, to say the least, startling. I do not think it is likely there- will bo many members in the House for the next 20 years who will vote unconditional pTcfer-euec. It is merely an easterly howl at the moon. Thou Mr Scott goes onto say that under unconditional preference the union secretary woukl bo top dog. If' wo were to meet employers- on a small farm or in a. 12ft ring there might -bo a, top dog, but in a country like-New Zealand, where there is an Arbitration Court, it is surely very improper to speak of either party being top dog, else where, is the use of the" court? Then Mr Scott tells his hearers that the dredgemen cancelled their award. Now if there is no award in force to-day, there has l»en no award- in force for the last three years and l seven months. Wo changed our name on the -advice and suggestion of no Jess an authority than 11 r Justice Cooper, and we are going to back lain' against" any legal opinion in tSio possession of "Mr Scott. A few months ago a. somewhat similar statement appeared in the Olajjo Witness to the- effect that our proceedings in the effort to obtain a new award were null ajid void, because the oldi award was dead. We have proved conclusively that the statement referred -to wad rot, pure and utter, absolutely untenable, laving no legal basis whatever. Time, after time- persons have come- up from Dunediu telling us we had cancelled our award, and that our union was dead. Did Mr Scott go down to Gore, pleading with the dredge-owners there --to " staml t-houlder to shoulder" with him and bis gausr, for tbn purpose of fighting a ghost? I think not, judging from the war-paint and preparations. Then we are told Mr Scott's association wa« preparing- "counter jirouosals."Will Mr Scott kindly say under what section of tho act he obtains authority to dangle his precious counter proposals bofor* the Arbitration Court? Then the simpleminded dredge-owners oE Gore wero told that tho workers had put in a demand to shorten the hours and increase tho wages* Does Mr Scott wish it to be inferred that we are asking [or a six-hours' shift? IE not, whaj. does ho mean? Ho cannot know much about our so-called domajida when clearly he has never read them. He must either swallow this or admit having made an ahsolutely false statement. We are not a?king for shorter hours. Whyi didn't he read the demands to tho meeting? —I am, etc., J. H. Davidson, Secretary Olago and Southland Gold Miners' Union.