THE COAL DEADLOCK

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18280, 24 June 1921, Page 8

THE COAL DEADLOCK

“A POLITICAL OBJECT.” MINERS’ BLOW AT THE COUNTRY. (From Odb Own Cobbespondbnt.) LONDON, May 2. Messages from all parts cf the country reveal that the prolongation of the coal strike is having a paralysing effect on industry. In many cases where it is possible to store coal some preparation had been made to meet the possible coal strike, but these accumulating stocks arc fast dwindling, and employers have no option but .to close their works. In other industries, such as iron smelting, which simply eat up coal, generally straight from the railway wagons, the stoppage came very soon after the strike was declared, but now it is becoming general, and the number of unemployed, is being added to every week by scores of thousands. MEN BEING ADVISED TO HOLD OUT. During the week-end meetings of local councils of tho Miners’ Federation have been held in many parts of the country. Tho delegates who have returned from the conferences in London are advising the men to hold out, and council resolutions to this effect are being passed. But in tho absence of a ballot of the rank and file on the new Government offer, these resolutions cannot be taken as representing the general opinion, but can only be recorded for what they are —tho opinions of local leaders. FOOL OR NO POOL. A mass meeting of several thousand Methyr miners listened to a critical report by the district agent, Mr Noah Ablett, member of the Federation Executive, on the coal parleys. He said the question on which they were fighting- was pool or no pool. A national pool was essential, and lie advocated an undiminished attitude of firmness on the question, the issue of which meant life or death, salvation or damnation, for the miners. The rejected Govern,meut terms would, he said, incidentally have produced idleness for 60,000 to 90,C00 miners in South Wales as a consequence of various trade circumstances. POINTS IN DISPUTE. , One significant fact emerges from the deadlock. After several days’ discussion at the Board of Trade as to the extent of the wage reduction, and after receiving the offer of 10 million sterling -from the Government in the form of a grant, the miners rejected the peace proposals on the ground that they did not concede the principles of a national pool and a national wages board. As the discussions continued during the week, attention centred mainly on a “fiat” rate reduction, and the question of a national pool was thought to have receded into the background. It has now appeared as one of the objects of the continuance of the stoppage. In order to put the industry on an economic basis a reduction of 5s 4£d a shift in wages was necessary. Towards this the miners offered to accept a uniform reduction of 2s a shift, with proportionate reductions to youths and boys. They demanded that the industry should be treated as a single unit, with a board of employers and workers’ representatives to regulate wages and profits. The owners were opposed to the miners’ scheme, and were ready to agree to a division of the coalfields into six ardas. They were also prepared to forego all profits during a transition period until the industry became self-supporting. The Government offered £10,000,000 to subsidise wages until the end of August, and suggested the following wage scheme: May, maximum reduction 3s a shift; June, maximum reduction 3s 6d a shift; July, two thirds of the available balance of the subsidy to increase wages in the poorer districts; August, the remainder of the subsidy to be similarly ’ applied. The Government made it a condition of their offer that a settlement should be made to last for at least a year. SHARING COAL STOCKS. The proposals for the institution of an extra hour of daylight and a curfew are still under consideration, and if the stoppage lasts much longer the public must resign itself to considerable curtailments of its rights and privileges. Among the measures taken for tho conservation of coal supplies is the notification of metropolitan authorities not to grant permits for the acquirement of supplies for domestic purEosos; except in cases of serious hardship, arge quantities of coal have been released by industrial concerns tor household consumption, and there is a renewal of the appeal to householders with large stocks to share them, on terms, with their less fortunate neighbours. It is also urged that in order to economise fuel private persons should got some of their cooking done by bakehouses and restaurant-keepers, who are obliged to keep their ovens in full use. The King has set an example by giving 50 tons of coal for distribution from the Buckingham Palace cellars. THE REAL CAUSE OF THE STOPPAGE. Sir Robert Horne made several strong points in the House. He thought the Government had made “a very generous offer” to provide assistance 'to the extent of £IO,OCO,OCO, which many other struggling industries would b© only too glad to accept, that negotiations were at an end, and that the stoppage was being continued, because recognition had not been granted to “tho fundamental principle of some national arrangement whereby tho stronger districts should subsidise the weaker.” In his closing sentence the Chancellor of the Exchequer. declared that the object of the continuance of the stoppage was now “disclosed to bo a political object,” as opposed, of course, to a more question of wages. This drew protesting cries of “No”, ■ and “Nonsense” from the. Labour benches, and approving cheers from the Ministerialists. Sir Robert Horne’s tone concealed neither his disappointment nor his censure. He spoke as one who evidently felt very strongly that-this “great misery” was being wantonly continued. Sir Robert said:—“The Government has struggled very hard, to reach terms which might be agreeable to both parties, and I think, when the matter is considered, it will be agreed that we made to the miners a generous offer, looking at the conditions of the country at the present time. Wo offered to provide assistance to the extent of £10,006,000 in order to assist the wage fund to be distributed among the miners over the next four months, a sum which, Tam sure, would give great relief to many another struggling industry 'at the the present time —(“Hear, hear.’ )—which sees a very large body of its people not only not getting reduced wages, but not getting any employment at all. Wo have now been informed as to which is the real reason for the continuance of the stoppage. It has been made clear enough from time to time, but now the disclosure is certainly complete. The stoppage is being continued because recognition has not been granted to the fundamental principle for which the miners have persisted in their refusal to give their work in tho mines. It is the principle of some national arrangement whereby the weaker districts shall be subsidised ’by the stronger districts in the coalfields. 1 say nothing about either the practicability of such a plan or its correctness in theory at the present time. That, no doubt, would be a matter for considerable debate, but at, any rate we know that this is the matter in issue and which keeps this stoppage in operation. “As to the iuturej one cannot really make any useful prediction. One can only hope that a stoppage which is bringing great misery upon the whole country, and upon the miners themselves, which is now disclosed to bo for a political object—(Labour cries of “No, no,” and “Nonsense!”), —for a political object requiring legislation, may very soon be brought to an end.” DISAPPOINTED MINERS. Reports reach London which bear testimony to a growing feeling in the coalfields that the- miners should have had an opportunity of voting upon the offer which was rejected by the Delegate Conference bn Thursday night. In South Yorkshire there is a strong feeling of disappointment, and it is stated that a majority of the 20,000 men on strike in that district would gladly return to work on the terms offered. The growing distress among the miners and other classes of workers has given rise to a feeling of bitterness that the proposals for a settlement should have been so promptly rejected without reference to the men concerned. Stubborn fighters as are the miners in ’Wales, it is reported that they are becoming dissatisfied with the existing situation. Poverty is marked in districts in which a short time ago there -was abundant evidence of the prosperity of the mining community. A Bargoed message says that if a ballot of the Welsh' miners were taken a big majority would decide in favour of a resumption of work on the terms offered. In Labour circles there is a conviction that the miners can hold out for at least a month longer, and that' they will do so failing the concession of their demands. STRIKE FOR A THEORY. Mr Evan Williams (president of the Mining Association) indicates that in the view of the owners the breakdown of the negotiations was inevitable, because the Miners’ Federation were only pretending to discuss the question of wages. They were compelled to make some show of doing so by the pressure of public opinion, but their solo purpose throughout in the coalowncrs' opinion, was to enforce tho principle of a national pool. “The rejection of the Gov-

ernment's offer of £10,000,000 to supplement the resources of the coal industry,’ said Mr Williams, “indicates clearly that the miners’ leaders have been actuated by motives that are purely political. It ha® been apparent to the owners throughout the whole course of the dispute , that this was so, and it must now bo apparent to the public that, no matter what wage offer might ho made, the federation will accept nothing that does not include a national pool —a. system that the owners detest more strongly than nationalisation. Events have made It aboundantly manifest that the miners of the country are kept from work and the production of coal for the country’s needs stopped, for the sole reason that extreme political considerations have been allowed to dominate tho issue, and that a' theory, proved contrary to every instinct of business or commonsense ’ may be established. As far as the owners arc concerned, they have offered everything there is in tho industry, oven more than tho industry can afford, and more than anv industry can reasonably be asked to give/’ HOLDING UP THE COUNTRY, In a speech on Saturday, Mr A. J. Balfour said that for the minors as a class he had personally a very high regard—they were very keen sportsmen in peace and very fine fighters in times of war. His criticism was of policy, the moaning of which was not appreciated to the full by those whose support made it possible. The coal industry had at this moment, like si> many industries in the country, to face a crisis absolutely unequalled in the whole industrial history So little, did the industry at this moment produce in the way of profit that it was difficult to see how, tfte employers were going to finance the undertakings on which not merely their own prosperity, but the prosperity of the country depended. It was therefore not a dispute in the true sense of the word about wages at all. The miners’ leaders claimed tnat tho whole of the industry should be treated unlike any other industry, that legislation must be brought forward to carry out the scheme by force since there was no prospect of its being carried out by agreement. “To give everyone a living wage implies that that industry produces a living wage. This country cannot live except by its industry. If you destroy the industries of this country, either by unduly* checking the output of coal or by other moans; you do not merely injure a certain number of workmen who lose their employment; you do not merely injure a certain number of capitalists who make no profit.” In his view the coat dispute had possibilities if infinite evil, extending not merely to the loss of our own liberties the destruction of industries, and infinite suffering among the people, but to “that reputation for wise and free management of public affairs which was the hope of the world.” He appealed to those who hewed coal, who owned coal, and who used l coal, to meet the difficulty without any ombitterment of mind, but in a spirit of fixed resolve not to give anything of our most precious heritage —the heritage of freedom. “THE DECLINE OE ENGLAND’S ; GOOD NAME.” Mr J. R. dynes has expresesd the view that never perhaps has the outlook been so hopeless as now, in spite of the fact that the soldier cleared the way and gave unmeasured power to Ministers and Parliament to deal with post-war problems. “Let us test the impudent claim of our betters that they are the only pepole fit to rule,” Mr’dynes continued. “Let "us test it by present conditions. In home affairs there never was a more disturbed and unhinged frame of mind. I do not marvel at men preaching and revolution. The wonder is that with the mass of suffering the poor have shown so much patience as to avoid violence. The provocation is great, and it comes, not from the men who talk revolution, but from the reactionaries and the monopolists, from the men who, being well off, are well content that affairs should be as they are, and who want the powers that be to be directed towards keeping other men in their places. The good name of this country is now so low in the estimation of the world that we can scarcely be said to have a friend. Nationally and internationally you must judge the Government by its fruits. At the present moment the heads of the Allied countries are meeting to try to make work that which will never work—the Peace Treaty of Versailles. Until many things in that Treaty are unwritten there can be no gemedy to present ills. If the country can stand the sort of Government it is now getting it need have no fear of what Labour may do for her;” The Labour Party recognised its limitations, said Mr dynes, but after a failure so complete as that of those who undertook this great job, Labour need not be afraid of doing worse. He doubted whether it could if it deliberately tried.. Ultimately—indeed, before very long—the affairs of the nation must in the nature of things bo entrusted to tho keeping of the Parliamentary Labour Party, bo, whether the country liked it or not, it was destined, in the course of political evolution, to find the country’s affairs controlled by those who stood -by the cause of Labour. Recurring stoppages of trade were the inevitable surface outbreaks of underlying conditions and causes, and until they had them removed they would not be treating industrial troubles ait their- source.