BRITISH COAL TRADE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19748, 26 March 1926, Page 9

BRITISH COAL TRADE.

THE COMMISSION’S REPORT. GOVERNMENT WILLING TO LEGISLATE. (Pres. Association—By Telegraph—Copyright.) LONDON, March 24. The Government has accepted the Coal Commission’s report, and will legislate on it if the owners and the miners also accept it.—Reuter. MR BALDWIN'S OFFER. A SURPRISE TO BOTH SIDES. DIRE THREAT BY MR COOK. LONDON, March 24. (Received March 25, at 9 p.m.) The coal conference at Downing street lasted just over two hours. Mr Baldwin explained that the conclusions of the commission did not accord entirely with the Government’s views. The Government opposed sofne of the recommendations, but in the face of the commismissions unanimous report and for the sake of a general settlement it was prepared to undertake measures to give effect to the recommendations provided the owners and the miners agreed to carry on the industry on a basis of those recommendations. He appealed to both parties to consider the Government’s position and consult their friends before in any way committing themselves. Mr A. J. Cook disclosed that the miners made preparations to ensure the complete stoppage of coal in the event of the miners having to strike owing to a non settlement on May 1. No coal would enter the country from America or Germany and not a ton would be handled in Britain unless the Government’s decision were satisfactory to the miners. Mr Baldwin’s plain, direct offer took both the owners and the miners by surprise, but neither side has disclosed its views on the subject. The owners and miners met separately this morning and jointly in the afternoon.

In the meantime the commission’s, report is being studied by the miners’ lodges throughout the country in view of the delegates’ conference which is to be held shortly. There is a tendency on the coalfields to concentrate upon the proposed wage reductions, though these do not affect the lowest paid men, and to ignore the fact that the report embodies proposals for which the miners have been agitating for years.

Mr A. J. Cook, the miner’s secretary, in a speech last night said that the men would starve before they accepted any reductions. “We have already done our bit,” he declared. The Daily Herald says: “Any sacrifice would bring hundreds of thousands of families down to the starvation line. It remains to be seen whether a solution will be found in earmarking Mr Baldwin’s provisional offer of temporary assistance for the reli ! of the workers who would thus be affected.’’ On the other side there are indications of opposition to conferring power on the municipal authorities to trade in coal, and to compulsory profit-sharing, to State purchase of the loyalties and to other recommendations requiring legislative sanction. The newspapers and publicists are generally silent, hoping t’ at the parties concerned will reach an agreement which, if effected, would be the biggest trade settlement on record. —Reuter and A. and N.Z. Cables.