CHEERING NEWS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19947, 15 November 1926, Page 9

CHEERING NEWS

GREATEST OF ALL STRIKES ENDING. COUNTING THE COST. COLOSSAL LOSSES TO INDUSTRY. SUFFERINGS OF MINERS’ FAMILIES. CRITICISM BY SIR NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN. fPresi Association— Hr Telegraph—Copyrights LONDON, November 13. It can be said with more or less certainty that the greatest of all strikes, which has paralysed Britain for many months, is drawing to a close following upon the dramatic conferences, lasting far into the night, from which the leaders left tired and worn out. The situation has completely changed. There were many adjournments throughout the night, at which the Government hurriedly conversed with the owners, the chairman, and the vice-chairman in another room. The Labour representatives were in closest touch with the miners, and the declared odds in favour of a settlement increased from 10 'to 1 on Thursday to 100 to 1 to-day. Meantime 320,000 miners are back at work at the pits, making one-third of the total. The average weekly increase for the month has been 25,000. The cost to the country is colossal. The loss on coal exports alone since the stoppage comes to £25,000,000, and on last year’s trade to £40,000,000. Outdoor relief in the areas already affected has increased £223,000 weekly, totalling £5,800,000. Only five steel furnaces are in blast compared with 147 before the strike. There are various estimates of the loss on general trade. These figures are astounding, rivalling the daily expenditure during war time. The cost of household coal has more than doubled, and hundreds of thousands of homes are without fires. It is impossible to exaggerate the sufferings of the miners’ families. It has often been said that the miners have been the victims of a slogan, but against this Sir Neville Chamberlain, in a speech at Glasgow to-night, said: “When we see the owners are not prepared to sit at the table and discuss terms with their employees, all we can say is that it is a very badly managed industry. Such a spirit of antagonism is as unnecessary as it is suicidal.” With the changed situation there are distinct signs of a trade boom. Industries up and down the country are waiting to carry out orders, while shipyards have received orders for 14 vessels, involving millions. To-day cabled advice was received from Buenos Aires that a British tender had been accepted for a complete system of underground tube railways worth millions. —A. and N.Z. Cable.

MINERS’ CONFERENCE. WEIGHTY DECISIONS. THE GOVERNMENT AND THE OWNERS. LONDON, November 13. (Received Nov. 14, at 5.5 p.m.) The miners’ delegates early this afternoon discussed the Government’s terms. There were sharp differences of opinion. Some districts wished to continue the fight, while others favoured acceptance, because nothing better was obtainable. When the full conference resumed South Wales and Yorkshire headed the fighting section.

A vote was first taken whether the conference would recommend the districts to accept the terms. This was carried by 432.000 to 352,000. The conference then voted whether the decision should be left to the districts or the miners individually. The proposal for an individual ballot was defeated by 427.000 to 357,000., The results of voting are to be returned by November 18. Considerable correspondence has been published regarding the negotiations. A letter from the Department of Mines shows that Mr Baldwin agreed to the deletion of the clause relating to victimisation. Mr Cook explains that the miners executive thought this was inadequate. Other letters relate to Mr Evan Williams’s disclaimer and the Government reply. Mr Williams said he made it perfectly clear that he and other owners were appearing purely in a personal capacity in order to give the required information. He opposed, the terms because they were impossible for certain districts. Mr Williams also gives a direct denial of the statements attributed to him in the Government communique.

The general expectation in Government circles is that the miners will accept the terms in view of the conference recommendation. The strike therefore is regarded to be as good as over. The owners refuse to prophesy what the district owners’ associations will do in that event, and confine themselves to saying it will be a matter for each district to decide if the terms are economically practicable. The Mines Department's reply to Mr Williams states that the Government found consultation with the owners’ district associations inpracticable, and that it was compelled to consult individual owners fully. The Government appreciates the owners’ declared objections, but it accepts full responsibility, and adds that it had been made perfectly clear to the Ministry that the Government’s terms are based on increased hours, and that the Government is unable to give a guarantee regarding working conditions. —A. and N.Z. Cable.

EARLIER DELIBERATIONS. ACTION BY GOVERNMENT. STRIVING FOR A SETTLEMENT. LONDON, November 12. The coalowners have issued a statement that the Government’s proposed terms for settlement, as outlined to the miners, were not theirs. The Government later made a statement explaining that the terms were not based on an agreement between the Government and the owners, but if the miners accepted them the Government would proceed independently with the necessary legislation. The Miners' Conference further discussed the terms to-day. The executive meets the Government to-night to elucidate certain points. The Government has issued a further statement that Mr Evan Williams, the owners’ president, had assured the Government that the Owners’ District Association would not object to the majority of the Government’s terms. The statemen added: “The terms necessarily could not be agreed with by the owners, because the owners refused to negotiate as a national association.” , TERMS NOT SUITABLE TO . OWNERS. MINERS ALSO NOT ENTHUSIASTIC. LONDON, November 12. The owners’ statement, amounting to a virtual repudiation of the terms, came as a complete surprise. The Government’s immediate reply promising legislation in the event of the miners’ acceptance removed the possibility of another collapse. High hopes centred in the executive’s meeting with the Government to-night. It is known that there were considerable differences of opinion among the executive regarding the acceptance of the terms, the result of which was that no recommendation was made to the d-'legate conference. Mr Cook, in a long, passionate speech, vigorously attacked the terms. THE CONFERENCE ADJOURNED. LONDON, November 12. The Miners’ Executive conferred with the Minister of Mines and reported the result to the Miners’ Conference, which at the evening meeting had not reached a decision, and adjourned till Saturday morning, as the delegates required further enlightenment. The principal bone of contention is the powers to be conferred on the independent chairmen in the various districts. The members of the conference are apparently objecting to anything savouring of compulsory arbitration. Mr Evan Williams stated to-night that lie only communicated to the Government the information he had received from the districts. He is further communicating with the Government with a view to clearing up misunderstandings.—A. and N.Z. Cable. GRASPING AT STRAWS. WISH FATHER TO THE THOUGHT. LONDON, November 13. The Riga correspondent of The Times says that there is dismay in Russia at the probability of a settlement of the British coal strike. M. Lozovsky, in an article in the Moscow papers, urges the miners not to allow the Trades Union Council to interfere. He declares that the position is not so desperate as to warrant suicidal steps. Britain’s economic structure is shaken to the foundations by the loss of her foreign ocal markets, and that it is madness to allow Messrs Pugh, Thomas, and Company to ruin the situation while there was still a winning chance. —A. and N.Z, Cable.