TRADES AND LABOUR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2056, 20 July 1893, Page 16

TRADES AND LABOUR.

(Ter Press Association.)

London, July 16. A lock-out has been ordered in the shoe trade owing to local strikes. The miners in the Midland and Lancashire counties favour a strike, but the Northumberland miners are against the proposal. A crisis is feared.

July 17.

In connection with the dispute in the coa) trade, the colliery owners insist that foreign competition necessitates the miners conceding a portion of the advance of 40 per cent, obtained sinpe 1889.

The coal porters, sailors, and firemen wi}l assist the miners if they decide to strike. Sydney, July 18. It is estimated that there are 800 miners unemployed In Newcastle. The New Jjambton Colliery shut down yesterday.

RAILWAY EMPLOYES' INSURANCE BILL.

Wellington, July 17. The Railway Servants' Conference opened to-day. Delegates were present from Aucl^t land, Wanganui, Palmerston North, Wellington", Westport, Whangarei, Christchurch, Grey--mouth, Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin, and Invercargill. Mr M'Kenna (Palmerston North)- was elected chairman, and Mr Gray (Christchurch) secretary. A motion in favour of an insurance bill was carried unanimously ; and it was decided that the basis of deliberations be " The Government Railway Insurance Bill 1892.'? The conference this afternoon was occupied in discussing statements made respecting the representative character of the delegates. Regret was expressed that Pttone workshops were not represented, and steps were taken to get a represeptative from them. A meeting was held at the workshops for the purpose of electing a delegate to the conference, and several members , of the conference went out to speak on the subject. The conference adjourned till to* morrow morning.

~ CHRISTCHURCH UNEMPLOYED.

Christchuhch, July 17. Ab a meeting of the unemployed this morning the following motion was carried : — " That this meeting requests the Government to withdraw from offer on leases in perpetuity the Ellejmers

lands, and to settle the said lands as a po-b'perative farm, but in the event of the Government not seeing its way clear to withdraw the lands from offer that it give the preemptive right of purohag % e to non-ocenpiers." The meeting then adjourned till 10 o'clock to-morrow morning. Mr Lomas, of the Christchuroh branch of the Labour Bureau, has received instructions to select 15 of the most necessitous cases to proceed to road work under the Survey department at Eltham, in the Taranaki district.. There has been some misunderstanding in regard to a telegram received on Saturday, which was not from the Minister for Public Works but from the head of the Labour department in Wellington. The instructions were to select a number of men for relief works, and it was stated that there was no truth in the rumour that a railway was to be constructed to Sutnner, unless by a private syndicate, but of that the department knew nothing.