WALLSEND MINE LEAGUE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2977, 5 April 1911, Page 40

WALLSEND MINE LEAGUE.

LOCAL AGITATION. (From Our Own Correspondent.) GREYMOUTH, March 31. In replying xo the Acting Prim© Minister's letter notifying the refusal of Cabinet to accede to the wishes of the Wallsend Mine League, the Mayor of Brunner has written to the Hon. James Carroll' as follows:—"The three suggestions evolved from public discussion and an exhaustive consideration ot the position locally which have been submitted for consideration of the Government were as follow: (1) The resumption of the land for the establishment of .a State coal mine; (2) the resumption of- the land for offer as a coal mining lease; (3) a subsidiary loan to assist priyate enterprise to acquire and work the mine. Each of these proposi-> tions, we assume, has, after due consideration, been rejected as not affording a means within the scope of the Government for a solution of the present crisis. The position increases in intensity by reason of the rapid exhaustion of the area known as the Brunner lease, and it is S becoming more and more evident that unless some other avenue of employment becomes available to our mining community the effacement of this old coal mining settlement is absolutely certain in. the very near future. This is a position appalling to every resident here, involving, as it must, a complete sacrifice of homes, the scattering of old settlers, etc., to say nothing of the loss of revenue to the railway and harbour investments of the State or the sacrifice of property associated with public and Government institutions. In this connection I may be permitted to say that the Right Hon. the Prime Minister, in replying to a deputation who had the honour of waiting upon himself and the W- Hon. the Minister of Mines last November, emphasised his approval when the second proposition was named as one worthy of careful consideration, and promised ithat when the subject was under discussion by the Cabinet .an effort would be made to devise some means by which the Government would be able to assist in promoting a continuance of the coal mining industry in order to avert such a calamity as that which had been foreshadowed by the deputation. I beg to thank you sincerely, and also to thank the other hon. members of the Cabinet, for the kind consideration given to a matter of such vital importance to us, and venture to hope that the promise of the Right Hon. the Prime Minister may be borne in mind, and that some means may still be found to solve the difficulty. Tlie existence of the hard bituminous coal required in the Dominion in sufficient quantity and of excellent quality (in the very centre of our borough) to ensure adequate returns for investments, with means of access from the sidings to the existing Wallsend Railway Station, is indisputable, and we feel confident that the Government would regard the premature extinction of the borough owing to delay :

in the development of the Walkend mine as a calamity to be avoided."