THE MINING INDUSTRY

Otago Witness, Issue 3957, 14 January 1930, Page 27

THE MINING INDUSTRY

AUSTRALIAN CRISIS. o SURPRISE MOVE BY FEDERATION. t APPLICATION FOR CONFERENCE. j, MELBOURNE, January 8. <] A surprise move was made by the t Miners Federation to-day, which might affect the hearing of the appeal relat- I ing to Mr Justice Beeby’s order for reopening the coal mines which is now before the full bench of the High Court. An application was filed by the federation asking for a compulsory confer ence with the mine owners on the sub 1 jeet of the miners’ amended log wage * claims and improved conditions, alii- I davits in support declaring that there is 1 grave unrest, with threats of a ces«a- 1 tion of work at all mines in Australia ’ ii the claims are not granted. 1 ' f t POSITION AT ROTHBURY. COAL HAULED TO NEWCASTLE. SYDNEY, January 9. Three hundred tons of Rothbury coal were hauled to Newcastle early this morning, a distance of 25 miles. No attempt was made by the strikers or the pickets to interfere with the train crew, which consisted of two locomotive inspectors, one acting as driver and the other as fire man. The guard's van was full of police who were strongly armed. A secon 1 coal train hauling 400 tons from Rothbury reached Newcastle later in the day. A special meeting of all the miners’ lodges in Newcastle district was held today, and it was decided to hold a massed march to the Rothbury colliery “at a future date.” The Eng’no I havers and Firemen's Asso ciation, which is in conflict with the Miners' Federation, has definitely decide! j that, in the event of the miners withdraw ing safety men from the associated northern pits, they will withdraw the drivers from every pit in the State, as the result of which the mines will become idle immediately, thus cutting off the levies which are enabling the strikers to live j without working. THE MINERS MOBILISING. SYDNEY. January 10. Reports received from the coalfieldearly this morning indicate that th.miners are mobilising for a big demon stration at Rothbury to-day. The Cess nock and Kurri miners are reported to be preparing to leave their respective towns in order to be at Rothbury "by daybreak A group of miners consisting of aboui 300 men. occupying 11 lorries, was within five miles of Rothbury last night. It ibelieved that these met are from New castle. Officials of the Rothbury police camp were busy during the night making pre parations. Mounted police are search ing the district in the vicinity of the camp. Over 50 police left in a special train from Sydney for the scene shortly after midnight in response to a request for reinforcements. : WITHDRAWAL OF SAFETY MEN. SYDNEY, January 9. ; A combined committee of mining unions at Sydney, by eight votes to seven, decided upon the withdrawal o> all the safety men in the northern mineclosed by the coal owners under a threat of mass picketing. A number of experienced coal miners have been sent to New South Wales by the South Australian Mines Department to take employment in the mines which will be opened by the New South Wales Government. MEN AVOID CONFLICT. SYDNEY, January 11. Fears of serious trouble on the northern coalfields have been dispelled by the miners avoiding conflict with the police. All was quiet on the fields last night, and nearly all the men returned loose. In addition to the two non-union men mentioned yesterday four other men were stripped by an angry mob of miners and subjected to the same treatment. C OAL NOT TO BE HAULED. SY’DNEY, January 12. I | The ballot by the Newcastle and Bort Waratah branches of the Railwaymen’s

union resulted by two to one in favour of a refusal to haul coal won at Rothbury by volunteer labour. THE MINERS' NEW LOG. SY’DNEY". January 10. Mr Justice Dethridge to-day granted the application of the Coal Miners’ Federation for a compulsory conference with the owners regarding the miners' new log. The conference was fixed for January 20. OUTRAGE AT ASHTON FIELDS. SYDNEY, January 10. Messages from the northern coalfields describe more hostile demonstrations by miners, 4000 of whom at dawn to-day marched to the Ashton Fields colliery, were stripped naked, and their clothes miners who were going to work. Both weer stripped naked, and their clothes were burned, and they wore then pursued into the bush by a jeering crowd. A large proportion of the strikers then

commenced to march to Rothbury, which was not reached. All returned io their homes. Mounted troopers dispersed a number of hotheads who were behaving offensively in the vicinity of Ashton Fields colliery. Upwards of 300 returned soldiers participated at the head of this morning's procession, and sang war songs and drilled in the most approved military fashion, and hooted the police. The situation at Kurri Kurri. Rothbury, and Maitland is extremely tense. SPECIAL MEETING OF CABINET. SYDNEY, January 10. At a special meeting of Cabinet to-day the Premier (Mr T. R. Bavin) said that the Government was fully alive to the grave danger to life arising from this morning's developments. He emphasised that at all costs life and property would be protected, and he added: “We shall not be deflected in the slightest degree from our purpose by any actual or threatened violence.” CONFERENCE AT GENEVA. NINE STATES REPRESENTED. RUGBY. January 7. At Geneva yesterday the preparatory technical conference on conditions in the coal mining industry, which aims at securing an international solution of certain of the industry's more critical problems, was opened,'Mr W. R. Smith (parliamentary secretary to the Board of 'Trade) being elected president. The day’s proceedings were devoted to general statements by representatives of the nine European coal producing States which are taking part in the conference.

Sir Sydney Chapman said that the British Government heartily welcomed a convention on the hours of labour in the coalmining industry and would welcome, if possible, one also on wages and conditions of work. The British Government was in sympathy with all attempts to standardise labour conditions when circumstances were ripe for such standardisation. He hoped that the question of wages and conditions of labour would be carefully explored. On the matter of hours of work he was fully convinced that with a little pati cnee, open-mindedness, and determination a convention on that question would be possible. ( oNDiTioNs in-’ work. RL G BY’, Jamia ry S. Ihe preparatory international technical conference on conditions of work in the coal mining industry, which is being held at Geneva, began' to-day. In a general discussion on the question of wages, Mr A. J. Cook, the British miners' delegate, spoke in favour of international machinery to fix minimum wages. The Government delegates of Germany. Poland, and Fiance, as well as coal owners who spoke, considered that the ciine was not yet ripe for the conclusion of an international agreement on this subject. Ihe general opinion at present appears to he that the idea of a conference on wages will be abandoned for the time being. EXPORTERS' AGREEMENT. BRITISH AND POLISH. LONDON. January 11. ’The first international agreement to be achieved in the history of the coal mining industry has been arrived at, unde’’ which British and Polish exporters are pledged to be guided in future by a coordinating committee a: regards priceand quantities. There will be no more undercutting and profitless transactions-.