SUSPENSION OF SENTENCES

Southland Times, Issue 24862, 30 September 1942, Page 4

SUSPENSION OF SENTENCES

Conditions Imposed On Miners (P.A.) WELLINGTON, September, 29. The sentence of one month’s imprisonment on some 180 Waikato miners is to be suspended on strict conditions, the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser, announced today. The conditions each of the men is to enter into are: (1) That such person will forthwith resume his former employment and diligently follow it. (2) That for the duration of the present war with Germany and Japan he will abstain from taking part in any further strike within the meaning of Clause 2 of the Strike and Lockout Emergency Regulations 1939. (3) That for the duration of such war he will not encourage any other person to take part in any such strike affecting any industry essential to the public welfare. Suspension has been approved by the Governor-General. On any breach of the conditions suspension will become void and of no effect, and thereupon the sentences of imprisonment will forthwith be served. WAR EFFORT WEAKENED

“The Waikato coal mines dispute has caused the Government grave concern during the past three weeks,” said Mr Fraser. In peacetime a strike was a serious and disastrous matter. During this period of the war, with the enemy threatening our shores, a stoppage of work on such a scale was a tragic calamity, weakening our war effort and endangering our defence. It was therefore gratifying that even after a most regrettable delay the common sense of the men concerned reasserted itself so definitely as it did last Friday in a ballot decision to resume work and submit the matter originally in dispute to the appropriate disputes committee. as the Minister of Mines, the Hon. P. C. Webb, on behalf of the Government, had instructed at the start of the trouble. Mr Fraser added that it was obvious to everyone that if the strike had continued not only the railways and shipping services would have to be further curtailed, but many essential industries would have been closed down or seriously curtailed in their operation. It would also have been necessary to have drastically rationed gas and electricity. The resumption of work had prevented an industrial catastrophe of great magnitude, which would have directly and disastrously affected New Zealand’s war effort. Mr Fraser said the course now being followed in respect to the 180 miners was essential, having regard to the requirements of the war situation and the most urgent need for coal and transport to move supplies to the theatre of war in the Pacific and to keep the Dominion’s war industries functioning. COURT’S ATTITUDE

The utmost efforts had been made by Mr Webb to prevent the development of the dispute and later the Magistrate, Mr W. H. Freeman, had striven to shape the course of events so that on the one hand the law would be upheld and on the other that coal production would be immediately resumed to meet the urgent national need, which was by far the most important end to be achieved, said Mr Fraser. It was only after failure to achieve that most essential purpose that the Magistrate was left with no alternative but to pronounce sentence. “It is a fair assumption,” continued Mr Fraser, “that had the men, before the penalties were imposed, been willing to return to work under definite conditions, that would have been satisfactory to the Court. A regrettable feature of the situation is that the miners made their decision to return to work after, instead of before, sentence.” The Government had approached a further development of the problem in the same spirit as displayed by the Court, and in view of the fact that there had been a general resumption of work had agreed to recommend to the Governor-General that the sentences be suspended on the conditions stated. The position now was that the law was upheld, the men had returned to work and coal production, so vital to the war effort, had been fully resumed.