COAL DEADLOCK

Taranaki Daily News, 21 November 1929, Page 11

COAL DEADLOCK

attempt to open mine NO RESPONSE TO APPEAL FREE LABOUR NEXT STEP ' MINERS BOYCOTT effort . By" Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Hee. 16.30 p.m. Sydney, Nov. 20. ■The New South Wales State Ministry’s attempt to reopen th© Rothbury coalmine met with no success to-day. It is understood there was no response to the appeal for miners.

The Minister of Mine’s motored to the. mine to-day and desired to address a number of men near the scene, but they declined to hear him. It. was apparent to th© Minister that the mining unions are determined to boycott the Government’s efforts, and the next step, he said, would be to call for free labour. This, however, would not be attempted until after the result of Mr. Sen Din’s, conference was ma,de known. • , -— ; ■ • .. PRIME'MINISTER'S: FIRST MOVE. ATTITUDE OF . THE GOVERNMENT. ' ' • Sydney, Nov. 20. Mrs J. H. Scullin made his first direct move yesterday in the coal deadlock as Prime' Minister by calling a conference of Federal and State Governments and northern coal owners and mining unions to take place at Canberra next Saturday morning. The general feeling at Maitland is that the State Government will not be able to work the Rothbury pit, but the Government is confident. The Premier, Mr. T. R. Bavin, sdid that the Government was determined to go on with the scheme. The Sydney Morning Herald says. the. motion carried by the combined unions meeting on Monday in favour of the general coal strike was part of a scheme dictated by the Federal authorities to enable the Federal Government to get control of the situation. The motion was passed at the request of the Federal Treasurer, Mr. E. G. Theodore, and was supported by men ’ •who were entirely opposed to arty course of action that would result in throwing the mines idle throughout the State and so cutting off the Federation doles on which unemployed miners are at present depending. ft has since learned that Mr. Theodore informed the coal mining leaders at the week-end that if they would carry, the general strike resolution the Government would . have constitutional ground for an intervention in the dispute on the. claim that the matter was one of national emergency. A conference would be called at which the Federal and State Governments and coal owners and coal miners would be represented. The conference wuold be informed that the Commonwealth intended to subsidise, at a shilling per ton, the first two million tons of coal produced after the mines had resumed, thus permitting miners to resume work at the pre-stoppage rates. The Government would then appoint a new tribunal to fix rates for the industry.