The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1908. STRIKES AND TRADE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13531, 28 February 1908, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1908. STRIKES AND TRADE.

Some (lays ago \vt l commented upon an extraordinary statement made by Sir Joseph Ward in the north, to the effect that, the only sufferers in a strike are the workers and' their families, and we .endeavoured to in I iow that while the incident of physical suffering, when there is any, is upon the strikeis and their dependent, the other parties in an industrial struggle are bound to feel its effects severely in another, though hardly less important-, direction. To-day a cabled extract- from the evidence given before the special Court appointed to investigate the trouble in the coalmining area around Newcastle affords confirmation of the view we then expressed. " Much foreign trade was lost," this message reads, "and nnnieror.fi large contracts were cancelled owing to the. strike." No figures are given, but .it is not hard to imagine that, the money value of thi f< loss df trade runs into very large amounts, which represent a serious loss directly to the ( mine-owners and indii'ectly to th<? whole population which depends upon the prosperity of the Newcastle coal trade. A slight, acquaintance with the history of the industry would have warned the miners that this was the inevitable result to bs expected from any dislocation of business through labour troubles. About. 27 years ago, the price of Newcastle coal was 11b a ton, but the trade was disorganised by a big strike, and the price dropped to 9s.' If, had taken this interval of 27 years tfj bring values back to the level at which they.siood when they received such a setback in consequence ot that old strike. Concessions had to be made in order to tempt customers, and new markets had to be carefully nursed in the long and slow process of raising the selling price, every shilling of which benefits the miner to the extent of fourpence a ton. Up to the end of last, year, the proprietors had not considered it. safe to iaise the price of their coal past 10s, but they had agreed to put on an'extra shilling from the beginning of January, and to increase the hewing rate by fourpence a '.on, in con- ( formiry with the automatic scale regulating the relation between the selling and hewing prices. The men, however, were dissatisfied, and demanded that, the owners should make an increase of two shillings a ton in the. selling price and of eight-pence in the hewing rate. Naturally enough, if the proprietors had thought! that, they could make these increases without endangering their trade, they would have been quite ready to do su. It. was only the fear of sending their clients elsewhere for coal that made them, restrict the selling price to lis a ton, and face the local labour trouble in which the refusal to charge 12s involved them. It was well enough known that this labour trouble must mean a loss of trade, but tJie proprietors, whose it is to keep a finger on the juil.se of the market, had to choose between loss consequent upon industrial disturbance and- loss through an excessive selling price. They chose the former no doubt as the. less of two evils, but it must, have been pretty heavy, as is to he judged from the evidence now being adduced before the. special Court. Even before the strikes commenced, the trade of Newcastle had begun to feel the effect) of the unrest, which was exhibiting itself on the coalfields. The South American market had grown uneasy, and had placed many orders for British coal, and in regard to another extensive customer, the commercial agent for New South Wales in the East told the people of Newcastle that if you have a. strike here your coal trade in the East will be. killed." Nevertheless. the strikes, were precipitated, and the predictions of disastrous results have been verified. It will be a. long and tedious task to recover the markets that have been losi. and the miners themselves, as well as the owners, are bound to feel the influence-nT the restricted field for the oversea, trade in Newcastle coal. If. instead of tnking the law into their owl

hands, the men had been agreeable to rl'.Q settlement of their claims by the Arbit lion Court, all 1 his damage to one of the prim-ipa] industries of their State might have lic-en avnide.l, and their own pros peets for moiv. remunentt'ivo employment, would have been improver! instead of injured.