THE MINERS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13803, 14 January 1909, Page 7

THE MINERS.

INTERVIEW WTJ'ii THE PREMIER.

The Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, arrived in Tiinaru last evening from Oumaru. Seen by a "Herald" representative concerning the trouble with the miners, the Premier produced two important telegrams, one of which lie had received irom Mr S. !• ree, representative of the mine-owners at lieefton, on Tuesday afternoon, the other being his reply thereto, wine. 1 - was despatched yesterday afternoon. - The following is the telegram received from Mr Free:— '< We .have to thank you for your telegram.of yesterday, which was exhaustively considered bv" a meeting of the minc-iowners last xught, and again this morning. Vie have already stated our reason for not giving evidence against the Bifi when before tbe Labour Bills Committee, and Ave think the member for the district treated us unfairly in not advising us of the inclusion of the diseases clause iu the Act, and so we do not tlnnK ourselves entirelv to blame for our ignorance. We realise that the burden of proof lies with the worker claiming compensation to show that In? conies within the provisions of the Act, but death from phthisis or pneumoconiosis is always preceded by a considerable period of incapacity, and the right to> compensation arises immediately on incapacitation, consequently every diagnosis must of necessity be largely based upon statements by claimant, v-JiicbT-ii would be impossible to refute. Already our mines are largely manned by Australasians, and if it becomes known that owners in this Dominion insure their workers against incapacity and death from pneumoconiosis without examination, we shall be inundated VitE undesirables from other parts. We a"re very strongly of opinion that it pneumoconiosis is to remain in the Act some ' form of examination must be adopted, and further, we think, liatl the Government allowed your telegram to-Mr R. Semple of Bth inst., in which medical examination by a Government officer, to be the last »vord on the subject, matters would now be in a fair way towards settlement. As wc understand your telegram, if we can convince Parliament •thai the burden cast upon us by The Act is unbearable- then it will be brought into lino with the Imperial statute,, otherwise pneumoconiosis must remain in the Act with provision added to make it workable. Is the alternative to be, coercion applied to workers -to compel them to submit to medical examination, or to the employers to force, them to employ those seeking employment, no matter how undesirable their physical condition may be ? Either alternative means trouble of a serious character in Parliament. Block medical examination, it cannot prevent employers refusing to engage all workmen deemed physically unfit, and auch action would cause industrial : trouble more difficult to remedy than tbe present. If mine-owners are compelled to insure workmen to the extent of £SOO, they would exercise their right,..to select employees either by medical examination, which is the only, just method, or by guess work, which would undoubtedly work injustice i» manycases. We are anxious to promote a settlement of the present difficulty, but the possibility of doing so has not vet been made clear." •To this the Premier sent the following reply -yesterday afternoon:— •'ln-replv to your wire of yesterday I have no desire or right to be a critic of the reasons why the mine-owners did not give .evidence before the Laluour Bills Committee and urge their objections to clauses 10 before it became law. 1 was only concerned in my last wire to have it clearly understood ■ rltat the Government was in no way responsible for the mine-owners not giving evidence, and that the fullest opportunity was afforded to those at-.fected-by the Bill of stating.their objections.' The omission of the mineowners to Wge any objection naturally led us to assnme that the mine-owners did not oppose the clause as passed. Your reference to Australians does not seem to lie at all relevant to the present situation. You that A«» tralians may be attracted to New A-:i-laud by the favourable conditions of the pneumoconiosis, but surely the answer to this is that you need not engage Australians, or if they come to and seek employment from you, you can impose such conditions 'within the law as Will protect you, as you are under no obligation to I-mploy these people. The fear you express is surely .groundless. I note that you think that had 1 allowed my telegram to Mr Semple, of the Bth inst., regarding a medical examination by a Government officer to be the last vcrd from the Government on the •subject, matters would now he in a. fair vay to settlement. While your opinion is of course entitled to respect, I am- confident that it Ls entirely wrong. I acted in this matter with great delib-

eration, and after obtaining, information of a reliable nature, which probably, if seen by you, would convince you of your error. Apart from this the northern coal mineowners were communicating with -fixer; declaring unanimously that ruination stared t-hcnWm. the face, and irreparable injury to their mines would result'unless prompt action was taken by the Government. Apart also from which numbers of the owners of the side iudustries upon coal were communicating to a similar effect. Either they were entirely wrong in their assumption or you are wrong in yours. Both of you, you will recognise, cannot be right, and when I have acted to help to end the trouble then you .are adopting the extraordinary course of endeavouring to obtain from me the definite outlines of legislation before the whole matter is investigated. 1 have gone as far as 1 am prepared to go. The last part of your telegram i.-: confused, either in thought or transmission. The proposals made by the Government are that the mineowners, should be insured by the Government Life Insurance Department, without medical examination of the miners, until Parliament meets and deals with this legislation. As soon as Parliament meets a full enquiry will be held, and the facts reliably established. XJpou these facts any new legislation- will be based. " If "tlio mineowners show that the inclusion ■ of pneumoconiosis in the Workers' Compensation Act will be fatal to the best interest of, the industry,, the law will be amended and workable safeguards provided. If, however, it appears that what is required is more stringent protection against bogus claims, that protection will be devised and made law. You ask whether the alternative to passing such legislation is the coercion of workers to compel them to submit to medical examination, or.to force employers to employ those seeking employment, no matter how undesirable their physical condition may be. As fas as I know no one has suggested coercion, for coercion in either of the eases you mention would be not only unjust but ridiculous. The Government can do no more than I have outlined. If the mine-owners are not prepared to accept the friendly relief of the present situation offered by the Government, the responsibility for acting otherwise must rest with mineowners themselves." "WORKERS' MANIFESTO. DANGEROUS UNDERCURRENT. Per Press Association. REEFTON, Jan. 13. The executive of the Federation of Miners issued a manifesto this evening recapitulating the various headings already given and closing with the remark that the demands of the insurance companies are really for a diminished risK for an increased premium. They are annoyed at the outrageous demand being supported by the Government Insurance Company. There was no comparison whatever between the medical examination as insisted on by the employers and that instituted by the Government or Westport Coal Company's employers. The companies really wished to subject the worker to a medical test and employ him conditionally, only on his being robbed of the benefits of the 'Workers' Compensation Act. Matters are quiet here on tlio surface. A nasty feeling is gaining ground, the companies being generally blamed for delay. They excuse themselves on account of the non-receipt of the insurance regulations. The Caledonian United Mine and the tributors of the Golden Fleece are the only mines working. OPPOSITION AT WESTPORT. "WESTTORT, Jan. 13. At a special general meeting of the Denniston Miners' Union last night it \ias decided to support the gold miners in their fight against medical examination, '"financially and morally if necessary ; also to comply with any immediate" mandate from the executive of the Miners' Federation. It was also decided to take advantage of the Coalmines Amendment Act, 1908, and work eight hours bank to bank on and after Saturday '23 rd inst. UNREST AT THAMES. THAMES, Jan. 13. There is no change in the local position re mining, except that the men are growing irritable at the delay. It is urged that now the Government has guaranteed the State insurance against loss, miners should bo allowed to return to work and the Premier's word lie taken as a sufficient official pronouncement to warrant companies reconinieucintr operations. Both contractors and wages men will be refused admission to the mines, and legal opinion will be taken as to whether they

have redress. , The Karangahake minors offered to come out in sympathy with tlio Crown workers, where the management declined to admit the men without medical examination, but the Thames Union supports the Karangahake masters. ■' Telegrams explaining the position have been forwarded t:o"lhe Minister. I'or Mines and -Labour.