THE COAL-MINING INDUSTRY.

Thames Star, Volume LXII, Issue 17320, 7 January 1928, Page 5

THE COAL-MINING INDUSTRY.

SUCCESS OP CO-OPERATION. The slackness of the coal industry is causing- a good deal of concern on the AVest Coast, especially in the northern districts, where the greater part of the wage-earning population are solely dependent on the coal industry for their livelihood (says the Greymouth correspondent of tho Christchurch Press.) Some idea of the condition of the industry may be gauged from the small earnings of the miners engaged at the No, 1 and 2 State Collieries, whose average wages for the past four months are stated to have amounted to £5 per fortnight. In these circumstances, married men are finding it_ a difficult task to provide for themselves and their families. The men working in the Dobson mine are also feeling the pinch of hard times, having averaged only three working days per week. On the other hand, the miners engaged under the co-operative system are working at high pressure to supply the demand, which is increasing to such dimensions that negotiations are now in train for the taking over of the output froril several small mines in the Reef ton and Buller districts. Mr J. W. Greenslade (Mayor of Greymouth) said on Friday thatvh© expected to have something to say shortly with regard to the coal industry, which he hoped would tend to place it o n a better footing. He said, however, that he felt reluctant to make any satement for publication until he weSs sure of his facts. A rumour is being circulated to the effect that there is a likelihood of the State mine being worked under the co-operative principle.