The Star. THURSDAY, FEB. 23, 1898. Coal-miners on Strike.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4577, 23 February 1893, Page 2

The Star. THURSDAY, FEB. 23, 1898. Coal-miners on Strike.

Just as we learn that the threatened strike of 10,000 miners in South Wales has been averted' by an amicable arrangement, we receive news of coal-mining troubles in New South. Wales. Though the industrial disturbance in the Southern Hemisphere" is not on a scale of such magnitude a^ that in the Northern, it concerns xi» more 7 , intimately because of its nearness to burl own doors. Nor is a dispute among the miners of New South Wales an unimportant incident in itself. There are some 12,000 coal miners in that Colony, 'irad, as all suffer" from the. causes' , <iha% have led to, the strikeß now in -progress, it is within the bounds of possibility that all may be involved. The disturbing causes are dull trade, low prices, and over-supply of miners. Some few 3 weeks ago there was a strike of Mount Kembla miners, but the points in dispute were promptly and satisfactorily settled by an appeal to conciliation under the voluntary Act passed by the Parliament of New South Wales. Then came a dispute at the Greta mine, where the Miners' Association j and the management of the mine disagreed as to the price to be paid for coalhewing. The men were entitled to receive, under the existing arrangement, from 43 to 5s per ton for hewing ; but the directors of the mine resolved that the rate must be reduced to 3s 10d, or otherwise they would close the mine. This reduction the men resolved to resist, and with reason, for their earnings at thelugher rate cannot be extravagant. Indeed, returns prove that the average earnings of coal-miners in New South Wales are £58 a year— a trifle over £1 a week. So the miners of Greta have struck, and as the Miners' Association has a Btrike fund of J66141 the struggle may be a prolonged one. There appears, however, to be some misunderstanding among the miners themselves, for a cable message the other day stated that a Newcastle miner on strike had sued the Union for his etrike pay, and, the Court having upheld his claim, other strikers were said to be contemplating similar action. In the absence of information as to the reason for the Union's refusal to pay the strike allowance, we would merely remark that the decision iB an important recognition of the legality of strikes and of the liability of Trade Unions. It is well that officiate of Trade Unions should remember that when they " call out " a body of men, every penny of their funds can be claimed for the relief of the men who respond to the call. The movement to reduce the hewing rates in New South Wales is apparently becoming general, for a more recent cable despatch states that the miners in the Metropolitan^ colliery at Clifton have " struck " in opposition to a reduction that has been notified. A general strike of miners would thus appear to be imminent, for the mine-owners are not likely to run the risk of being beaten in detail, and will, therefore, not pay high rates to a large body of miners to enable them to help the strikers. Bearing in mind the fact alreadypointedout— that the coal-miners of ] ■ New South Wales earn little more than £1 ; ' a W eek-it w palpable that there musb be i

something rotten in the state of the ooal , trade in that Colpny. Perhaps the radical • evil lies in the over-competition of mine!:ownera, who have glutted the market and i, reduced the. price of coal. Ab a result of | this policy, too many men have been { drawn into coal-mining, so that of the \ 12,000 hands only some 8000 get regular i employment.. Half-time and broken-time ! sre responsible for the low average of ! annual earnings, despite the fact that the rates: rot; pay per ton are higher than are warranted by the price of coal. "These facts constitute a strong argument for State control of the coal-mining industry. ' Competition leacfe to over-pro-duction , and, lowering of prices, not in response to any .public clamour or necessity, but, simply in the interests of the mining companieu that have surplus stocks; lowering' of- prices means reduction of wages, and the only conrees open to the miner are—submit or strike. What else can they 'do,' unless the State comeß to the rescue ? The Sydney Horning Herald suggests that the Miners' Association should spend its accumulated f undß in paying, coal-miners to go prospecting for gold, r which pays about as well as diggina'coaVarid it points out that there ' is no danger of glutting the market with I gold. "The'' 'scheme sounds plausible, but Trade Unionists will hesitate before they adopt tha principle of bribing men to go to other occupations. We fancy that aB soon as the four thousand superfluous coal miners were got rid of their places would | be filled by four, thousand new accessions from the ranks of the unemployed, all willing to be bought off on the same termß. No doubt conciliation will be attempted in the two strikes now in progress, and we hope it may prove as successful as it did in the Mount Eembla dispute j but it is to be feared; that' the crisis is one that even' compulsory, 'arbitration could not core, • > saVe bj-Jifie process of fixing such rates as would .compel a number of mines ' ito shut up*—a prospect as unpleasant ; to employers? as to employed. These ,;■ troubles - now transpiring in New '. South Wales are specially instructive! ' ; ; t'o !5 us' iri : New Zealand, as they foreshadoW what - our own experience will . ■ be in course of time, when competitive : private companies work their sweet will with our national stores of coal. A con- < . sideration of the facts we have recited . may lead our legislators to look seriously into the Coal Mines Acquisition Bill, introduced by Mr W. M'Lean in last session of Parliament.