THE MINERS' ADVOCATE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9192, 23 March 1908, Page 1

THE MINERS' ADVOCATE.

EXPLANATION OF THE STRIKE. ADDRESS BY MR PRITCHARD. A red banner, -with " Socialist." written on itj adorned the table at :the I Opera House last evening, beside which Mr D. K. Pritchard, the ambassador of the Blackball miners, was to speak on the Blackball strike. Mr F. Cook presided at the meeting, and the Opera House was completely filled by an audience composed mostly of men, who received Mr Pritchard with tumultuous applause. Among others on the* platform was Mr A. R. Barclay, M.P., of Dunedin. The Chairman said that the workers were a political rabble, which the Socialist party had undertaken to organ- , ise. He scoffed at the Arbitration Act, ' saying that, with a Labour party in Parliament, the workers would not be at the mercy of the present Liberal Government, and would not care a rap for the Arbitration Act, Mr Pritchard, who prefaced his speech with a condemnation of the editor of a Christchurch newspaper, a copy of which he held in his hand, begged the reporters present to be careful in reporting him, for the '■' Lytteltdh Times " of Friday had credited Kirn with words which, if he had uttered them, could have placed him in prison. It would she stated in the morning that a great part his address was a tirade of abuse against the Press, and it would be a fact. If the editors were going to throw mud at him, he would throw mud back until the thing was th-<mgh. The more pennyworths of their brains the people bought, the more prolific they grew. The attitude of the Press in connection with the Arbitration Act was diametrically opposed to the express opinions of the workers. He, was conciliatorily inclined, but he was against the Arbitration Act. The Press told him that it was a sort of divinely inspired institution, and the Court that' administered it was a sort of heavenhorn tribunal. H e defied the editor of the journal which had stated that fifteen minutes crib time was provided in the the award, to come forward and discover one sentence relating to to "crib" time. Dealing with a clause of the award which stated that any matter of dispute should be dealt with by the president of the Union and the manager of ,the company, he said that Mr Justice Chapman had expressed surprise at the insertion of such a clause, which he considered was " bunkum " without the inclusion of a third person. If judges of the Supreme Court disagreed on the interpretation of such a thing { how was the Union to discriminate? The miners had agreed that fifteen minutes was too brief for "crib " time, and had taken the moral course of demanding more. The colliers' coal was weighed at the pit's mouth in the "tubs," or trucks, the tare of which was ascertained by an average between winter and summer, the tuba being heavier in winter than in summer. For some time past the man. on the weighbridge at the Blackball mine had thought that a., loss to the company wae going on, and the men had therefore demanded a tare of the tubs. It had then been ascertained, and he had proof of it, that every wooden tub was 141 b lighter than the tare allowed, while the iron tubs were 561 b lighter. That meant a loss to the miner of 561 b per truck. The manager had said that he was losing from 1000 to 1200 tons per annum between the weighbridge and the -station, which could not be accounted for, but if that was .so he should speedily be " kicked out/ 5 That was a matter for the company, not the miners. The heaviest loes to the company, as a matter of fact, was in the upkeep of the six miles of heavy cable for the three miles of aerial tramway. The statement of the manager that the extra two hours asked by the men would mean a decreased annual output of 25,000 tons was wrong, for that wa6 worked out on a twelve months' basis, whereas the

calculation should have been for three months only, reducing the decrease to 8000 tons. Mr Pritchard dealt for some time with the ventilation of the mine, and .stated that when a deputation had \ waited on the Hon J. M' Go wan with a complaint regarding it, the Minister had said, " You don't mean to tell me that the inspector is not \ doing his duty." The inspector, Mr Tennant, had gone through the mine with the manager, and had informed them that it was the best-ventfla*ed mine on the Coast. Next day the manager had dismissed seven men who were the whole executive of the Socialist party on the CCoastt t and some of the most prominent trades unionists there. At the meeting of the Miners' Union,, which bad been held on the same day, an amendment had been moved to refer the matter to the Clerk of Awards, and meantime support the seven men who had been dismissed! That would have meant an expenditure of £21 a week, which the seven men were not prepared to accept. If the amendment had been carried, the 6even men would have left the district*, and the chain of evidence against the mine would have been lost. • There was not a law in the dominion that would give justice to the workers in regard to discrimination against and victimising of trades unionists, and it was the duty of every trades union to so tie the hands of the leaders of industry that they could not victimise those who were working for the the emancipation of humanity. The mine manager had told Mr Lomas that he had dismissed the seven men to compel the Union to go to him to discuss the ten-hours' question. That was a violation of the arbitration and conciliation spirit, for the manager, had merely to give the Union . notice, and it would gladly have gone and discussed the matter, as it was legally bound to do. When Mr Leitch had dismissed the men, he had told them' that no selfrespecting employer would care to have anything to do with them or men like them. Incompetency with them could not be proved. One of the men had been twenty-three years a miner, and another sixteen years, and although the manager had said that he^ kept the best men, one of those dismissed had had a baker for a mate. Mr Pritchard proceeded to criticise the decision of Mr' Justice Sim, stating that far from the men refusing to do trucking, they had agreed to do it at the first time of asking. If anything was proved in the Court, it was that the manager had used violent and brutaj language in dismissing the men. He denied in any case that the question one way or another had nothing to do with the case. The manager's conduct had been conducive to the strike, and if he had taken the legal means by giving the men fourteen days' notice it would have had less effect on the tempers of the men, who would merely have taken steps to have their comrades reinstated. What was the use of trades unionism if, as Mr Justice Sim had stated, the manager was within his legal rights in dismissing the men because he thought they were likely to cause trouble? They iyere no good in the eyes of Mr J-stice ,Sim. A manager could dismiss^ men jone' by one or seven by seven without a reason, until he had dismissed ti.«n all. But they should not be ruled by technicalities; and to go back to tne moral interpretation of the law, it was not too much to expect at least an explanation for dismissal. He had not come for sympathy or charity, but his Union knew that in fighting for itself it was fighting the battles of tbe other unions, which need or need not assist. He had received telegrams that day stating that the subscription to date was £130, and that the State coal-mine had voted £50, and £20 a week until .the strike was finished- The company had also agreed to pay half the fine, and that, he considered, was the greatest proof that it was in the wrong and. knew it. Arbitration and conciliation was all right, but the administration of the Act was rotten, and he wae glad to see that the miners were preparing a petition asking for the expulsion or Mr Justice Sim from the Court. m He was sure that everyone was convinced that the miners were in the right and were fitrhting the fight of all the workers of New Zealand. Mr Pritchard was vociferously applauded on closing his address, and three' cheers were given for him, to which he briefly responded. Mr J. Thorn moved— " That this meeting of citizens of Christchurch, after hearing Mr Pritchard, expresses its hearty sympathy with the action taken by the Blackball Miners' Union to secure the extension ,of "crib" time from a quarter to- half an hour. This meeting also congratulates the miners on their united resentment of the dastardly action of the mine manager in victimising seven of their comrades, and pledges itself to financially support the wives and children of those who have ceased work." He said that the miners had taken the moral course in ceasing work. Arbitration had no power to order the reinstatement of victimised men, and if it had it could give no guarantee that the men would not be subjected to further victimisation. The Act w/ts administered in favour of the capitalists and to the detriment of the workers. Mr J. Eckroyd seconded the motion, Vhich was carried with one dissentient vote from the back of the hall. Cheers for the miners closed the meeting. The collection taken at the doors amounted to £16 6s. i