The Star. SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1918. THE COAL STRIKE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12285, 6 April 1918, Page 8

The Star. SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1918. THE COAL STRIKE.

Tho news from tho West Coast regarding the settlement of the coal strike, oven though the’ settlement is only a partial one, will lie received with, satisfaction. Very little information has been published regarding the causes o,f the trouble, and what has como to' hand docs not disclose anything that could be regarded as a reasonable excuse for an industrial upheaval such its is involved in a coal strike. Tho strike at the State mine at Rnnanga has been settled, tho men deciding by a three to one majority to return tk> work. At Paparoa the strike is still on, and threatens to continue until the directors and tho Prime Minister give their decision regarding certain recommendations made by the Conciliation' Commissioner. The Prime Minister's ultimatum expires on Monday morning, but tho miners express a desire for an extension' of time. The granting of this request may depend on the nature of the Commissioner’s recommendation's, and Mr Massey will no doubt act tactfully, as well as, fiimly. Tho .public has got rather tired of miners' strikes on the West Coast and else-* where,, and there is a feeling ttie ijo-* verse of sympathetic towards men who choose this time to threaten tho whole Dominion with an addition to its troubles. The men who control the Miners’ Union do not appear to realise that the services of a Conciliation Commissioner aro more valuable before a dispute than after it. A strike engenders a feeling of irritation all round, and there are losses to workers as well as owners, and sometimes inconvenience and loss to tho community at (large. We hope that the public has hoard the last of miners’ strikes in New Zealand, and that the miners will settle down to perform the work which is being done for the nation by their fellows in Great Britain.