The Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 1910. STRIKE RESULTS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXV, Issue 12985, 28 January 1910, Page 4

The Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 1910. STRIKE RESULTS.

The distress occasioned by the coal strike in New South Wales is reported to be very much more acute than is generally .supposed, and visitors to the strike districts who have not seen beneath the surface have formed impressions on the subject which could easily nave been disillusicn:opA had they visited the homes of lh; people. It was stated when the strike irst started that the milieus had large re erv.; funds and that many of them were well off and could stand an Industrial siege for mouths. T :> e strike funds are now exhausted, and even those miners who ■wu cottages have been compelled to inert /age the ; r holdings >u older to prov'de 'or the requirements of their families, daily others are suffering pinching pov. ■rty: they have none of flic comforts mid few of the necessaries of life. In some mines bread is the only food available, tud pollard and treacle form the staple meal of scores of women and children. Unfortnnaiely the action of the miners in ■.talking has alienated the sympalhv of many of those who are in a position to ■ender practical assistance, and altogether am whole business is a sorry one. The Hobart Mercury, in one of its issues last .veck, refers to two able-bodied men father and son—who went from Newcastle co Tasmania, to seek work in the mines of lie latter State. The father left his wife ind nine other children behind. Speaking •bout the strike he said: “I had no grievance. I was simply told to come out, and. if course, I had to obey. I have 10 eh.ilIren, nine of whom are at home, so you an guess I can’t afford to remain Ion? out of work, strike or no strike. Oh ! ves, vc got .strike pay, and a lot of good that vas to ns. Do you know how ranch mv ,on and myself received for flic last seven weeks? Just 17s (id each, and that is a great lot to keep a family like mine on. •Ve managed to scrape together a pound ■ach, and here we are in Tasmania ready b go to work if we can get it. I might ay my family are practically starving, for vhilst we are out of work they only have i few shillings a week, which one of the girls earns to keep them going.” This is i typical instance of hundreds of others hat might be recorded, and goes to show Tic amazing folly of resorting to such baroarong methods as a strike to settle industrial differences. The experience quoted above represents but one side of the picture. The workers are not the only persons who have suffered by the Strike. Men in a small way of business who had hoped : n a short lime to make a competency for themselves and families have had their hopes rudely dashed to the ground, for their credit accounts at the bank have been turned into debits, having to the serious loss of business caused by stagnation in trade and commerce generally. Factory proprietors, merchants and others have also suffered; severely, and the State has received a set, back, the results of which it will take years to recover from.