THE NEWCASTLE COAL STRIKE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2682, 11 December 1909, Page 7

THE NEWCASTLE COAL STRIKE.

THE UNION MANIFESTO. The manifesto ;from the Strike Congress, explaining the cause of the struggle, and the (present position, end appealing for funds, states that the dt icision to strike was come to with great reluctance after making every eridea vour to secure redress tor their grievances by all legitimate means at the disposal. But these having proved unavailing, and the conditions undei which the miners labored becoming a* length quite intolerable, they had been compelled to lay down their tools i the only effective means whereby they could obtain justice. “For a long period,” the manifesto proceeds, “ the miners have endured unjust conditions; have been subjected to a thousand petty tyrannies; liavv earned only barely sufficient to keep body and s oul together; and seen every effort made to redress grievances treated either with indifference or sidetracked by some ingenious trickery, their patience at length exhausted, they have resolved to insist upon a fair deal, and now ask their fellow unionists, throughout Australasia to come to their aid. The coal mine proprietors refuse the men’s moderate and fair demand for an open conference to discuss* and redress grievances, and openly boast that they can starve the men into submission. There . is, indeed, good reason to believe that this strike has been deliberately provoked by a nolicy of pin pricks and a studied re.fusal of redress of grievances in order at once to break the unions and enable the .proprietors to rig the coal market and exploit the public. “ The struggle promises to ...be a great one. It is not between the coal proprietors and the coal miners only, bn:* also between capital and labor. Vested interests, the daily press, and every powerful organisation of capital in Australasia are arrayed against us, and we call upon our fellow workers to. stand shoulder to shoulder with us in this fight. We want money; we want it badly; and we want .it now.” PROFITS OF COLLIERY OWNERS. Mr Prendergast, AI.L. A., speaking in Melbourne last week, said that if tlie castle miners were paid their full wages re. should be an output of 180,000 tons of coal a week. As a matter of fact, he understood the ‘output to be only from 60,000 tons to 80,000 tons a week. Discussing the companies, he said that in 1824 a charter was granted, to the Australian Agricultural Company, which had a. capital of £430,000, yet had paid in dividends £3,000,000, drawn from its mines and the rents of its lands. The Newcastle Wallsend •Company, with a paid-up capital of £IOO,OOO, in 17 years had* paid £270,OOG. “A MISERABLE CHRISTMAS.” “It cannot matter much,” said a member of the union to an interviewer last week, “as the longer the strike continues we will fare the worse, and whether we like it or not, we will bepractieally in the same position as if we -were on strike, because there will be nothing for us to do. lam looking forward to a miserable Christmas if the trouble is not ended very soon. As far as I can see there is nothing else for it but the" nationalisation of the tmpnes. 'I have been through two strikes, and I can tell you I have a keen recollection of both. 'They are a curse.” ?' . • “THE DEATH GRIP AND FINAL STRUGGLE.” The Victorian Trades Hall Council has issued a circular appealing for prompt and substantial financial assistance on behaif of the strikers. Most of the circular is devoted to an attack on the coal vend, and concludes: “ The coal miners’ strike is your strike. It is but the prelude to a greater fight —the death grip and final struggle, and overthrow of capitalism.” OIL FUEL FOR RAILWAYS. The New South Wales Railway Commissioners are making elaborate precautions for meeting-the most desperate emergencies in the way of a coal fapiine. Should the coal supplies fail altogether, the railways will be worked on a reduced- schedule of time-tables by the use of oil fuel. At all costs the inter-State express services are to be maintained. Arrangements are well on towards completion for this. ( SUPPORT FROM OVERSEA. The present industrial position has every prospect of being a prolonged one, but from information received the strike congress are making every preparation for financial support (says the Sydney Morning Herald). They expect £IO,OOO a week from the British .Miners’ Federation, and anticipate a similar amount from the United States, Canada, Germany, and France. These amounts, in conjunction with that which is expected to be derived from tlie share of profits on the sale of coal from the Ebbw Main and Young Wallsend r mines, should be an incentive to the men on strike to fight to the bitterend. Similar requests have been made to all organisations throughout Australia, many- of which have been acknowledged, promising support. ' THE POSITION IN VICTORIA. With regard to Victorian interests, it is known that every day the gravity of the situation'is becoming more intensified (says the “Age”). In many cases the small stocks of coal held by consumers are fast disappearing, and should the stoppage of supplies -continue many thousands of men will shortly be thrown out of work. 'People are wondering what will happen when supplies of foreign ooal come to hand,, and the unionists are called upon to do the unloading. The waterside workers, comprising the wharf laborers and stevedores, are well organised, but it is considered that as, they have no quarrel with the public and can lia.ve no interest in -strangling industrial life,' but, on the other hand, have much to gain from public sympathy they will decide to handle the'coal it it be fully assured that it is the produce of outside coalfields, and that the coal vend has no interest directly or indirectly in its disposition. Meanwhile the employers here, who'are directly interested in the struggle, are looking on, satisfied that the key of the position is held in Sydney! - STRIKERS MUST j)0 NO WORK. The Aberdare Miners’ Lodge has decided that in the event of any colliery employee engaging in any work other than 'for i the federation during - the progress of the, strike lie shall be fined £lO the fine to he paid before the offender will be allowed to resume work after the strike. SCARCITY OF BOTTLES. i A bottle famine is predicted as one of the results of the coal strike. Glass works are closing down, and a representative of the firm of Messrs Vance and Ross, glass manufacturers, at Alexandria,; states that'this week therei

willvnot bo a- glass bottle made in New South Wales. * ~ SYDNEY BRICK; YARDS CLOSED. Practically "every brick-making yard around Sydney has now ceased work, owing to the scarcity of coal. Not only are the-men engaged in the making of ’ bricks thrown out of work, but engine-drivers, carters, and others associated with the yards are rendered idle. It is estimated that considerably over 1000 men have been thrown out of work. . , , -, ’ ■ .... ',