1070

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

November 20, 1914.

Table B.—Arbitrations in County Courts (England and Wales) and Sheriff Courts (Scotland) under the
Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906.—Mines.

Nature of injury.	Total number of cases.	How dealt with.				Claims for compensation settled.									Redemption of weekly payments.	
		1 Heard by judge.	| Heard by arbitrator.	1 Accep'ance of money I paid into court.	| Otherwise disposed of.	No. of claims settled.	Result.		Amount of compensation awarded.							
							1  I For applicant.	For respondent.	Lump sums.			Weekly payments.				
															No. of cases.	Total amount.
									No. of cases.	Total amount.		No. of cases.	i Total amount.			
England and Wales :—  Death—  Leaving dependants		576	553	1	I  11	1  11	536	497	39	497	<£ s.  92,936 4	d.  3		£	s. d.		£ s. d.
Not leaving dependants	2	2	—	—	—	2	2	—	2	20 0	0	—		—	—	—
Total incapacity		783	596	8	20	159	513	416	97	61	1,619 18	2	355	240	18 7	25	',643 9 3
Partial incapacity		205	148	6	1	50	115	88	27	14	459 13	8	74	40	6 4	3	195 0 0
Total 		1,566	1,299	15	32	220	1,166	1,003	163	574	95,635 16	1	429	281	4 11	28	1,838 9 3
Scotland: —  Death—  Leaving dependants		114	110			4	18	10	8	10	2,113 16	8					
Total incapacity		383	298	—	—	85	22 >	142	79	2	269 0	0	140	99	7 11	—	—
Partial incapacity		68	49	—	,—	19	27	16	11	2	25 9	0	14	7	11 1	—	—
Total 		565	457	—	—	108  1	270	168	98	14	2,408 5	8	154	106	19 0	—	—

Table < .—Memoranda Registered in County Courts (England and Wales) and Sheriff Courts (Scotland)
under Schedule II. (9) of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1906.—Mines.

co <x> co 1 o  Nature of injury.	cd  a fl fl 7s o H	How settled.			Amount of compensation.				Redemption uf Weekly Payments.	
	By agreement.	By committee.	By agreed arbi- trator.	Lump sums.		Weekly payments.			
				Number of cases.	I  Total amount.	Number of cases.	Total amount.	Number of cases	Total amount.
England and Wales :—  Death—  Leaving dependants ...	415  Not leaving dependants	1  Incapacity	 2,666	406  1 1  2,657	9  9  18			415  1  85	£ s. d.  80,829 3 5  10 0 0  7,316 8 3	1,453	£ s. d.  1,130 18 3	730	£ s. d.  74,667 6 4
Total 	 3.082  ScotLnd:—  Death—  Leaving dependants ...	139  Incapacity	4,773	3,' 64  139 4,773		—	501  139  1,909	88,155 11 8  26,('86 7 2  7,626 13 8	1,453  341	1,130 18 3  272 0 3	730  1,708	74,667 6 4  49,944 14 9
Total 	 4,912	4,912	—	—	2,048	33,713 0 10	341	272 0 3		1,708	49,944 H 9

the Act of 1906 was 32,304, and in addition there were
86 memoranda registered under the earlier Acts. The
number registered in 1912 was 34,429 under the Act
of 1906, and 133 under the earlier Acts. The number is
only a small proportion of the cases in which compen-
sation is settled by agreement, and in the case of Eng-
land and Wales and also Ireland shows a decrease on
the previous year. The average compensation to
dependants in cases of death under the Act of 1906 was
JH78, and the average weekly payment in cases of
incapacity was 13s. lOd. The number of cases of inca-
pacity under the Act of 1906, in which the memorandum
registered was for a lump sum and not a weekly pay-
ment was 8,015, as against 5,485 cases in which a
weekly payment was agreed upon. The corresponding
figures for 1912 were 9,039 and 6,273. The average
amount of the compensation was <£18 17s. In addition
to the 8,015 cases in which the original agreement was
for a lump sum, there were 10,953 cases in which
memoranda for redemption of weekly payments by a
lump sum were registered. The figures in regard to
mines are given in Table C.

Under Schedule II. (16) of the Act of 1906, the
Secretary of State has power to. confer on any com-
mittee, representative of an employer and his workmen,
as respects any matter in which the committee act as
arbitrators, or which is settled by agreement submitted
to and approved by the committee, all or any of the
powers conferred by the Act exclusively on county or
sheriff courts or county court judges or sheriffs. Five
Orders have been made under this provision in respect
of the five committees in connection with the Durham
coal trade. During 1913 these committees sat, in all,
on 30 occasions, and dealt with 271 cases, of which 137
were fatal, and 134 disablement, cases.-

In 1913 there were only 171 cases under the
Employers’ Liability Act, and in 111 the question of
compensation was actually determined under the Work-
men’s Compensation Act.

The number of cases under the Workmen's' Compen-
sation Acts carried to the Courts of Appeal was 212 (as
compared with 208 in 1912), or just under 2-9 per cent,
of the cases decided in the county courts and sheriffs’
courts; 107 were appeals by workmen, and 105 by
employers. Of the appeals by workmen, 19, and of the
appeals by employers, 34 were successful: 44 were aban-
doned, withdrawn, or settled out of court before hearing.
Two of the appeals were under the Act of 1897. There
were six appeals to the House of Lords (as compared
with three in 1907, three in 1908, two in 1909, nine in
1910, 12 in 1911, and four in 1912), the workman being
the appellant in five cases. There was one appeal by a
workman in an action under the Employers’ Liability
Act.

The number of medical referees appointed for the pur-
pose of the Workmen's Compensation Act was, on

December 31, 1913 :—In England, 213; in Scotland, 83;
in Ireland, 45. The number of appeals under section 8
in Scotland is remarkable, and points to some abuse by
Scottish employers of the power given by the Act; 192
appeals were taken, by employer (as compared with 133
in England and Wales), and only 27 succeeded.

The statistics furnished by the Chief Registrar of
Friendly Societies show that on December 31, 1913,
105 certified schemes were in Operation in England and
Wales, of which nine were in connection with mines.
Of the 70,170 workmen in the employment, 65,072 were
under the schemes, the corresponding figures in the case
of mines being 17,593 and 17,142 respectively.

The annual report of Lloyd’s Register of Shipping states
that at the close of the year ended June 30 10,621 merchant
vessels, registering nearly 24,000,000 tons gross, held classes
assigned by the committee of Lloyd’s Register. During
the year the committee assigned classes to 713 new vessels.
Their registered gross tonnage, amounting to 2,020,185 tons,
is the highest total for any one year recorded in the
history of the society. Of the 713 new vessels, 664 are
steamers of 2,014,397 tons, and 49 are sailing vessels of
5,788 tons. Of the total about 60 per cent, were built for
the British Empire, and about 40 per cent, for other
countries. A feature worthy of mention in connection
with the progress of marine engineering is the increasing
use of steam turbines. In last year’s report reference was
made to the increasing employment of oil engines for
marine purposes. In view of the importance of this means
of mechanical propulsion, the committee have now issued
rules for the construction and survey of Diesel engines and
their auxiliaries. There are in service at the present time,
27 vessels holding the society’s classification which are
fitted with Diesel engines, the collective horse-power being
approximately 50,000 I.H.P., and 20 others are in course
of construction with a view to classification. Of vessels
fitted with oil engines of other than the Diesel type there
are 36 classed with Lloyd’s Register, and several others are
being built to class. In last year’s report, allusion was
made to the recent revision of the society’s rules relating
to the burning and carrying of oil fuel. These rules
provide for the use of oil fuel the flash point of which is
not lower than 150 degs. Fahr. In some cases, however, it
has of late been desired to employ oil having a lower flash
point, and the committee have approved plans making
suitable provision for the safe use of such oil. In this
connection it may be mentioned that fires have occurred in
vessels the fittings of which were only suitable for high
flash point oil, and as these fires might perhaps have been
caused by the employment of oil fuel having a flash point
lower than 150 degs. Fahr., the committee felt it to be
their duty to call the special attention of the owners of
vessels in which oil fuel is used to the importance of seeing
that their vessels are supplied with fuel of a suitable
quality.

TRADE AND THE WAR.

Bankers and Trade—Cyandide from the Transvaal Mines
• —The Koppers Company : Application for a Receiver—

Home Secretary and the Kent Collieries—Premier on
Diverted Coal Cargoes—Trade Conditions in Germany
and Austria—Patents Rulings—Employers’ Association
Ask for More Drastic Action.

A conference*was recently held at the Treasury with
members of the Stock Exchange Committee, and as a result
it is now announced that Stock Exchange transactions
entered into by a member of the Stock Exchange before the
war on behalf of an enemy and not completed when hostili-
ties began, cannot, in view of the law relating to trading
with the enemy, be completed by such member for the
enemy.

The Danish Government, by a series of proclamations,
have prohibited the exportation of goods. These include
coal, coke, petroleum of all kinds, benzine and other
materials for fuel and also lubricants; gunpowder and
explosives ; electric cables, raw materials for the building
or repair of ships of iron or steel, brass plates and bars,
copper wire, antimony, lead, tin, zinc, tinned sheet iron,
crude aluminium, also wood in blocks, beams or boards.

The French Government have added the following to the
list of absolute contraband :—Sulphuric acid, haematite,
nickel ore and nickel ferrochrome, chrome ore, unworked
copper, lead bars, plates and pipes, aluminium, ferrosilicate,
barbed wire, mineral oil, motor fuel, except lubricants.
They have added sulphur and glycerine to the list of
conditional contraband. The French have adopted the
British rules for contraband aboard neutral vessels adopted
by Order in Council, October 29 last.

President Wilson has issued a proclamation ordering the
observance of neutrality along the Panama Canal and in
the canal zone during the war.

Before the Institute of Bankers on the 11th inst., Lord
Inchcape, in his presidential address, referred to the
financial and trade prospects of Great Britain after the
war. While the war lasted, there must be a great
shrinkage in most departments owing to Europe being
practically closed to international commerce. There will
be a shrinkage in the consumption of this country also
which will adversely reflect upon most branches of trade.
When the war is over, the taxation which will be a burden
upon Europe for many years to come, the enormous
destruction of property on the Continent, the waste in non-
reproductive expenditure entailed by the war, will set back
international trade for some years. But, given the success
which the Allies will eventually achieve, we shall, he said,
in time regain a good deal of the loss which we are bound
to suffer. It may be some years before we see a return of
the wave of prosperity which we have recently enjoyed, but
we shall not repine if we have to shed some of that
extravagance and luxury which has shown itself perhaps
too freely in the past few years, if we are able to retain
that place in the world which makes for culture, civilisation,
peace and goodwill.

Presiding at the general meeting of the Mayo (Rhodesia)
Development Company (1908) last week, Mr. C. F. Rowsell
remarked that a very large amount of cyanide was produced
in Germany, from which practically all the supplies of the
Transvaal mines had been received. On the outbreak of
the war it became necessary for those mines to rely on
British manufacturers for their supplies, and the firms
interested in the industry had risen well to the occasion.
The supplies to enable the Tranvaal mines to continue
production would be easily produced in this country.

In the Chancery Division on the 12th inst., before Mr.
Justice Warrington, Mr. Roope Reeve applied ex parte on
behalf of the plaintiffs, Messrs. W. Edwards, Kochs and
Company, Sheffield, for the appointment of a receiver of a
company called the Koppers Coke Oven and By-Product
Company. Counsel said the application was urgent by
reason of the state of war existing. The plaintiffs were a
partnership firm, and the defendant was Heinrich Koppers,
who was an alien enemy and was resident in Germany, and
had never been in this country. The plaintiff firm consisted
of one German, who was of British birth, and of another
gentleman, who was a German, resident in this country,
and had been for upwards of 20 years. He was not
naturalised, although he had applied for naturalisation,
but he was duly registered. The plaintiffs had carried on
the business of colliery engineers in this country for very
many years, and 12 years ago entered into partnership with
the defendant Koppers for the exploiting of coke ovens and
plant for the recovery of by-products. His lordship asked
whether the matter had been represented to the Board of
Trade. Mr. Reeve said they had not done that. His
lordship said the appointment of a controller under the
Act would answer the purpose. Mr. Reeve said if he could
not get a receiver they would have to adopt the course
suggested by his lordship. Counsel submitted an affidavit
by Mr. Kochs, who stated that Koppers was resident in
Germany, and that the company had .£294,438 worth of
contracts in hand, and that many of the firms concerned in
these contracts were .willing to continue the business if
they were sure that they could go on trading with the
company. If the works were stopped 600 or 700 English
workmen would be thrown out of work, besides many more
being affected ; <£50,000 was now being withheld, and could
be got in if the firms owing it were sure it would be right
to pay money to the company. His lordship said he would
communicate with the Board of Trade at once, and would
send them the affidavit.

The Temps draws special attention to the remarkable
coaling system devised by Germany for her commerce
destroyers, and remarks that she put this system to a
practical test on a large scale when she undertook the
coaling and provisioning of Rojdestvensky’s fleet on its way
to Chinese waters during the Russo-Japanese war.

At the meeting of the council of the London Chamber of
Commerce, on Friday, Mr. F. Faithfull Begg presiding,
the council adopted a resolution from the Manufacturers’
Section urging that action be taken, through the Govern-
ment, with a view to the most liberal possible financial
facilities being afforded to employers of labour and others
in connection with the development of existing manu-
factures and the establishment of new industries in order
that the country might be in a position to take full advan-
tage of the change in the economical situation brought
about by the war. A resolution also emanating from the
manufacturers’ section was adopted expressing the opinion