610

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

March 19, 1915.

meant 338,000 shifts for each fatal accident from falls
of roof. He ventured to say, having regard to the nature
of -the risk, that such a figure was one that neither
managers nor miners had any need to be ashamed of.

Mr. John Gerrard said the paper was a very valuable
addition to the literature on the subject. With regard
to inclination, he thought in a steeply inclined mine
greater care ought to be taken in placing the timber than
in a less inclined mine. .’In his opinion, there was con-
siderable danger in the withdrawal of tim'ber, and more
use should be made of the safe distance withdrawing
appliance. - There were too many cases in which the
very short steel hammer was used, bringing the miner
into close proximity to the prop, involving serious risk
from fall of roof. With regard to Mr. Orchard’s obser-
vations on the low death-rate from falls, he had not
looked at the matter from that point of view. He would
like to see the number of fatalities from that cause
reduced, and one means of bringing it about was by the
adoption of systematic timbering efficiently carried out.
The question of supervision was one calling for atten-
tion. He gathered that Mr. Siddall’s suggestion ■ was
not the adoption of the Durham system of all timbering
being done by deputies, but rather the appointment of a
man, additional to the deputy and the fireman, whoso
duty would be to supervise the setting of the timber. In
mines where the roof was bad, good results would follow
if. more careful supervision was exercised. He was not
going to. say that a fireman had too much to do, or that
the districts were too large—some firemen said they
were, but then some firemen were not as energetic as
others. .Still,, they should not have too much to do, and
their work should be so apportioned that they could
effectively supervise the whole of the men working in
the mine.

On the motion of the Chairman, the discussion was
adjourned to a subsequent meeting. .

Mining Education.

A discussion followed on the paper on “ Mining Educa-
tion,” read at the last meeting by Mr. Noah Williams,
who announced that five mining engineers from South
Wales and the Director of Mining Education for the
Glamorgan County Council (Mr. Davies), who were
visiting Lancashire for the purpose of investigating the
system of mining education, had asked permission to be
present at the meeting.

The Chairman having extended a hearty welcome to
the deputation,

Mr. Davies said they had come North to perform some
research work in connection with mining education, and.
he had already learned enough to appreciate how little
he knew in that direction. What struck him very
forcibly in regard to mining education Was that there
were two directions in which their efforts should be
turned; ,A careless miner , might wreck the plans and
ideals of the cleverest mining engineer, and therefore
it was essential that the education of the miner should
be: attended to just as much as the education of the
mining engineer. They did not want an educated
miner unless they got a'better miner, and to attain'that
object attention should be paid to the human side as
well as the scientific side. It was only by studying the
human side that they would produce an intelligent and
careful miner. He incidentally mentioned that every
student at the mining school in his district had volun-
teered for active service.

; Prof. Garnett, of the Manchester School of Tech-
nology, said the principal point in Mr. Williams’ paper
was the need for more co-ordination in mining education.
In his opinion, one reason for the lack of co-ordination
was to be found in the statutory provisions dealing with
education. The Act of 1902 did a great deal to improve
organised education in England. It brought secondary
education under ' larger authorities 'than ‘ elementary
education, so that while a small borough or urban district
might be responsible for its own elementary education,
the,organisation of secondary education was in the hands
of the large county or county borough authorities. It
should have gone further, and laid down that while a
larger authority was needed for secondary than for
elementary education, a still larger authority was required
for university, or technological education. In other
words, they ought to have one large authority covering,
say, Lancashire, Cheshire, and Derbyshire, dealing with
technological education, which would be the means of
securing co-ordination right through from the classes in
the mining village up to the great central colleges, like
the college at Wigan and the Manchester School of
Technology. Last summer a scheme was mooted for
widening the basis of the governing body of the School
of Technology in Manchester by taking in representatives
of other higher education authorities, and making it a
college for the whole of the North-West of England, but
owing to -the war the matter had been allowed to stand-
over. Meanwhile, however, there was one authority
which could co-ordinate the mining education of the dis-
trict, and that authority was the Manchester Geological
Society. Something might be done in that direction if
the. Society were to invite representatives of the Lanca-
shire County Council, the Manchester School of
Technology, the Mining College at Wigan, county
boroughs”specially interested in mining, such as St.
Helens and Burnley, and perhaps representatives, of one
or'two‘ other central institutions, to take part in the
discussion of. a scheme which would cover the whole
range of mining education from the schools for th’e
..working miner, the part-time day schools for apprentices
pr vounger persons, right up to the higher work in
colleges or universities. The curriculum should not, in
his opinion, be devoted purely to mining subjects, but

should include chemistry and engineering, in order to
enable the men to deal with such problems as the
utilisation of by-products, and so on. Mt. Williams
seemed to make a very valuable distinction between the
education of the working miner, corresponding in engi-
neering to the tradesman, and the mine manager corre-
sponding perhaps in engineering to the technical man.
They had suffered in their technical education to some
extent from an idea that there should be a number of
courses extending over seven or eight years leading
consecutively from a course for boys of 14 up to a course
foremen of 21 or 22. It was better for a youth who knew
he was going to continue his education until he was 21
or 22 not to be attending evening classes at 14; he should
go on with his secondary education until he reached 16
or 17, and then enter evening classes. He recognised
that a system which was to cover the whole field must
be democratic, and ought to be so arranged as to make
it possible for the brilliant boy to get to the top of the
tree. 'The Geological Society, if it was sufficiently
wealthy, could help such a Scheme by the provision of
scholarships. Suppose they had a system of mining
education which took in the boy who entered the mine
as soon as the law allowed him, the boy who could stop
at school until he was 16, and the boy who was able to
go on to the university, there nevertheless remained a
number of miners who had not passed through any
course of training, and who could not look forward to
the higher positions in the mine. For men of that kind
Mr. Williams’ proposal for a series of popular lectures
was a very valuable one, and he hoped it would be
carried into operation. But he would like those lectures
to deal with other subjects, apart from the application
of science to mining. Citizenship subjects, such as
economics and the history of trades unions as related to
mining, might be introduced and made very attractive.
In conclusion, he expressed the wish that something
might.be done in the way of appointing a committee to
consider the whole question of mining education.

Mr. Drummond Paton suggested that one means of
securing a good educational, system was by the appoint-
ment of a mining board.

Owing to the lateness of the hour the discussion was
adjourned to the next meeting.

LABOUR AND WAGES.

South Wales and Monmouthshire.

The Conciliation Board for South Wales met at Cardiff
on Tuesday, and there was a long list of subjects to be
dealt with—including those of Easter holidays, the banks-
men’s questions, and a number of local disputes. The
men’s Federation had intimated their intention of giving
formal notice terminating the present agreement, also
setting out the required amendments; and the owners had
made an offer of a war .bonus of 10 per cent, on the stan-
dard. Mr. F. L. Davis, who presided, referred to these
questions, ^although they were not among the agenda; but
inasmuch as the national meeting Was to take place in
London, he thought it right to inform the workmen’s repre-
sentatives of ,the employers’ position. They could not, he
said, until the end of the war, enter into anv discussion
of the proposals for revising the agreement; and he thought
that in proffering a war bonus of 10 per cent., the employers
had made a very fair offer. The employers then referred
to the question of more energetic work, and urged the
men’s representatives to impress upon the men that there
was need for greater regularity, and they made special
reference to Lord Kitchener’s speech, Mr. F. L. Davis
remarking that if the men put full time and effort into the
work a considerable effect would be produced upon the
price of coal. Instead of the usual three days’ holiday at
Easter, it was decided that only. Easter Monday and
Tuesday should be fixed, both sides being wishful to respond
to the appeal of the Admiralty that any serious reduction
in the output should be avoided. Upon the banksmen’s
grievances, there being outstanding questions at a number
of collieries, it was agreed to call a special meeting of the
committee at an early date. The question of re-instatement
of men who had enlisted was brought up from the work-
men’s side, it being pointed out that the places of a great
number of miners who had enlisted had been .filled by
strangers; and the hope was expressed that the employers
would consider the position of the enlisted men. In reply,
the owners stated that wherever possible they would ensure
re-instatement. Another question raised was as to search-
ing of underground workmen on the surface.

The delegates of the anthracite miners, at their meeting
in Swansea on Saturday, represented about 14,000 members,
and they discussed the conditions to be embodied in the
new agreement. One of their demands will be to secure
recognition of the custom of attending funerals when fatal
accidents have occurred; and they will make a further
demand that where both through and large coal are men-
tioned in the price list, they should have the option of
claiming pay in respect of through instead of large when-
ever they desired so to do.

During Saturday a mass meeting of the men employed in
the Nine Mile Point Colliery was held, they having been on
stop since Thursday; and after the matters in dispute had
been fully discussed, Mr. W. Brace, M.P. (president), and
Mr. A. Onions (treasurer), with other Federation leaders,
being in attendance, it was decided to accept the offer of
the employers, with the exception of a requirement to sign
a .five years’ agreement. The manager having been com-
municated with, he decided to deal with the local leaders if
the men returned to work on Monday, and this was
accepted, work being resumed in due course. About 2,000
men were affected.

The practice of sub-contracting came under discussion at
the meeting of Eastern Valleys, Monmouthshire, miners on
Monday; and the agent having reported that he had received
no answer from Messrs. Vipond and Company to a. request
that sub-contracting should be abolished, a resolution was
passed applying for leave to tender notice at the Varteg
United Collieries forthwith.

Between 600 -and 700 men were idle at the Markham
Colliery, Sirhowy Valley, on Tuesday, on account of some
disagreement concerning working places.

The day wage men in the Aberdare district have been
raising the question of overtime work by night men, they
desiring this to be six hours per turn, in accordance with

an alleged previous understanding. At some of the
collieries the men have resolved not to work overtime until
an explicit agreement on this basis has been arrived at. ;

The coal trimmers of Newport gave notice on Monday
for termination of their agreement at the end of the month;
and it is stated that they intend to ask for an increase of
Jd. per ton, with higher rates for special steamers. ■

North of England.

That being the first council meeting since his election as
president, Mr. William Weir was congratulated by the
council of the Northumberland Miners’ Association at its
special meeting on Saturday. The meeting had . as its
object the consideration of the instructions of the Miners’
Federation of Grea,t Britain regarding the termination of
notices. In Northumberland the minimum percentage is 25
per cent, above the 1879 basis, and it is desired to have this
25 per cent, embodied in a new basis wage. It was
announced that the council had unanimously passed the
following resolution, which will be submitted* to the mem-
bers for acceptance or rejection :—“ That we carry out the
instructions of our Miners’ Federation, requiring every dis-
trict to give notice on April 1 to terminate existing wage
agreements, with a view to new agreements being arranged
so as to include as far as possible the principles embodied in
conference resolutions regarding new basis wages and
wages of surface workers.” The county vote is returnable
on March 27.

A conference of representatives of Durham miners’ lodges
was held on Saturday at South Shields, to consider the
question of demanding an immediate advance of wages to
meet the increase in the cost of living caused by the war.
Forty lodges in various parts of the county were repre-
sented. A resolution was passed to the effect that the time
had arrived when the Durham miners ought to receive a 25
per cent, 'advance in wages.

As the result of a large number of the Cleveland iron-
stone miners having joined the Colours, the output of iron-
stone in the Cleveland district has been considerably reduced.
At ordinary times the men only work a short day between
Thursday and Monday in Easter week, but the Cleveland
ironstone mine owners have issued an appeal to the miners
to work on Good Friday this year, in order that the supply
of ironstone might be kept up. In the appeal, the mine
owners state that at the present time the supply of iron-
stone is barely sufficient to meet requirements, and the
employers are rather concerned regarding the supply of ore
for the coming Easter holidays. For many years past Good
Friday has been regarded as a holiday at the mines, but if
the holiday is adhered to this year it is feared that serious
inconvenience will arise in keeping the furnaces going over
Easter, there being practically no stock in hand to meet any
shortage. Owing to the abnormal state of affairs now pre-
vailing, the difficulties will be greatly accentuated if the
miners do not work on Good Friday. In conclusion, the
mine owners state that the North-Eastern Railway Com-
pany has promised, owing to the special circumstances of
the situation, to remove the ironstone from the mines to the
furnaces, if the mines are working. The matter is to be
considered by the miners during the next few days.

At a special meeting of the Cumberland Miners’ Associa-
tion at Workington on Tuesday, Mr. J. Dickinson pre-
siding, it was resolved to forward the following proposals
to the Coal Owners’ Association for incorporation in a new
wage agreement :—

(1)	That in forming a new wage agreement, we ask that
50 per cent, be added to all existing rates nowT being paid
to all underground workers, and that a minimum of 15 per
cent, be paid on the new standard rates; all subsequent
advances and reductions to be in 'accordance with -any subse-
quent advances and reductions that may take place in the
Midland Federation Conciliation Board’s area; the new
agreement to remain in operation for the same period as
that agreed upon by the Midland Federation Conciliation
Board; and any advance agreed upon in the future to apply
to both the existing minimum wage and to any that may
hereafter be agreed upon.

(2)	That -a minimum wage of 5s. per day be paid to sur-
face workers; that 35 per cent, be added to the existing
standard rates of surface workers, with a minimum of 15
per cent, on the new standards; and that subsequent
advances and reductions be in accordance with the agree-
ment governing and controlling underground wages.

(3)	That at collieries where two or three shifts are being
worked, a shaft and affifth be paid for each shift to those
working afternoon or night shift, thus making six shifts for
five worked; and that workmen constantly On night shift be
paid a shift and a-quarter for each shift worked.

(4)	That boys 14 years of age commencing work on the
surface be paid a standard rate of Is. 8d. per day, with a
minimum of 15 per cent.; that standard rates be advanced
3d. per day for six months; percentage advances or reduc-
tions to be made on the same lines as the underground
agreement. '

(5)	That the hours of mechanics and other surface workers
should not exceed 51 hours per week, and where better con-
ditions exist for any class of surface workers, that they
remain as at present.

(6)	That 35 per cent, be added to the screen women’s
standard, with a minimum of 15 per cent, on the new stan-
dard ; the percentage advances or reductions to be on the
same line as the underground agreement.

A letter was read from Mr. T. P. Martin, secretary to the
Coal Owners’ Association, stating that the summer reduction
of 2J per cent., which should have taken place on the 12th
prox., in accordance with the 1908 agreement, will not be
asked for by the employers.

Federated Area.

The Coal Conciliation Board for the Federated mining
districts in England and North Wales, meeting at the West-
minster Palace Hotel, London, on Friday last, provisionally
agreed on the terms of a new wage agreement for the area.
Mr. F. J. Jones, South Yorkshire, chairman of the Board,
presided, with Mr. Stephen Walsh, M.P., chairman of the
men’s section, in the vice-chair, and a full attendance of
the members, with the joint secretaries, Sir Thomas
Ratcliffe-Ellis and Mr. Thos. Ashton. The important
decision arrived -at by the Conciliation Board was announced
to the Press by Sir Thos. Ratcliffe-Ellis in the following
ambiguous and obscure phraseology : “ Amended terms have
been discussed, and in due course will be submitted to the
coal owners and workmen in the different districts of the
Federated area.”

A conference of representatives of the coal mining dis-
tricts embraced within the area of the Coal Conciliation
Board for England and North Wales was held at the West-
minster Palace Hotel on Tuesday, to consider the provisional
wage agreement. Mr. Stephen Walsh, M.P., chairman of