720

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

April 1, 1915.

selecting a Labour candidate to fill the seat rendered vacant
by the death of Mr. John Wilson. Aid. Wm. House,
president of the association, occupied the chair, and was
eventually recommended for adoption as the candidate.
Already we hear that it ds probable that Aid. S. Galbraith,
of the Durham Miners’ Association, will be nominated as
Liberal-Labour candidate, in opposition to Mr. House.

An allowance, which is to be regarded as “ war bonus,”
of 12^- per cent, on the earnings of teemers, bank riders,
and number takers, has been granted by the Tyne Improve-
ment Commissioners. Such a bonus, or allowance, has
already been made by the North of England Steamship
Owners’ Association, the Sunderland Ship Owners’ Society,
and the Hartlepool Ship Owners’ Society to the members of
the North of England Trimmers’ and Teemers’ Association
and the National Union of Railwaymen, working as trimmers
between Amble and the Hartlepools.

The Northumberland Enginemen and Firemen’s Associa-
tion will hold a meeting in Newcastle on Saturday, April 3,
to consider the advisability of making another application
to the coal owners for an advance. The ground of the appli-
cation will be the increased cost of living.

A conference took place at Middlesbrough this week
between the representatives of the Cleveland Ironstone Mine
Owners and the Cleveland Miners’ Association, to consider
an application by the miners for an increase in wages. Sir
Hugh Bell, Bart., who presided, announced that the
employers had agreed to advance at once the wages of boys
under 16 years of age by 3d. per day, youths between 16 and
18 years by 4d. per day, and workers over 18 years by 6d.
per day. As the miners had agreed by an overwhelming
majority to work on Good Friday, the employers had agreed
to give a double war bonus for this week, on condition
that the men were not absent from work without any
reasonable cause. If the men were absent with a reason-
able cause, the extra bonus 'Would be paid for the number
of days worked during the week. In the discussion, it was
made clear that if better terms were secured in a national
settlement through the Federation, the miners’ • executive
could apply to the mine owners for the difference in the
concessions obtained. Mr. H. Dack, president and agent
of the Miners’ Association, on behalf of the men, accepted
the offer, and thanked the employers for their most satis-
factory terms ..

The quarterly meeting of the Cleveland Miners’ and
Quarrymen’s Association was held at Middlesbrough this
week,’ when it was decided to -hold the -annual demonstra-
tion at Staithes on July 7.

The quarterly ascertainment as to the selling price of coal
in Northumberland for the quarter ended February 28, shows
that the average selling price was 9s. 3-87d. per ton. There-
fore, under the sliding scale agreement at present in
operation, miners’ wages have been increased by 1 per cent.,
making them 48 per cent, above the basis of 1879. Anti-
cipating some dissatisfaction at the smallness of the rise,
the Wages Committee of the Northumberland Miners’ Asso-
ciation has issued a circular, from which the following
extracts are made :—“ The committee desire to point out
that there was no increase in the market price of coal in the
first two months of the quarter, and that February did not
show the large increase which had been noted in the Press
during the present month, -and which will come into the three
months ending with May. Moreover, the members have always
to remember that a large part of -the coal sold in Northumber-
land is exported, and, consequently, is sold under contracts
made a considerable time -before. In a rising market, this
keeps down the average price, as only the coal not con-
tracted for can be sold at the high current rates. On the
other hand, in a falling market, contracts having been
made when prices were higher, keeps up the average price
as ascertained by the -accountants, as only the coal not con-
tracted for can be -sold at the lower price.. The next ascer-
tainment will, doubtless, show a high price, but it is not
likely that .the -average price will reach the current price as
reported -from day to day in the Press, as it is quite clear
that the extraordinary prices are in consequence of only a
small quantity of coal being 'available for sale, owing to
the larger quantity -having been sold by contract. While
we issue this explanation of the system governing wages
by ascertainment of prices in order that misconceptions
might be removed, we fully 'appreciate and share the dis-
satisf action felt, not only by our own members, but by the
workers generally at the exorbitant prices of all commodities,
including coal, and at the small increase in the shape of
wages which the workers are receiving to compensate -them
for the higher cost of living.. Many classes of workers have
received increases, but miners’ wages generally have scarcely
moved. . . We have passed a resolution to be sent to the
secretary of the Miners’ Federation Committee, urging the
latter to take immediately any drastic steps which might be
necessary to secure the advances we are seeking. The com-
mittee is strongly of the opinion that the refusal of the
Mining Association to meet the miners nationally is evidence
of a -determination to divide our forces so that our national
demands might be broken up. We trust, however, that
that move on the part of the colliery owners will not succeed,
and that the miners will persist in their demand as a united
force.”

By an overwhelming majority, the members of the
Northumberland Miners’ Association have voted in favour
of giving three months’ notice to terminate the sliding scale
agreement under which wages are adjusted. This decision
has been arrived at in conformity with the decision of the
Miners’ Federation that all existing agreements for regu-
lating wages shall be terminated by a three months’ notice
to be given on April 1. The Wages Board of the associa-
tion has, therefore, instructed Mr. Straker to give the neces-
sary notice, and to ask -the Northumberland coal owners, for
an -early meeting, with a view to opening out negotiations
for a new agreement. In view of the fact that it took over
12 months if or the owners and miners to -arrive at -the sliding
scale agreement, and that the agreement has not been in
operation for anything like 12 months yet, it seems a pity
that the association -should permit an outside organisation
to upset a. long-striven-for amicable -arrangement.

At' Newcastle last Saturday, the members of the North-
umberland Joint District Board under the Mines (Minimum
Wage) Act succeeded in making good progress with the
work of revision of rules and minimum rates under Lord
Mersev’s award. Except for -minor details, we understand
that almost complete agreement was arrived -at, and there
is reason to .believe that, a week hence, when the board
meets again, the revised rules -and rates will be capable of
ratification bv both sides.

The executive committee of the Northumberland Miners’
Association has come to the following decisions on points
raised by branches :—

Ashington.—That as there is nothing in the Compensa-
tion Act under which we can base a claim for compensation
on other than the average time worked during the 12

months previous to the accident by the claimant, or on a
shorter period -if the claimant has not worked 12 months
at the grade of work and in the employment he was in at
the time of the accident, we can see no use in approach-
ing the colliery owners, as -suggested by this branch, to
secure an agreement to exclude -short time owing to the
war, jvhen estimating the amount of the claim.

Newburgh.—(a) That members who have been working
temporarily at Elswick Works, and did not join any other
union when there, be required to pay subscriptions to our
association covering the time they were at Elswick, (5)
That members of this branch who are still at Elswick
Works be given their clearance cards, and requested to
join -any union to which the class of workmen with whom
they Work belong, as, in our opinion, to do so is only
loyal -and honest trade unionism.

Ait the quarterly delegate meeting of the Durham County
Colliery Enginemen’s Association, held last week, it was
reported that, after paying £1,683 for out-of-work benefit,
£1,168 7s. 8d. for sickness and superannuation, £198 in
death legacies, and .£1,121 2s. for management, the associa-
tion’s funds stood at £21,712 Os. 9d., as compared with
£19,934 19s. at the previous audit. The membership has
increased to 4,072, 200 of whom have enlisted.

Owing to -a grievance of the putters at Hazlerigg Colliery,
and the management declining to meet them, they refused
to go to work on Tuesday, and the colliery was laid idle.
Upwards of 600 men were affected.

A request to the workmen of Springwell Collieries to con-
tinue working on Good Friday -and Easter Monday has been
refused.

Federated Area.

A meeting of the representatives of the Notts Coal Owners’
and Miners’ Associations was held on Monday, March 29,
at the Victoria Station Hotel, Nottingham. Mr. J. W.
Fryar, of the Eastwood Collieries, was in the chair, Mr.
J. G. Hancock, M.P., miners’ agent, being in the vice-
chair.- There were also present : Mr. H. E. Mitton, of the
Butterley Company; Mr. J. Biggford, Of the Teversall
Colliery; and Mr. W. Eaton Walker, of the Clifton
Colliery. The question under discussion was the wages of
surface workers in the county, and after a protracted meet-
ing it was agreed that the owners should this week, and
until a final settlement is arrived at, pay a minimum wage
of 4s. 3d. a day to the general labourers. This is without
prejudice to the final settlement. A further meeting was
fixed to be held on Monday, April 19, when it is hoped
that a satisfactory arrangement on this question may be
made.

It is understood that the .Mining Association of Great
Britain has found it impracticable to comply with the
request of the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain for a
national joint conference to consider the workmen’s demand
for an increase of 20 per cent, in consequence of the
increased cost of living due to the war. Under the instruc-
tions of last week’s miners’ conference in London, Mr.
Thomas Ashton (the general secretary of the Miners’
Federation of Great Britain) communicated the decision of
the conference to Sir Thomas Ratcliffe-Ellis (secretary of
the Mining Association of Great Britain), and asked for an
early meeting. In his reply, Sir Thomas Ratcliffe-Ellis
states that the Mining Association of Great Britain has no
power to deal with wages questions, and explains that -the
widely differing conditions which prevail in the various coal-
fields render it impossible to apply any general rate of
wages to the whole. The workmen’s demands, he suggests,
is a question for local consideration by the several Concilia-
tion Boards.

The council of the Notts Miners’ Association, at the
monthly meeting on Saturday, passed a resolution placing
on record its deep regret at the death of Mr. John Wilson,
M.P. It was decided that a ballot of the members should
be taken on the question of the association becoming its
own political unit. Mr. J. G. Hancock, M.P., agent, gave
a report of an interview which had taken place between
representatives of the association and the mine owners in
Notts concerning proposed alterations in the rules -and regu-
lations relating to the minimum wage, informing the
council that it had been agreed for one week to be substi-
tuted for two in those cases in which men applied for the
minimum wage, and that the safeguard asked tor by the
employers had been agreed to; but the question of explosives
was to be dealt with -at a future meeting of the Board, with
the chairman (Mr. H. Y. Stanger, K.C.) present, as the
employers were not prepared to accept the men’s suggestion.
He -also reported that at a meeting of representatives of
owners and men it was decided strongly to urge miners to
resume work on Easter Monday, following the holiday on
Good Friday and Saturday.

Some dissatisfaction has been caused in the Brodsworth
Colliery -by the introduction of forks into the pit instead of
shovels. The matter has been discussed by the men, and
also by the officials of their association, and the question
of giving notices in has been debated. The point has been
left with the men themselves to decide. The Brodsworth
men have -also been discussing the -taking of stallmen out of
their respective stalls to go on dayWork in other stalls. A
resolution against this proceeding was passed.

At a mass meeting of the men employed at the Boiint-of-
Ayr Collieries, Flintshire, the men decided to apply for an
advance of 6d. per day on the minimum wage. It was
stated that Judge Moss had laid it down that the men
employed in the Denbighshire collieries were entitled to an
advance, as the collieries were being worked at a profit.
The men employed in Flintshire collieries, however, could
not expect any advance, as the collieries barely paid for
working. The Boint-of-Ayr collieries are one of the excep-
tions, and it is on these grounds that the men were advised
to apply for an -advance.

A conference, representing every section of labour
employed on the pit tops of South Yorkshire, was held at
Sheffield on Monday. The meeting -discussed the surface-
men’s attitude in relation to the increased cost of living.
The following resolution was unanimously carried :—

That in view of the enormous increase in food prices,
which affects every class and section of workers employed
at collieries, this conference declares that, in any advance
conceded by coal owners to meet this increased cost of
living, there shall be no differentiation in the percentage
advance granted to -any grade of labour employed at
collieries; and that it authorises the Federation to apnlv
to the Yorkshire coal owners for 20 per cent, advance of
wages oh the present earnings, and to request that the
wages rise or fall, as compared wTith advances or reduc-
tions in the wages of colliers, as set forth in the agree-
ment of January 18, 1907, be not operative, but that
topmen, yardmen, cokemen, engine-men, and all other
classes of labour, not termed manipulators, shall move in
the same ratio as manipulators, namely, 5 per cent, to

the colliers’ 5 per cent., or percentage advances in equal
proportions.

The surfacemen and boys employed at the North Wales
Collieries have demanded an increase in wages. A joint
conference between the masters and the men has been
arranged to consider the question.

The Old Silkstone Collieries Limited, who own three pits
in the Barnsley district, have taken -drastic action owing
to the frequent absence of large numbers of miners from
work. The average absence equals 30 per cent, of the
employees, and the officials have stopped the weekly allow-
ance of 5s. to dependants of former workmen who are
serving their country. If there is an improvement the
matter will be reconsidered.

Scotland.

Kirkintilloch Miners’ Union recently made a demand for '
an .increase of hillmen’s wages of 8d. per day in the case
of men, and 6d. in the case of boys. In response the
colliery owners have paid a war bonus of 2s. last week,
which, it is understood, is to be continued. The union,
however, have asked for a conference with the colliery
managers on the original demand.

Following upon, the strike of -shunters on the colliery
railways in Kilsyth district to enforce their demands for an
increase of Is. per day, the men, who returned Ito work to
allo-w of an answer being given, have now been offered an
increase of 6d. per day. Notices have -also ’been posted that
advances are to be given to all above-ground workers at
Messrs. William Baird and 'Company’s collieries in Kilsyth
and district. Those with 2s. lOd. per day or over are to
get an advance of 6d., while those -with less than 2s. lOd.
per day -are to get -an advance of 3d. per day. The increases
are to take -effect from March 31. They concern several
hundreds of workers, including pithead girls.

Iron, Steel and Engineering Trades.

The return of the ascertainment of Messrs. Price, Water-
house -and Company of the average net selling price of.steel
plates at Consetit during December, January, and February
has been received by the Consent Iron Company Limited and
Mr. Sam. Bradley, operative representative, from Messrs.
J. R. Winpenny -and James Cox, the general -secretaries of
the Board of Conciliation -and Arbitration for the Manufac-
tured Iron -and Steel Trade of the North of England. It is
certified that, in accordance with the agreement entered into
in 1896, the wages to be paid to the steel millmen at
Con-sett during April, May, and June next will be increased
2J per cent.

The account-ants to the Board of Conciliation and Arbitra-
tion for the Manufactured Iron and Steel Trade of the
North of England have just certified the average net selling
price of iron rails, plates, bars, and angles for the two
months ending February 28 last, to have been £7 Is. ll-80d.
per ton, as compared with £7 Is. l-38d. ner -ton for the
previous -two months, -and, in -accordance with sliding scale
arrangements, finished iron -workers’ wages for April and
May will be the same as prevailed during ithe preceding two
months.

At mass meetings held at Workington on Saturday last,
the steel workers employed at the Workington Iron -and
Steel Company’s Moss Bay and Derwent Works at Work-
ington, accepted 'the following offer of the firm :—For men
earning £2 and over, fid. per shift; under £2, 8d.
per shift; -boys, 4d. per shift. The bonus is regarded by
the workmen as a very reasonable one, and has given satis-
faction.

At Barrow Steel Works on Friday, notice was posted that
owing to the shortage of labour the company’s plate mills
would be closed 'forthwith, and remain closed for an
indefinite period. Shortage of labour has been- marked for
some time past in the steel trade. Barrow is the only place
on -the west coast where plates are rolled for shipbuilding
purposes. The plate -mill has been busy for a few years
past on orders -from local and home shipbuilders generally,
and the demand for ship and boiler plates has been brisk.

Messrs. James C. Bishop and James Gavin, joint
secretaries of the Scottish Manufactured Iron Trade Concilia-
tion and Arbitration Board, have received information from
Mr. John M. MacLeod, C.A., Glasgow, that he has
examined the employers’ books for January and February,
1915, -and certifies the average net selling price brought out
as £7 2s. 3-75d. per ton. This means no change in the
wages of the workmen.

The Board of Conciliation and Arbitration for -the Manu-
factured Steel Trade of the West of Scotland met in Glasgow
last week, for the purpose of considering a claim by a
number of steel workers in the district for a special war
bonus of 5s. per Week per man. After a long discussion it
was agreed to remit the matter to the Government’s
Committee on Broduction in Engineering -and Shipbuilding
Establishments Engaged in Government Work.

COAL, IRON AND ENGINEERING COMPANIES.
REPORTS AND DIVIDENDS.

Clayton and Shuttle worth Limited.—In their 14 th annual
report, the directors state that the net profit for the year
ending December 31, after allowing for directors’ fees and
income-tax, is £44,643 7s., to which has to be added
£13,438 18 s. 6d. brought forward from last year, making a
total profit of £58,082 5 s. 6d., less interim dividend on the
5 per cent, preference shares paid October 7 -last, £8,750,
leaving an available balance of £49,332 5s. 6d. Out of this
the directors propose to pay the final dividend on the pre-
ference shares, £8,750, and to -declare a dividend on the
ordinary shares at the rate of 5J per cent, for the year
(subject to tax), amounting to £24,750, leaving to be carried
forward to next year’s account £15,832 5s. 6d.

Clyde Valley Electrical Power Company Limited.—It is
proposed to pay the dividend on the preference shares,
transfer £12,500 to the contingency fund, and £3,290 to the
special reserve, write £10,000 off cost of Acts, and carry
forward the surplus of £11,535.

Cortonwood Collieries Company Limited. — The 32nd
annual report, for the year ending December 31 last, states
that the net profit for the year is £53,701 6s. lid. To this
must be added the balance brought forward from last year,
£7,755 Os. 4d., making a total sum of £61,456 7s. 3d. Divi-
dends have been declared amounting to £48,124 18s. 6d.,
leaving a balance of £13,331 8s. 9d., which the directors
recommend shall be carried forward. Before arriving at the
above results, the following amounts have been written off :
Coal got .out of freehold estates, £2,520 Ils. lOd.; deprecia-
tion, £14,637 8s. 9d.; total, £17,158 0s. 7d.; and there has
also been set aside as a reserve for renewals, etc., the sum
of £3,915 0s. lOd. The plant and machinery have been
efficiently maintained. An amount of £16,113 12s. 4d. has