June 4, 1915. THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN. 1167 Society. Number of members. Revenue. Members’ contri- butions. Accumu- lated funds. Deaths by fatal accidents. Disablement cases. On funds at end of year. No.: ' Rate p- r 1,000. Cases. Rate per 100. Widows. Children. Northumberld. & Durham 178,480 215,960 £ 198,575 £ 491,931 276 1*54 41,440 23’2 ' 1,604 1,713 North Staffordshire 3,841 4,100 2,912 24,531 8 2’08 996 25’8 101 75 Lancashire and Cheshire 55,128 69,295 62,675 192,224 72 1’30 13,355 24’2 814 831 West Riding of Yorkshire 9,678 11,174 9,619 44,880 20 1’82 2,738 24’9 260 317 North Wales 2,861 3,704 2,551 9,823 6 2’09 285 9’09 216 116 ' Midland Counties — - — — — Monmouthshire &S. Wales 332 ’ 4,975 256 71,744 3 9’03 30 9’03 549 68 Midland ’ District (fatal accidents only) 42,729 13,376 9,733 85,584 55 1’28 312 426 Total 293,049 322,584 286,321 920,717 440 58,844 3,856 3,546 Total 1913 337,152 332,372 296,144 930,932 434 — 68,857 — 3,817 3,444 Mr. James Darlington, chairman of the council, introduced the chairman to the meeting and remarked on his appropriateness in view of the interest he had taken in the National Fund for the Relief of Distress arising out of Colliery Disasters. Mr. Darlington gave a rough sketch of the history of relief fund societies, and also paid tribute to the action of their president in enlisting as a private in the R.A.M.C. The secretary was instructed to write Earl Crawford a letter of congratu- lation. The Secretary, Mr. G-eorge Booth, then read a letter from Sir Thomas R. Ratcliffe-Ellis, who regretted his inability to attend the meeting. The annual report was read, and the chairman, moving its adoption, said he had had the honour to preside at the Mansion House last year, when the scheme for a national colliery relief fund was discussed. Owing to the war, the matter had unfortunately been left in abeyance, but he hoped that further meetings would be held in the near future, and arrangements made for the relief of those suffering distress from accidents in mines. Personally, he believed good would be derived from such meetings.— Mr. Darlington, who seconded the adoption of the report, remarked that it contained some very interesting statistics. Commenting on the decrease of over 44,000 in the membership, he said the fact that 65,000 members of the society were with the Colours showed that, under normal circumstances, there would have been a considerable increase in the membership. As the report showed, there were still very many miners who had not joined the societies, and he hoped it would be possible by some means to induce them to become members. A resolution was then carried congratulating Mr. Evan Owen, secretary of the Monmouthshire and South Wales Society, on his appointment as secretary to the Senghenydd Explosion Relief Fund. Mr. Owen, returning thanks, mentioned with regard to the fund that an actuary had been called in, and for the alloca- tion of the benefits a quinquennial valuation would be taken, thus placing the fund always on a sound footing. Mr. David Shaw, representing the Lancashire and Cheshire branch, then moved: That the Central Association of Miners’ Permanent Relief Societies endeavour to obtain representation on the Statu- tory Committee—as and when revised—of the Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation appointed to administer a Government scheme of allowance for disabled soldiers and sailors, and to the widows and childhen of soldiers and sailors who have died in the service of their country; and for this purpose, Sir Thomas R. Ratcliffe-Ellis, Mr. J. Darlington, and Mr. George Booth be appointed as a com- mittee to seek interview with the Prime Minister. ' It was explained that Parliament had recently con- sidered a proposal to enlarge the Statutory Committee of the Royal Patriotic Corporation, and it was thought that, in view of the objects of the association and the experience of its members, such assistance as they might give would be of value. The resolution gave rise to some discussion, but was eventually carried. Mr. Geo. Robson, secretary of the Northumberland and Durham Society, referred briefly to the effect of the war on miners’ permanent relief societies. He said at the end of December last in his county over 31,000 miners had joined the Colours, and by the end of March the number had increased to over 48,000, and no doubt a great number had since joined. It had to be borne in mind that it was the younger and more able men who had gone, and the full effect would not be felt for some time. He proposed the following resolu- tion :— That this conference of Miners’ Permanent Relief Fund Friendly Societies in England and Wales here assembled, having in view the extreme depletion of its membership in consequence of the call to arms of large numbers of miners enlisting into his Majesty’s land and sea forces for the war, and these relief funds being voluntary societies, are of opinion that the heavy financial loss sustained thereby to the individual societies represented at this conference, agree that there are strong and tangible grounds for an appeal to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to prevail upon him to recognise that the financial loss thus sustained justifies this conference in making a claim upon the National Exchequer, for a monetary grant in aid of our individual societies. . Mr. . Latham, representing the Lancashire and Cheshire society, thought that the motion showed a lack of one of the principles of their association—- namely, independence of spirit. He suggested that if the financial position of a society was becoming unsound, that society should put its house in order, and either increase the subscriptions or decrease the benefits.—Mr. Bell, supporting the resolution, said the Northumberland and Durham society were .already -asking’their-members to raise their subscriptions by Id. per week. In his opinion, the war was having a dis- astrous effect on the societies, as, although so many members had enlisted, the expenditure was still the same and the income much less. Under present con- ditions, a war of two or three years’ duration would result in the failure of the relief societies, and, for that reason, it was essential that they should try to obtain the assistance of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He pointed out that if the societies were destroyed, the cost of maintaining the sufferers from colliery accidents would fall on the local parishes, and would be a very serious burden.—Mr. E. Owen thought the matter ought to be referred back to the Consultative Com- mittee for further consideration, and moved an amendment to this effect.—After a vote had been taken, it was found the majority were in favour of the amendment, and the matter was therefore referred back. The following resolution, moved by Mr. E. Hough, of the Midland Fatal Accident Society, was unani- mously carried :— That inasmuch as the proposal to form a National Fund for the Relief of Distress caused by Colliery Fatal Accidents is in abeyance, it be a suggestion to the Consultative Com- mittee that steps should be taken in those districts where no society for providing benefits in the event of fatal accidents is in operation, to at once establish such a society, and, for that purpose, representations be made to coal owners’ and miners’ associations■, in order to secure their support in aid of this suggestion. The Consultative Committee was then re-elected, and the meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the chairman. THE MOBILISATION OF WORKING MINERS IN FRANCE. The Army Commission of the French Chamber of Deputies discussed and adopted, towards the end of April, a Bill introduced by M. Dalbiez, having for its object the better utilisation of mobilised and mobilisable males. We give below a summary of the Bill as adopted by the Com- mission, and the representations that have been made on the subject by the Comite Central des Houilleres. Clause 1 of the Bill provides that men who, in accordance with Article 42 of the Law of March 21, 1905, have been exempted from rejoining their corps immediately,'or have been placed .at the disposition of the Ministers of War or the Navy, etc., shall be incorporated after provision has been made for their replacement, under conditions indicated in the remaining clauses of the Bill. Thus it is provided that those engaged in the adminis- tration of public 'affairs may be replaced by the re-employ- ment of pensioned servants, by wounded or infirm com- batants, or by women, preferably the wives, mothers, daughters or. sisters of soldiers who have been killed or wounded during the war. In the case of men engaged on war service—that is, in sedentary occupations connected with the army, whether within the war zone or not, in motor transport, or in workshops, factories, or other estab- lishments working for the army—it is provided that places may be filled by volunteers, or by men of the auxiliary service, or, in default, by territorial reservists, or by terri- torials, commencing with the oldest classes. After the lapse of a month from the promulgation of the new Act, all the men referred to in clause 1, as well as those engaged in war service who may be considered by the medical .authorities as likely to be disabled in the auxiliary service, will be examined by a special Medical Commission, and will be allotted to the various branches of the service in accordance with the military necessities and their own ability. Volunteers may consist of all men of the classes ,1887 to 1914 who have been exempted, as well as men discharged on the ground of age from all military obligations; they may be engaged for the period of the war, after their fitness has been ascertained, under a special contract, for work of their own choice, so far as may be compatible with the military necessities. ■ The replacement of the men referred to in the earlier clauses will take place by fractions starting with the youngest classes. The Comite Central, in the representations which they have made to the Minister of War, view the operation of this Bill with much apprehension. It is stated that if its practical result be to deprive the coal mining industry of the services of the whole or part of the territorials who to-day form the most active section of the labour engaged, the consequence will be to prejudice the national economy to an extent altogether out of proportion to the insignificant degree to which the military forces will be reinforced. If, on the other hand, it.should be necessary, in obedience to the imperious needs of, the country,. to leave an effective that at the present time can be neither replaced nor aug- mented, it would result simply in the re-classification, after infinite trouble, of such elements as would appear both to the military .authorities and to the employers to be incapable of employing otherwise. The colliery owners contend that, the step, foreshadowed is not demanded by the existing situation., This war; they say, is . characterised by two new and unexpected aspects; on the one hand, the exceptional amplitude of the industrial facilities brought into action ; on the other, the duration and cost of the operations which exact from the belligerents a resistance based upon the ever-increasing productive power of the country, which, in certain hypotheses,' would bring victory as the reward for the greatest powers of endurance and organisation. From this dual point of view, nb one would reproach, without obvious error of; judgment, the French for having left too many men in the. workshop or the counting-house. The only criticism that can be levied, >is that, proceeding on the hypothesis - of a mobile war sus- pending, during violent and brief crisis, the entire economic life of the country, the authorities have failed to foresee certain special and general necessities, have not entered sufficiently into the detail of partitioning the available resources, and have left to the improvisation of the passing hour some defects and disorders which otherwise would have yielded to individual treatment. It is every day clearer that it is not with the rifle in their-hands that many men, specially qualified to contribute to an indispensable production, relatively superior to their military .value, can most usefully. serve their country. In subordinating practical necessities so imperative to an impartiality that is purely logical, the Dalbiez proposition, the employers think, provides a very poor solution of the problem of utilising the activities, of the country to the best advantage. The opinion expressed above is accompanied by a note setting forth certain facts bearing upon the situation. Employment in French coal mines is regulated according to law 'as follows :— / / In the event of mobilisation, there are maintained-during 60 days in -the employment in which they are engaged in times of peace— (u) Firstly, the men belonging to the .different cate- gories of the reserve classified in the auxiliary service; secondly, the men -in the 'armed service belonging to the territorial army and its reserve. : . , - . . (5) In accordance with a number fixed by the Minister of War, the men in the reserve of the armed service employed in the same work. Xs a matter of fact, the provision as regards (a) has been prorogued,and is practically in abeyance, whilst, as regards (b), it has only been allowed in the case of a few men under very exceptional circumstances. Following upon the invasion of the Nord and Pas-de-Calais, a very large majority of the territorial miners were remobilised, and, in consequence, the mines in. the great coal field extending to the rear of the French lines have not yet been able to replace their territorial effectives; the territorials employed at mines in the invaded territory who were available have been divided between the collieries that are still working, but owing to the delay in the execution of 'the adminis- trative orders, the greater part of the .territorials, from the Nord and Pas-de-Calais have not up to the present been accessible. ' . Thus the collieries have lost from their normal staffs— (a) the reservists of the active -army ; (b) the young men of the classes of 1914, 1915, and 1916; (c) those who were exempted, but have since been enlisted for service in the army. The total corresponds to /about 65,000 men,, out. of a total of 200,000, or 32’5 per cent. , and the consequent loss in production has been about. 40 per cent. The call for reservists affected about 30 per cent, of the entire number employed, but these were relatively the most productive. The later calls have had the effect only of paralysing, on the one hand, the measures taken to concentrate and intensify production, and, on the other, the supplementary effort consented to by the men themselves. An estimate of the consequences of the. mobilisation, based upon the loss of 65,000 men, producing 50,000 tons per day, shows a cost of 2,500,000 fr. The territorials and the territorial reservists represent about 28 per cent, of the numbers employed, say, 56,000 mein. Of these, at the present time, from 30,000 to 35,000 are working in the mines, and -about 15,000 are serving in the army. The apportionment among the mines in operation of some thousands of territorials from the Nord and Pas-de-Calais, the temporary hospitality given to some thousands of Belgian and French refugees, the employment of Poles, Czechs and Croatians from the concentration camps, and of some hundreds of Italians and Spaniards, the abandonment of all preparatory work, and the. concentration of effort upon easily worked seams, have enabled the mines still at work to raise to nearly 100 per cent, their production, which had fallen to 60 per cent, when the mobilisation took place. . Thus the native production is now7 estimated at 20 millions per annum, leaving a deficit on the probable consumption of about the same dimensions. . On a numerical basis, the effect of again calling up the territorials to the Colours will be, it is estimated, to reduce the output by 40 per cent. Since, however, the hewing shifts will be almost entirely depleted, it is al! but impos- sible to calculate the actual effect, but the colliery owners think that the output must fall in consequence' from 58,000 tons to 14,000 to 18,000 tons per day. . ; As regards the possibility of securing volunteers,, it is pointed out that the mine is a closed world; it is impossible to improvise the coal miner, and no legislative remedy .can be found. Up to the present, comparatively few pen- sioners have offered their services, and tfieir age restricts their employment to the surface. There is no possibility, moreover, of drawing recruits from amongst the unoccupied refugees, who now mainly consist of children and old or infirm men. In conclusion, it is pointed out that each ton of coal unworked to-day costs the country 50 fr. in gold, and, with supplementary charges, an additional 20 fr.; this represents as nearly as may be the value of a territorial’s day’s work.. In their report on compensating accident benefit, the Oak Benefit Society Investigation Committee state that the. adoption of the -amendment to the Workmen’s Compensa- tion Act, in 1906, which extended the principle of com- pensation to al! trades and callings, “ brought about the position that -a man receiving the additional benefit derived from the Act was. liable to. recover more slowly from his injuries than when he had only to, rely upon the sickness benefit received from his friendly society.”