THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN ■..■ and JOURNAL OF THE COAL AND IRON TRADER _____________________________________________ Vol. CIX. T" FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 1915. No. 2841. _____________________________________________ Report of the Coal Mining Organisation Committee. . The report of the Departmental Committee appointed to enquire into the conditions prevailing in the coal mining industry due to; the war has been issued. [Cd. 7939.] ' . ' ' The Committee originally consisted of Sir Richard Redmayne, K.C.B., Chief Inspector of Mines (chair- ' man), the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, and Messrs. Vernon Hartshorn, Arthur Francis Pease, Charles Edward Rhodes, Robert Smillie, and Stephen Walsh, M.P.:; the terms of reference being “ to enquire into the conditions prevailing, in the coal mining industry with a view to promoting such organisation of work and such co-operation between employers and workmen as having regard to the large numbers of miners who are enlisting for naval and military service, will secure the necessary production of coal during the war.’’ Subsequently, Mr. Adam Nimmo was appointed to take the place of the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, who had resigned upon his entering the R.A.M.C. In the course of the enquiry,' 13 meetings were held in public,'at which 27 witnesses were "examined. Of these, six are divisional inspectors of mines, who may be regarded as independent witnesses, 10 are directors of .'collieries, mining engineers, or secretaries of coal owners’ associations, appointed in a representative capacity to give evidence on behalf of the coal owners’ associations of Great Britain, six are miners’- agents selected by the Miners’ Federation to give evidence on behalf of that body:—the witnesses were so selected as to allow of each coal field being properly represented. One witness is an assistant secretary at the Home r Office, one is the clerk in charge of the mining statistics at the Home Office, one is a colliery salesman, one is a coal merchant and exporter of coal, and one an exporter of coal. The Committee say : “It seemed to •us that what we had to determine was the extent to which the collieries had been depleted of labour owing to the demands imposed upon the patriotism of the miners; to what extent, if any, this shortage had been number df persons on the books at the'end of July 1914 was 999,424, the number of persons who had joined his, Majesty’s Forces up to the end of February 1915 was 184,659,* or 18-5 per cent, of the persons employed in July 1914-—leaving 814,765; which would be the number of persons on the books at the end of February 1915 had no fresh labour been drafted into the mines; but the .actual number of persons on the books being 865,238, shows that no less than 50,473 persons had been drafted into the mines up to the end of February last,, or 5 per cent, of the persons employed in July 1914. The actual reduction , in mine labour is. arrived at by deducting the number of persons' on the books at the end of February from the number at the end of July, the result being 134,186. There was therefore at the end of February a net deficiency of labour to the extent of 18-5— 5-0 = 13J per cent. . The fall in output for the seven war months was as follows :— number who had left the collieries and obtained employ- ment , at armament works was for Northumberland and Durham 2,106. Again, in West Yorkshire there was a shortage in colliery mechanics; many of their mechanics having left the mines for the armanient and munition works, and this applies, to other districts as well. Probably the exodus of labour from the mines was due in great measure to the fact that for some weeks after the outbreak of war the mines were working very short time, more especially in Northumberland, where the mines are very largely dependent on export for their existence. ■ But the Committee are of opinion that, taking the country as a whole, the depletion in labour from this cause was inconsiderable. The depletion of mine labour from recruiting, and the calling up of Reservists is much more marked in some coalfields than in others. The percentages of the persons' employed who have joined the Forces,' arranged in descending order, are for counties, as follow :- England: No. cent. Kent ...............194...28/1 Aug. 1914, loss of 2,829,819 tons as ‘Sept. ,, „ 2,773,283 „ Oct. „ „ 2,975,395 „ Nov. „ „ 3,358,004 „ Dec. „ „ 2,888,201 „ Jan. 1915, „ 3,82'3,7t 6 „ Feb. „ „ 2,661,817 „ compared with Aug. 1913 ,, ,, Sept. ,, ,, » Oct. ,, >> >> Nov. „ v « Dec. „ .,, ,, Jan. 1914 A, >> Feb. „ a decrease to the extent of 13J per cent, in output over the seven months of the.war as compared with the corresponding months of 1913' and 1914. It will be seen, therefore, that the fall in output is in the same ratio as the loss of labour, giving an average fall of 3,044,329 tons a month, which, if continued for the' 12 months, would give a loss of about 36| million tons. The reduction in the earlier months is not, however, due solely to depletion of labour. Possibly, however, the loss in respect of what the output might have been but for the incidence of the - war is really in excess of ■ this; estimate, for there has been an expansion in pro- duction; over a period of years—though, immediately before 'the war there was a downward tendency in pro- duction. . : N or t hum berkd 12,908... 24’3 Lancashire ... 20,857...21'3 Cumberland ... 1,968... 21'0 Durham __........ 31,378...19'9 Warwickshire... 2,338. ..18'7 Monmouth ........ 9,852...18’4 Yorkshire .... 25,285...16'7 .... Salop ... _____ 518...15'2 Nottingham___ 5,273... 14'4 Worcester ...... 93...14'2 Cheshire ______ 173...13'9 Derby___6,482.;. 13 *3 S. Staffs.......... 2,973...13'3 Somerset _______ 764...11*8 N. Staffs..........3,023... 9'7 Leicester ...... ; 664... 8 9 Gloucester .... 327...7'75 Wales: Glamorgan ..... Denbigh Carmarthen. .. Flint __.... Brecon .... 27,850...19'5 1.542.. . 14'4 1.314.. .14'2 250.. . 12'1 216.. . 8'0 the several. coal mining Scotland: Dumfries S.- . 359.. 31'7 Haddington.: .. . 1,088...30'9 Renfrew 138...30'0 Edinburgh . 2,916...27'1 Argyll, Kinross and Clack- mannan . 472...25'5 Fife . 7,378...24'4 Dumbarton 348...20'6 Linlithgow . 1,206...19'4 Lanark .......... . 10,166...19'3 Stirling . 1,976 . 18'8 Ayrshire ........ . 2,366... 16'6 Ireland: Kilkenny 4... 0'9 Roscommon . Nil....Nil. Or for countries: Scotland . 28,413.21'3 Wales.. ........... . 31,172...18'7 England .125,070...18'0 Ireland 4... 0'8 Adding 6,511, the number of persons .not included in the tabulated returns (but included in the discarded or belated returns) who have enlisted, we have as the total number of coal miner who have enlisted, or as Reser- made good from other sources.; what had been and what was likely to be, unless measures were taken to counteract it, The effect of the depletion of labour on output;, and before deciding upon the .measures, which might be taken to mitigate the effect of such depletion of labour, to ascertain what amount of time was being lost by the workers. Having, completed this part of our investigation, we should then .proceed to a con- sideration of the means which might be devised for maintaining the output at as high a figure as possible, having regard to the fact that the depletion of labour would be to some extent a continuing process owing to men leaving the mines to 'join the Forces. When we had advanced some way in. the course of> our enquiry, the. question of the. advisability .of curtailing the export of coal’in order to meet the wants of the home demand was referred to us-by the. President of the Board of Trade. ’’ ' ' ' ' The Situation which had to be Met. • The tables which are appended to the report are within 89 pCr cent, of entirety.* A monthly comparison has been'instituted between the period covered .by the war up to the end of February, and a like period prece- dent to the war; in addition to which, with a view to ascertaining the position immedia-tely prior to the out- break of war, the figures for the month of July are given.. . The 4oilowing broad facts emerge from an analysis of the figures in the table for the United Kingdom The * Thus the total number of persons employed at coal mines prior to the outbreak ot the war was 1,116,648. The output of coal' from mines for the year 1914 was 265,643,030 tons, which included five “ war months.’’ 'But for the war, the probability is that the output would have been approxi- ■ mately the same as for the previous year, that for 1913 .being 287,411,869 tons. The absenteeism is arrived at by deducting the shifts actually worked from the number of shifts which could have been worked had the persons on the books worked every day the pits were working, and is in respect of all classes of labour, both above and below ground, and not in respect of one particular class of labour only, a distinction the importance of which will appear when we come to consider this side of the subject later on. No account is taken of the days on which the pits were idle either through want of trade or on account of the customary “ off ” days and, recognised holidays of the miners. This aspect of the matter is separately con- sidered. It will be seen that the absenteeism in the pre-war months ranged from a minimum of 9-8 per cent., to a maximum of 11-3 per cent., or an average of 10-7 per cent., as compared with-the war: months, when the minimum was 9-0 per cent.’ and the maxi- mum was 10-7, or an average of 9-8 per cent., showing a decrease of nearly 1. per cent, during the war months. Such are the broad results of the preliminary investi- gation based on the tabulated figures; The figures are subsequently analysed in greater-detail, and in order to make the proper deductions it is necessary to supple- ment the tabular results with the information obtained from witnesses. ' ■ . Reduction in Mine Labour. In addition to the reduction of mine labour from recruiting, a number of .persons: have in some localities left the mines to work in the factories engaged in supply- ing the Army and Navy with munitions of war.. Thus the * To this figure may be added 6,511 from belated and defective (but in respect of numbers recruited, correct) returns, giving the total number of coal miners; whd had enlisted as 191,170. vists have joined the Colours, 191,170, which is 17-1 of 1,116,648, the number of persons employed at coal mines, prior to the outbreak of the war. But this represents ■ a ; far higher percentage of the persons of military age,: viz., between the years of 19 and 38, that is, persons of the age most physically fit to undertake arduous work. The Committee estimate this figure at approximately 40 per cent. These facts have only to be stated in order that their importance may be realised in respect of the productive capacity of the mines. The average rate of enlistment over the first seven months of the war was 27,310 persons per month. If this rate was maintained over the months of March and April, the number of persons who have joined the Colours to date would be 245,790; but there is evidence that this rate has been considerably reduced of late,. and it,is not supposed that the number much exceeds 220,000. Against this loss has, of course, to be placed the influx of labour previously mentioned. It might be argued with some reason that the efficiency of the incoming labour is below that which has left the mines, and this to some extent is true in point of coal producing capa- city, but it must be remembered in this connection that to a very small extent does the new labour replace the coal getters and hauliers. Its chief effect is to allow, by substitution, of the transference of a certain amount of existing mine labour from “on-cost” or “ datal work ’ ’ to the work of coal getting. The Committee have been at some pains to discover the sources from which the incoming labour has been derived. The sources are various : there is always a certain amount of what may be. termed floating mining labour, which in times of depression drifts into other trades, or emigates to mining districts abroad, and there is no doubt that of late this class has been drawn into the home coal mines directed thereto by. various causes, such as depression in industries at home and abroad,