June 25s, 1915.

TSE COLLIER? GUARDIAN,.

1333

Lancashire, but not so in the Derbyshire market,
where the enquiry is good and prices firm. Fairly
good all-round business has been done through the
Yorkshire markets, and, with the exception of steam
coal, quotations retain their strength. At . Cardiff,
outside Admiralty trade, prices have suffered in
consequence of export prohibitions. The Scottish
coal trade has become quiet and unsatisfactory.

The Home Secretary has made an order under the
Coal Mines Act, 1911, under the date of June 15,
approving three additional safety lamps for use in
mines.

A further meeting of members of Parliament was
held on Tuesday, to consider the question of coal
prices. Eesolutions were agreed to in favour of
fixing a pithead price for supplies for home consump-
tion or for our allies, and of limiting freights on
coasting steamers; also profits of middlemen.

A paper on winding drums by Mr. H. "W. G.
Halbaum, and a second on £f Mining in Burmah,” by
Mr. C. W. Chater, were read before the North of
England Institution of Mining and Mechanical
Engineers on Saturday last.

It is announced that Mr. D. A. Thomas has con-
sented to visit the United States and Canada to
discuss munitions and similar contracts on behalf of
the Government.

The two partners in the Glasgow iron ore firm of
W. Jacks and Co., who were charged with trading
with the' enemy, have been fined £2,000, and
sentenced to six months’ imprisonment.

An interesting railway rates case came before the
Pail way and Canal Commission last week, when the
Anglo-American Oil Company Limited claimed
damages from the Caledonian and North British
Bail way Company for excessive rates. The court
found for plaintiffs, and ordered the railway company
to desist from giving preferential rates.

On Tuesday Northumberland owners and miners
met to discuss the proposal to suspend the Eight
Hours Act on account of the war. The meeting was
adjourned until Saturday, July 3.

Mr. Bunciman, questioned last week in the House
of Commons by Sir A. Markham regarding the
negotiations with coal owners for fixing maximum
prices of house coal, said that unless arrangements
were reached shortly, more drastic steps might have
to be adopted. It is understood that the President
of the Board of Trade will make a statement next week.

Mr. Lloyd George, in his explanation of the
Government plan for reorganising the manufacture
of munitions, mentioned that it was most important
that the coal supply of the country should be kept
up. There must be no strikes and lock-outs, and he
hoped the miners would fall into line with the
workers of munitions, who had agreed to the
principle of compulsory arbitration.

Mr. Bunciman met the executive of the South
Wales Miners’ Federation yesterday (Thursday) and
discussed with them the deadlock which has arisen
in regard to the new wage agreement for the local
coalfield. It was arranged that a joint conference
between the owners and men should take place
to-morrow. •

The Committee on Coal Supplies have convened a
joint national conference of coalowners and miners
for Wednesday, the 7th prox., when the full case of
the Government’s requirements will be laid before
the trade. Sir John Simon will preside, and Mr.
Lloyd George will address the conference.

A deputation of the Miners’ Federation of Great
Britain waited upon Mr. Lloyd George yesterday
(Thursday) and stated their reasons for objecting to
the miners coming under the provisions of the
Munitions Bill. Mr. George stated that he would
require guarantees before he could grant them
exemptions. The Federation’s executive will con-
sider these and reply to the Minister of Munitions
to-day (Friday).

Yesterday afternoon (Thursday) the Chancellor of
the Exchequer met representatives of the trade*
unions and friendly societies, and appealed for their
assistance in the, practical working of the new War
Loan scheme.

A meeting of the South Staffordshire and
Warwickshire Institute of Engineers took place on

Monday last, when Mr. James Lomax added a
further contribution to his microscopic investigations
of the formation of coal seams.

The country owes Mr. Lloyd George
Coal a a debt of gratitude for his fearless

Munition, tearing down of the curtains that
have for nine months prevented the
people from realising the true situation within and
without. He has brought fierce light to bear upon
dusty corners, and it is the duty of every man to
help him to set the house in order. The Minister
has shown the way, and there can be few now that
doubt that he is right when he says that everything
depends upon the supply of munitions.

The scheme of the Munitions Bill, which was
introduced by the Minister on Wednesday, shows
that organisation has properly been regarded as the
secret of success ; that success will inevitably depend
upon the aptitude of the country to submit to the
discipline of organisation and to sink individual
prejudice and profit for the common good. The
task is a great one, but on the whole Mr. Lloyd
George has succeeded almost beyond expectation in
his handling of one of the most difficult factors, the
labour problem—both as regards the supply of
labour and its efficiency—although he is not yet by
any means out of the wood.

The Minister has at least won the ear of some of
the more important trade unions, and that is some-
thing gained. He has, indeed, proceeded on lines
that have been suggested in these columns. It has
been agreed that the unions shall abolish all
restrictions and practices that interfere with the
increase of the output of war materials, and that the
workmen shall submit to compulsory arbitration in
the case of disputes, so as to avoid stoppages of
work through strikes and lock-outs. On the other
band, the unions have been entrusted with the
enrolment of voluntary workers who will submit to
Government control, and the State will assume
control of the profits of establishments producing
war material.

It is a matter for regret that the miners have so
far been intractable, because the regular production
of coal is a fundamental factor in the scheme. The
Minister in his speech said :—

I should like to dwell upon the importance of keeping
up our coal supply in this country. It is the basis of all
our high explosives, and if there were a shortage for any
reason the consequences would be very calamitous. It is
not merely a question of there being a diminution in
the present output, it is important that there should be
an increase, that there should be a considerable increase,
in the output of the particular quality of coal which is
used for the purpose of making high explosives.

The significance of an adequate coal supply, however,
is infinitely wider, for it is not only that from coal
we obtain derivatives that are essential in the manu-
facture of high explosives, but the boilers and
furnaces in munition works have to be fed with it,
and it is the raw material of our railways and ships
that bring commodities to the seat of manufacture,
and conduct away the finished products to the
artillery in the zone of war.

It is deplorable that the miners’ leaders should
consider their antipathy to the principle of com-
pulsory arbitration as being of more concern at a
time like the present than the needs of their country,
and we wonder if it be the real reason; for, in two
of the most recent crises—that arising from the
demand for a minimum wage in 1912, and for
the war bonus this year—the miners themselves
were instrumental in forcing the issue to an
arbitrament in which the element of compulsion
bulked very largely. Equally opposed to this
transpontine doctrine are the employers, who
would always prefer to settle disputes affecting
their industry without the intrusion of outsiders.
But they recognise, and the leaders of the men
should recognise, that at a time when the strike or
lock-out is so powerful a lever, on account of the
national necessity, one must needs turn to objection-
able alternatives. The first point is that a,system of
compulsory arbitration does not impede efforts to
settle differences by negotiation.; under normal con-

ditions it may do so, because it may be used as an
instrument for bargaining, but we assume that such
considerations would be sensibly weakened during a
national crisis. The second point is that, even if the
parties immediately concerned refuse to recognise
the pontifical authority. of the arbitrator as an
institution, in the final stages of a dispute he
must come in to save the country. The negotia-
tions over the new agreement in South Wales
have once more proved unfruitful at the
eleventh hour, but, without entering into the merits
of that dispute, it cannot be doubted that, rather
than allow the lives of our sailors and soldiers to be
jeopardised, the Government will step in and impose
terms. Therefore the antagonism to compulsory
arbitration, however inveterate it may be, does not
ring true now.

Although the miners’ leaders do not say so, we
suspect that their real reason for hanging back
springs from the miner’s unconquerable dislike
of discipline, and the fear that certain cherished
privileges, some of them obtained through Parlia-
ment and others by custom and bargaining, may be
trenched upon. On this point it may be said that,
if we construe Mr. Lloyd George’s purpose aright,
his desire is to do what we have already urged—
that is, confer still greater responsibility upon the
trade unions, hold them as guarantors for the good
conduct of their members, but at the same time
elevate them to a position in which, like the
mediaeval guild, they shall be the guardians of their
craft.Bightly considered, this is an upward step
in the development of these societies, and we may
point out here that the employers in South Wales
have shown themselves disposed to assist the
Miners’ Federation to deal with the non-union
question, if the workmen’s organisation agree not to
abuse their power. But the best friends of the trade
union movement have always recognised that, if
additional powers are. to be conferred upon these
societies by the State, the latter must be in a position
to control them, if only for their own protection.
At present no trade union official can safely and
honourably bind his constituents to any course of
action. Mr. Lloyd George made this very clear in
his interview with the Federation executive yester-
day. He said he would require more than promises
before he could exempt the miners from the
provisions of a Bill which had been accepted by the
workers in other industries engaged in the pro^
duction of munitions. He would require guarantees
from both coal owners and miners.

As regards the restrictions which have been placed
upon labour in coal mines by Parliament, we may
rest assured that if the latter, in the altered
circumstances, now sees fit to suspend them, that
will be done even if the workmen are unwilling.
The miners’ leaders have laid great stress upon the
recommendation of the Organisation Committee in
favour of voluntary negotiation on matters affecting
the increase of production. Possibly it was a wise
act to attempt to modify arrangements under the
Eight Hours Act, and efforts in that direction are
now actively being made. But it, is quite certain
that the Government will not tolerate an impasse^ and
if the masters and men are unable to agree, the
State itself will lay down the conditions.

We have omitted another consideration. If coal
is to be brought into the munitions scheme, the
Government control of profits follows logically. This
is a point, we should have thought, that would have
appealed to the men, who have largely based their
claims for higher wages upon the mythical fortunes
that the collieries are alleged to be making. Can it
be that, having obtained these advances in earnings,
the miners are less anxious to adopt a scheme which,
whilst it would destroy the possibility of such
fortunes being made, might also make serious
inroads upon their own opportunities for aggrandise-
ment? To speak plainly, the way in which the
patriotism of miners in the trenches is being exploited
by those who have stayed at home is nauseating.
Some of them appear to urge this vicarious glory as
a reason for haggling for wages ten times as great
as those earned by the men who are risking their
lives at the front. To every thinking man it must
seem miserably mean.