July 23, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

181

39,801,498 dols. The imports in 1913 were bituminous
round and run of mine, 10,743,473 tons, valued at 21,756,658
dols.; bituminous slack, 2,816,423 tons, valued at 4,157,622
dols. ; anthracite, 4,642,057 tons, valued at 22,034,839 dols.;
or a total of 18,201,953 tons, valued at 47,949,119 dols. The
apparent consumption of coal during the year was 26,809,778
tons, as against a consumption of 31,582,545 tons in 1913.
Of the consumption in 1914, about 45-4 per cent, was from
Canadian mines, and 54-6 per cent, imported. The total
output of oven coke during 1914 was 1,015,253 tons of
2,0001b. made from 1,533,365 tons of coal, of which
1,030,053 tons were mined in Canada, and 503,312 tons were
imported. The total quantity of coke sold, or used by the
producers during the year, was 1,019,082 tons, valued at
3,634,511 dols. In 1913 the total output was 1,517,133 tons,
and the quantity sold or used by the producers 1,530,499 tons,
valued at 5,919,596 dols. The output by provinces in 1914
was:—Nova Scotia, 345,880 tons; Ontario, 377,514 tons;
Alberta, 28,541 tons; and British Columbia, 263,318 tons.
The production from Ontario was entirely from imported coal.
By-products from coke ovens during the year included 8,572
tons of ammonia sulphate, 5,714,172 gals, of tar, and 3,201,097
thousand ft. of gas. The only coke ovens operated during
the year were those at Sydney, Sydney Mines, and Westville,
Nova Scotia; Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario; Coleman, Alberta;
and Bernie, Michel and Hosmer, British Columbia. At the
end of the year there were 797 ovens in operation and 2,297

New Zealand.

What is a Mine?—Mr. E. Rawson has given an important
decision at Huntly (N.Z.). Alex. Penman, manager of
Ralph’s mine, and William Woods, manager of the Extended
mine (both owned by the Taupiri Coal Mines Limited),
were charged with a breach of Regulation 8 under the Coal
Mines Act, in that they failed to see that the working of the
mines were carried on with reasonable provision for the
safety of the persons employed, inasmuch as they failed to
cause under-viewers to examine all parts of the mines daily.
Two inspectors testified that weekly inspections, such as
were made at the mines, were insufficient, that it was pos-
sible for large quantities of coal dust to accumulate in a few
days, and that there was great danger of spontaneous com-
bustion. The point on which the case hinged was the inter-
pretation of the word “ mine,”, and counsel for defendants
argued that the word “ mine ” referred to the operative parts
or actual workings, and not to every part of the mine.
Unless that were agreed to, the company would have forced
upon it a financial liability amounting to between £5,000 and
.£6,000 per annum. Several witnesses were called, who said
that a daily inspection of the old workings was not necessary
for safety. In giving his decision, Mr. Rawson held that the
word “ mine ” could not be restricted to the operative parts
of the mine only, but applied to the old workings. Defen-
dants were fined £5 Is., with costs, on the first charge, and
were convicted without a fine on the second charge.

Co-operative Mines in America.—Proposals have frequently
been made to conduct colliery enterprise on the co-operative
principle, but such schemes have generally fallen through
owing to the lack of capital and difficulties attendant upon
management. An interesting case has recently been reported
in America, where the employers have actually asked the
miners’ union to veto co-operative undertakings, on the
ground that they do not conform to the wages conditions of
the union. During May of this year, the president of the
Coal Operators’ Association of the fifth and ninth district of
Illinois addressed a letter on the subject to the secretary of
the State executive board of the United Mine Workers of
America, in which he pointed out that the employers’ associa-
tion, upon the theory that the United Mine Workers had
monopoly and control of the mine labour of the State of
Illinois, had entered into a contract with them, providing for
the payment of fixed and inflexible wage scales, and agree-
ing that only members of the organisation should be employed
in and about the mines. At the same time, several groups of
men, non-union or members of the workers’ organisation,
working under co-operative plans, have been operating mines
under arrangements and agreements among themselves,
which enable them to sell coal at lower prices than the asso-
ciated employers can produce it. The owners say :—“ If
uniformity cannot be established, it will be necessary for us
to negotiate a new contract or for you to accord us and our
employees the right to negotiate suOh changes in mining and
day rates and liberty as to conditions as will enable us to
work in competition with the irregular operations. ... We
cannot live under the present contract if properties are
operated in competition under arrangements equivalent in
effect to lower wage scales than we have to pay.” The
miners’ executive take a somewhat different view of’these
independent enterprises. They state that, due to desperate
industrial depression, there is a growing tendency on the part
of certain bankrupt mine owners to entice members of their
union into operating mines on a co-operative basis. “ By
holding out alluring inducements, they have been able to
deceive some of our members into doing so, and others are
demanding that the district executive board grant them per-
mission to go into similar ventures. This we steadfastly
refuse to do, for the reason that it has developed in almost
every instance, where our members have worked under this
condition, that the venture has not turned out as expected.
The unvarying result has been that such mines have operated
at a loss, and in order to meet the deficit in the operating
expense, the men employed therein have been compelled to
sacrifice union conditions and to accept for their labour wages
20 per cent., and as much as 30 per cent., less than the
agreed scale of wages; then in an attempt to remedy their
plight, they cut the selling price of their coal, and this has
created an unfair competition for markets which the operator
who concedes union conditions and pays the union scale of
wages cannot meet. The practice is not only an injustice to
the operator operating under union conditions, but an injustice
to the men he employs, and, while it may furnish temporary
relief for some of our members, if it is allowed to continue
and to expand, the practice threatens to break down our
established wage scale, and to degrade our working condi-
tions throughout the entire district.” This condition has
become so serious, it is added, that it must be stopped.

OBITUARY.

The death occurred at Allonby, on Friday, after a long
and painful illness, of Mr. J. Osborne Roper, a descendent
of an old and much respected family. For many years he
was engaged in mining operations in the Australian gold
fields. Mining was a subject in which he took the keenest
interest, and some time ago he exerted himself with the
intention of getting a coal mine started in the neighbour-
hood of Allonby. He has not lived to see the realisation of
his ideas. He has left a widow and three daughters.

Lieut. Cuthbert Hartnell, l/8th West Yorkshire Regiment
(T.F.), who has been killed in France, was the only son of
Mr. Wilson Hartnell, member of the Institution of Mining
Engineers, of Leeds. He was an associate member of the
Institution of Civil Engineers, and a director of the firm
of Wilson Hartnell and Co. Limited.

MINING AND OTHER NOTES.

In pursuance of the policy of obtaining the best possible
use out of wagons and sheets the Railway Executive
Committee, says the Railway Gazette, has issued certain
instructions in amplification of the existing Clearing House
regulations for the return of foreign companies’ stock.
Attention is drawn to the necessity for every effort to be
made promptly to release and employ foreign wagons and
sheets for the conveyance of traffic on the return journey.
The new arrangements considerably amplify existing
regulations.

Mr. Reginald Wigram, of Caley Hall, Pool, Yorkshire, a
director of the Great Northern Railway Company, formerly
of Messrs. John Fowler and Sons Limited, who died on
April 18, aged 72, left unsettled property of the gross value
of £77,379, with net personalty £70,982.

We understand that “manganosite,” advertised in our
pages, has been described in some quarters as a German
manufacture. Messrs. John Hudson and Company’s
Successors, contractors to H.M. Government, 4, Victoria-
warehouses, Mansell-street, London, E. (the advertisers in
question), ask us to state that:—‘‘Until the outbreak of
the war, they sold goods made at their German works, but
since September they have sent out no manganesite except
that made at their works in London. They have now
decided to abandon the German works for good, and there
are no aliens—naturalised or otherwise—connected in any
way with the business.”

The matriculation examination for the degree in mining
in the University of Sheffield will be held on September 14,
1915. Applications for information should be made to the
registrar before August 28. The mining diploma (day)
course commences on October 6, 1915, the certificate
(Saturday afternoon) course on September 25, and the
mining teachers’ course on October 2. The courses in
electricity applied to mining commence on September 25.

Mr. George G. L. Preece, who for some years has been in
charge of the Manchester office of Messrs. Bruce Peebles
and Co. Limited, has temporarily left that company’s
employment owing to his having accepted a commission in
the Lancashire Fusiliers. During his absence Mr. E. W.
Browne, the company’s representative in Birmingham will
act as manager in Manchester.

A report of the London County Council Highways Com-
mittee states that in view of the exceptional conditions
prevailing it has authorised the purchase, for use at the
Greenwich Generating Station, of coal as and when
required. Under the authority, about 16,223 tons of coal
have been purchased under contract at a cost of about
£14,980, and about 15,295 tons out of contract, at a cost of
approximately £21,120, during the quarter ended June 30.

We understand that the directors of the Ebbw Vale Coal
Company have decided to instal a benzol plant in connection
with their coke oven installation, and the order for the
work has been placed with Simon-Carves Limited,
Manchester.

Edward Medal.—The London Gazette announces that the
Edward Medal of the Second Class has been awarded to
John Lodge under the following circumstances :—On
November 21, 1913, John and Edward Lodge, two brothers,
employed in the Dunkerton Colliery, had drilled and charged
eight shot holes in the face of a stone drift, the fuse in each
succeeding hole being 4 in. longer than that in the preceding
one. The tools were then collected and carried some distance
back, and Edward Lodge returned to light up the fuses.
When he had lighted seven of the fuses, a charge in one of
the holes exploded. John Lodge immediately went into the
face, and, finding Edward lying on the floor conscious, but
with the right thigh broken, dragged him away, though other
charges were still exploding, thus, in all probability, saving
his life. He himself was injured in the head from stones
projected by shots that went off during the rescue, and his
action was courageous to the highest degree.

Welsh Colliery and its Agent.—Aid. Sir John Bell, at the
London Guildhall on Wednesday, gave his decision in the
case of the Cambrian Mercantile Syndicate Limited, of 30,
Moorgate-street, E.C., and Swansea, who were summoned,
together with the secretary, Mr. John Alexander Russell,
under the Companies Consolidation Act, by their colliery
agent, Mr. Edmund James Smith, of Ystalyfera, for issuing
to him a copy of the balance-sheet for 1914 that did not bear
the signature of the directors and secretary, contrary to law.
Sir John said the summons against the company was taken
out under the first part of sub-section 113' of the Act for
issuing a copy of the balance-sheet which had not been signed
by the secretary. He found that there was a duly signed
balance-sheet in existence, but by an oversight a copy of the
signatures of the directors was not applied to the copy of the
balance-sheet issued to the prosecutor. He also found that
Mr. Russell, the secretary, was not aware of the omission.
The sub.-section did not require that the copy should bear the
signatures, and he therefore dismissed the summons. He
thought there was some reason for this summons, and that
Mr. Russell was quite justified in refusing to show the
balance-sheet to a third party, but he could not see why it
could not have been shown to Mr. Smith. Therefore he
would not allow costs. Mr. Lawton said the syndicate
would now supply Mr. Smith with the copies he required
on the payment of the usual charges.

Notes from the Coal Fields.

[Local Correspondence.]

South Wales and Monmouthshire.

A Week's Strike—Disastrous Effect Feared—Government
Intervention—How Dependent Industries Suffered—
Risking the Navy Supplies—Members of the Cabinet
Meet Miners' Executive at Cardiff—Terms Arranged
and Work Resumed—The Call for Government “ Con-
trol " of the Mining Industry—Tax on Coal Exports—
Altering the System of Credit—Further Railway Pro-
vision for Coal Traffic.

Following the stoppage of the collieries and the “ pro-
clamation ” of South Wales under the Munitions Act, efforts
to bridge the gulf were redoubled; two very powerful
reasons operating to that end. First, the urgent need of
maintaining the output of coal ; and, secondly, the dis-
turbance, almost unavoidable, that would follow enforce-
ment under the Act. Fortunately, negotiations through
the Board of Trade, supplemented by a visit to Cardiff
by Mr. Lloyd George, Mr. Runciman, and others, and
negotiations during Tuesday, led to agreement; and on
Wednesday a delegates’ conference accepted the terms
arranged, and telegrams were sent out directing the men
to resume work that night. Navy supplies being endan-
gered, it was early manifest that all available coal came
under reserve for national purposes’.

No time was lost last week in establishing the Muni-
tions Authority, for on Thursday evening it was announced
that a tribunal had been set up with Mr. R. Wallace,
K.C., as chairman, and Sir Griffith Thomas and Councillor
T. Griffiths as assessors. Mr. Wallace is a barrister,
chairman of the County of London Sessions, formerly
Liberal M.P. for Perth, and has contested Wandsworth,
West Edinburgh, and Renfrewshire. Sir Griffith Thomas
is chairman of the Swansea Harbour Trust, has been High
Sheriff of Glamorgan, and three times Mayor of Swansea;
has large interests in the anthracite trade, and until five
years ago owned collieries in the Dulais Valley. Coun-
cillor Griffiths is the organiser in South Wales for the
British Steel Smelters’ Society, was formerly a tin-plate
wcrker, and holds a prominent place in the trade-union
world. He spent some time in Ruskin College, taking a
twelvemonth’s course in economics and sociology, and is a
member of the Neath Corporation and also of the South
Wales Munitions Committee, of the Advisory Committee
on National Insurance, Labour Exchanges, etc. The tri-
bunal will sit locally, and the duty of the assessors will be
similar to those of assessors in the Admiralty Courts,
namely, advise the chairman upon technical points or
matters of trade custoip. The general procedure of the
tribunal follows that of an ordinary court of summary
jurisdiction. Penalties may be recoverable by deductions
from wages.

Thursday brought a general stoppage throughout the
coalfield, probably as many as 180,000 men being idle.
Only two or three collieries were working; half the men
went down at the Albion pit, Cilfyndd, and two collieries
in the Llanharan area were kept going. Meetings were
held in every quarter, most of them awaiting decision of
the delegates’ conference; and meetings later in the day,
after that decision had become known, expressed adher-
ence to its resolution not to work.

A conference of delegates was held on Thursday, and,
notwithstanding strong appeals from the principal leaders
—Mr. J. Winstone (acting president), Mr. T. Richards,
M.P. (secretary), Mr. A. Onions (treasurer), Mr. V.
Hartshorn, and others—a recommendation from the Execu-
tive Council to continue work during further discussion
with the Government was rejected. The numbers by card
were 1,797 for stoppage and 949 against. Each card repre-
sents 50 votes, so that out of a membership total of
137,800 represented, there was a majority of 42,400 against
work. This was almost the same result as was arrived
at in the previous1 conference on the preceding Monday,
the majority being only 450 less, when the original decision
stopping work was arrived at. This vote set at naught
both the South Wales Executive and that of theM.F.G.B.,
discrediting utterly the leaders who had secured exclusion
of miners from the compulsory provisions of the Muni-
tions Act by practically undertaking that there should be
no strike, no hindrance to the supply of coal. Some heated
passages between speakers characterised the proceedings
on Thursday, for, despite insistence that all the Execu-
tive asked was a vote for continued work, without any
abandonment of the original demands, some of them were
strongly condemned by certain speakers.

The constitution of the conference has come in for no
little criticism, especially because of its refusal to put the
main question—continuance at work—to a a ballot vote of
the whole membership; the refusal being looked upon as
manifesting fear that its decision would not be upheld,
but that the majority of the men would vote for continu-
ance. It is contended that, notwithstanding the meetings
which select delegates are open to all, a relatively small
number attend, these being the more active spirits, hold-
ing “ advanced ” views, or those who are most easily influ-
enced by extremists; and that if the mass of the miners,
the men with families and those who are regarded as “ the
chapel lot,” were to vote by ballot, a great reversal would
be experienced. All this, however, is speculation on pro-
bability. The fact, the only fact determining the situa-
tion, was the vote of the conference, to which the great
body of the men strictly adhered, whatever may have been
their private opinions. A certain feeling of resentment
against Government resort to compulsion was prevalent in
the conference; and some speakers called for “compulsion
upon the coalowneis to meet the men,” arguing that com-
pulsion should not be exercised against one side alone.
This argument, however, ignored the fact that the owners
placed themselves in the hands of the Government,
whilst the men stood aloof and sought to achieve then-
ends themselves.

After Thursday’s conference, the Executive Council of
the Federation met, and, under their instruction, Mr. T.
Richards, M.P.. notified the President of the Trade of the
decision which had been arrived at. He eave inti aHon
also of the willingness of the Executive once again to
meet Mr. Runciman “to discuss the whole situation.”
Mr. Runciman replied, fixing Friday afternoon: and,
having had a preliminary meeting in" Cardiff that morn-