October 15, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

793

Mr. T. Greenall (Lancashire) proposed “ That this con-
ference instructs the executive committee to endeavour to
bring about a change in the working hours of all collieries
in the United Kingdom, as we consider that commencing
work at six o’clock in the morning is detrimental to the
interests of the mining community economically, mentally,
and physically, and a remnant of barbarism out of keeping
with our ideas of democracy and progress, and a benefit only
to the capitalist class. As it has a strong tendency to keep
the workers more in subjection, we wish to substitute the
hours of work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in preference to the
present obsolete hours, as we are convinced this would be a
great incentive to arouse the workers from their present
apathy, and give them a better opportunity* for study and
recreation.” He said that this would have the effect of
reducing the amount of absenteeism from the mine, as with
the present early hours, if a man lay in bed for a few
minutes too long, the whole day’s work was lost, together
with his production. Absenteeism would be reduced to a
reasonable percentage from this change.

Mr. Murdock (Scotland) seconded.

Mr. W. House (Durham) said the resolution was seeking
an ideal state of things, which, unfortunately, was impos-
sible in Durham, where the pits were working three shifts.

Mr. J. Winstone (South Wales) said it might or might not
be a relic of barbarism to begin work at six o’clock in the
morning, but they had managed to survive it fairly well.
They were a very simple folk in Wales, and it was difficult
to get them away from the old and well-established
principles, and they did not think if this were carried they
would improve in any particular the state of affairs in
South Wales. The present hours of from six to two, and
at other collieries of from seven to three, seemed to have
worked fairly satisfactory.

Mr. W. Carter said the working hours in Nottinghamshire
were from seven to three, and the change suggested would
be unanimously opposed by their men.

Mr. Edwards (South Wales) said the resolution was about
the limit. Getting up in the morning, he added, “ is a very
queer business, I have always made it a rule to get up
when I was bound to. I admit that to get up at five is
as easy as to get up at eight, and a little bit easier, because
you have not so much time to think about it.”

Mr. T. McKerrall (Kilmarnock) said if there was a strike
wanted, they could not keep the South Wales men in their
seats. Eor an illusory thing, such as an advance in wages,
which they soon lost, they found the South Wales men
fighting like tigers; but for permanent improvements such
as the eight hours, or a five day working week, they would
do nothing. Getting up in the middle of the night to go
to work was a bit of barbarism which showed they had
not far advanced from the day when they were the chattel
slaves of employers.

The President remarked that it was as inevitable as the
rising of to-morrow’s sun that this would be carried
ultimately by the Federation, but it would not be carried
that day.

The resolution was then put, and defeated by 111 to 47
votes.

Mr. Middleton (Northumberland) proposed that the
Federation seek to have all royalty rents, and wayleaves
transferred to the State. He said Mr. McKenna was at
his wit’s end now to raise money, and this would put
millions in his hands.

Mr. Richardson (Durham) seconded the resolution.

The President said the resolution spoke of the transfer
of the royalties to the State. The House of Commons
would take that as the purchase of the royalties from the
State, but if they were to buy back what was national
property from the thieves who stole it, on a 40 years’
purchase, it would mean, with an annual revenue of 12
millions, an outlay of 480 millions. They must confiscate
the royalties, not merely transfer them. They could not
pay people for the restoration of stolen property. The
owners would be quite prepared for the transfer now, for
they were shaking in their shoes for fear they would be
taken by someone else across the water.

Mr. Straker (Northumberland) said there were two ways
of transferring these royalties. One way was to purchase
them, the other way was to confiscate them. “ We believe
in the confiscation principle,” he added.

Mr. Tonner (Scotland) proposed that an amendment of
the law is urgently required making it illegal for any work-
man to be evicted from his house during the progress of
a trade dispute.

Mr. Winstone (South Wales) said he was as sure as
he was a living man that if some of the evictions which they
had heard of in the past occurred in the South Wales coal
field there would be a revolution. The resolution was
carried.

Mr. Tom Smith (Yorkshire) proposed that the Government
be asked to amend the Old-Age Pension Act by reducing the
age to 65 and increasing the pension to 7s. 6d. per week. He
urged that with the increase in the cost of living this was the
smallest possible amount on which old-age pensioners could
live.

Mr. J. E. Sutton, M.P. (Lancashire), said a pension of
5s. a week was too small in peace time, but with the
present high price of food it was impossible for the pensioner
to live on it.

The resolution was carried.

The Cumberland Association proposed that the Federation
arrange for a national weekly holiday to take place each
year for all miners throughout Great Britain.

The President asked the Cumberland miners to withdraw
the resolution, in view of the pledge given to the Govern-
ment that they would reduce their holidays as much as pos-
sible. It would look as if their pledge was of no value.

Mr. Cable (Cumberland), in withdrawing the resolution,
said it was their intention that nothing should be done during
the war.

The resolution was then withdrawn.

The conference decided to hold future conferences in July,
and to make the minimum contribution of full members 6d.
per week.

The conference on Friday discussed the proposals for an
alliance of the miners, railwaymen, and transport workers,
on wage and other questions affecting these three great
industries.

■ The following proposals were submitted as the basis of
the alliance between the miners, railwaymen, and transport
workers :—

1.	That matters submitted to this joint body, and upon
which action may be taken, should be those of a national
character, or vitally affecting a principle which, in the
opinion of the executive making the request necessitates
combined action.

2.	The co-operation of the joint organisation shall not
be called upon, nor expected, unless and until the matter
in dispute has been considered by and received the endorse-
ment of the national executive of the organisation
primarily concerned, and each organisation instituting a
movement which is likely to involve the other affiliated
organisations shall, before any definite steps are taken,
submit the whole matter to the joint body for considera-
tion.

3.	For the purpose of increasing the efficiency of the
movement for combined action periodical meetings of the
three full executives shall be held at least half yearly.

4.	There shall be appointed a consultative committee of
six, composed of two members, chosen from the executive
committees of each of the three bodies, whose duty it shall
be to meet from time to time, and who shall be empowered
to call at any time a special conference of the executives
of the three bodies, if in their opinion such conference be
necessary. That a meeting be called on application made
by any one of the three bodies.

5.	With a view of meeting all management expenses
incurred, each affiliated body shall contribute a sum of
10s. per thousand members per annum, or such sum as
may be decided upon from time to time.

6.	Simultaneously with these arrangements for united
action between the three organisations in question, every
effort shall proceed -among the three sections to create
effective and complete control of their respective bodies.

7.	Complete autonomy shall be reserved to any one of
the three bodies affiliated to take action on their own
behalf.

8.	No obligation shall devolve upon any one of the
■three bodies to take joint action unless the foregoing con-
ditions have been complied with.

k resolution from South Wales instructing the executive
committee to prepare 'a national programme to include amend-
ments of the Minimum Wage, Workmen’s Compensation,
Eight Hour (to include surfacemen), and the Mines Regula-
tion Acts, and to submit the amending Bills to a special
national conference called for the purpose, with the object
of making them a programme to be submitted to the joint
body of railwaymen, transport workers, and miners for
action, was carried by an overwhelming majority.

A resolution from Lancashire on the question of strikes
arising from non-union labour in the mines was referred to
the executive to bring before the Government Committee on
Coal Supplies.

Mr. Robert Smillie was re-elected president, Mr. W. House
(Durham) vice-president, Mr. T. Ashton (Manchester)
secretary, and Mr. W. Abraham, M.P., treasurer; and
Messrs. H. Smith and S. Roebuck (Yorkshire), T. Greenall
(Lancashire), S. Finney (Staffordshire), Frank Hall (Derby-
shire, J. G. Hancock, M.P. (Nottinghamshire), T. Cape
(Cumberland), W. Whitefield (Bristol), D. Gilmour and R.
Brown (Scotland), J. Winstone, G. Barker, and Vernon
Hartshorn (South Wales), W. Straker (Northumberland), S.
Robson and W. Whiteley (Durham) were elected to the
executive. Mr. Onions (South Wales) was nominated to the
Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Congress.

With reference to the wage agreement in Somerset, the
President announced that the officials of the Federation had
a consultation with the Somerset representatives, and it had
been agreed to ask the Somerset employers to arrange a joint
conference between themselves and the workmen’s representa-
tives, to be attended by the Federation officials, for the
purpose of endeavouring to fix up a new wages agreement.

This was agreed to, and power given to the executive to
settle.

MINING AND OTHER NOTES.

Mr. A. Millhouse, the secretary of the Pinxton Collieries
Limited, near Alfreton, has been elected a Fellow of the
Chartered Institute of Secretaries, London.

At a meeting of the Institution of Petroleum Technologists
on Tuesday evening, at eight o’clock, at the Royal Society
of Arts, John-street, Adelphi, W.C., the following paper
will be read :—“ The Petroleum Industry of Mexico,” by
P. C. A. Stewart, A.R.S.M., A.R.C.Sc., Assoc. M.Inst.M.M.

The president of the Institution of Mining Engineers has
been asked by the Army Council to nominate a number of
suitable mining engineers for commissions in the Tunnelling
Companies of the Royal Engineers. The gentlemen
appointed will receive temporary commissions, and, after
short training, will get an opportuntity of service at the
front. The most suitable ages will be between 23 and 35,
but these age limits will not be strictly adhered to in the
case of obviously suitable candidates. Previous military
training is not essential.

Mr. Ernest Crocker, in a presidential address to the
Birmingham and Midland Scientific Society last week, made
some interesting observations upon the effects of smoke in
manufacturing areas. He said the smoke nuisance laid its
heavy tax, directly or indirectly, on everything we ate,
everything we wore, and on the dwellings in which we lived,
to say nothing of the waste of coal and waste of the valuable
products of combustion which ensued. Coal might be
regarded in two ways—either simply as a fuel or as the
source of certain valuable by-products; and it was becom-
ing increasingly recognised that the latter was the correct
view, as tending to the greatest economy, for smoke abate-
ment and coal economy were closely allied. It had been
repeatedly proved that wherever energetic steps had been
taken to abate the smoke nuisance the result had been great
economy in the annual fuel bills. It was to electricity that
they must look for a complete solution of the problem of
smoke and the economical use of coal.

The United States Department of Justice has given timely
notice to the projectors of the newT steel combination that any
trust which violates the Anti-Trust Law in any particular
will not be permitted to operate. This warning has some-
what disturbed the steel magnates, who have arranged for
the final settlement and purchase of the Midvale Steel
Company. The purchase price is announced as ^3,607,500.
It is reported, however, that the purchase of the Midvale
plant is the first move towards the formation of several
independent steel companies in Pennsylvania and Ohio into
one big combination, with Mr. Corey, the president of the
United States Steel Corporation, as its head. The new
combination, it is stated, would be called the American
Steel Corporation, and have a capital of at least
^100,000,000. In addition to the Midvale company, the
new organisation is counted upon to embrace the
Pennsylvania, the Maryland, the Cambria, and the Lacka-
wanna steel companies, the Brill Car Company, the
Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company, and large ore and
blast furnace interests of Cleveland.

LETTERS TO THE EDITORS.

The Editors are not responsible either for the statements
made, or the opinions expressed by correspondents.

All communications must be authenticated by the name and
address of the sender, whether for publication or not.
No notice can be taken of anonymous communications.

As replies to questions are only given by way of published
answers to correspondents, and not by letter, stamped
addressed envelopes are not required to be sent.

THE THICKNESS OF THE LOWER CARBONI-
FEROUS ROCKS PROVED IN THE TRAPHAM
BORING, KENT.

Sirs,—Dr. Arber has courteously sent me a copy of
his letter to the Colliery Guardian of October 6, 1915,
commenting upon my paper, “ The Fauna and Strati-
graphy of the Kent Coal Field ” (Transactions, Institu-
tion of Mining Engineers, vol. xlix.).

Dr. Arber takes exception to my view that his state-
ment of the occurrence of 450 ft. of carboniferous lime-
stone in the boring at Trapham is incorrect. I submit
that Dr. Arber has not in his letter furnished any proof
in support of the statement which I called in question.
From his own showing, the material w*as bored through
before he was aware of it, and by means of the chisel.
I am naturally anxious to know what sort of “ cores ”
were obtained by this means, and how the thickness of
the beds could be determined so accurately from chipped
material obtained from a depth of nearly 3,000 ft.

That it was not in a condition of clean cores is evident
by his table of strata, where 100 ft. of “ sediment ” is
shown; nearly one-fourth of the whole.

Dr. Arber’s palaeontological evidence is useless.
Productus sp. proves the presence of a species of
Productus, and nothing else, and I have shown
that Productus goes far up into the coal measures.
The occurrence of Syringothyris tiuspidatus at 3,150 ft.
brings it within my 21 ft. 7 in. of carboniferous lime-
stone, which is not in dispute. I fail to understand
the utility of an acid test. Such a test- proves the
presence of calcareous matter, and nothing more, and a
similar reaction could be obtained from many coal
measure strata, and even some of the Kent sandstones,
which contain at times a fair amount of calcspar.

Dr. Arber places the base of the coal measures at
2,775 ft. What is the proof of this? The boring
master’s details supplied to me show that a thick mass
of sandstone starts at 2,665 ft., and continues down to
2,860ft. The same details show the following beds:—
49 ft. 11 in. sandstone and bind sediment at 2,907 ft.
37 ft. 10 in. sandstone and bind sediment at 2,970 ft.

37 ft. 10 in. strong sandstone and bind sediment at 3,049ft.
Are these beds the “ sediments ” of Dr. Arber? If his
conclusions are correct, why does he not say something
more of the 91| ft. of typical carboniferous limestone,
and why was there such a doubt, even in his own mind,
that Dr. Burr and Mr. Woods were appealed to for con-
firmation? Surely this bed of limestone held some
proof of its age other than Productus sp.?

The statement “ No doubt the figures he (Mr. Bolton)
assumes are more convenient in connection with the
theory he has arrived at as to the floors of the’ coal
measures in Kent,” is one which neither needs nor
deserves comment.

Bearing in mind that the only supposed evidence Dr.
Arber adduces for some 200 ft. of strata is the occurrence
of Productus sp., and that I have shown this is no
evidence at all, I am still of opinion that his statement
is certainly incorrect.	H. Bolton.

The Bristol Museum,

October 9, 1915.

THE FREIGHT MARKET.

The outward freight market has been very active during
the week under review, and, at the time of writing, business
is brisker than has been the case for some time past. The
chief cause of the new life is the modification of the activities
of the Coal Export Control Committee, which has announced
that, the objects for w’hich the licence system was set up
having been largely attained, licences will now be granted,
in certain directions, with greater freedom. The Scandi-
navian market, which has been virtually closed for some time
past, has re-opened, and there is a good enquiry for vessels
for that direction. Speaking generally, tonnage is in great
demand, both at the north-cast coast and at South Wales,
and, as there is little improvement in the supply of vessels,
rates of freight promise to show considerable advances in the
near future. At the Tyne rates have been more than main-
tained during the week. Coasting business is about steady,
on the basis of 9s. 3d. to London. In the early part of the
week rates for North France showed a considerable decline,
Rouen falling to 17s., a reduction of Is. 3d. on the week,
whilst Calais, Dunkirk, and Treport fell by amounts ranging
from 3d. to 2s. Later, however, figures show a renewal of
strength, and the most recent fixtures to Rouen have been
arranged at fully 18s. 3d. The Bay is a strong market, and
Bordeaux has been fixed for at advances of from Is. to Is. 6d.,
though Nantes is barely maintained. The Mediterranean
continues to be very firm, and prices are still advancing.
Genoa or Savona is from 3s. to 3s. 6d. dearer, and Marseilles
from Is. 6d. to 2s. higher. Rates in other directions are well
held. At South Wales, what must surely be record rates in
these days of steam propulsion have been paid for the River
Plate for Cardiff loading. Whilst, a fortnight ago, Argentine
ports were fixed for at from 30s. to 30s. 3d., they have been
done this week at from 40s. to 41s. 3d. Easiness is apparent
in the Cardiff-North France market, with Rouen quoted at
Is. lower. The Bay has Bordeaux at 28 fr., a decrease of
2 fr. on the later rates of last week. Rates for Mediterranean
ports are represented by about 39s. 6d. for Genoa or Savona,
and from 42s. 6d. to 45s. for Port Said.

Homewards, little activity is manifested at the River Plate,
and rates have fallen to about 65s. for Oct.-Nov. loading for
United Kingdom. The enquiry is extremely small, but the
supply of tonnage being limited, this rate is fairly strongly