32

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

January 7, 1916.

ENLISTMENT OF MINERS.

RECRUITING COURTS.

The Home Secretary, acting with the concurrence- of
the Director-General of Recruiting and the Local
Government Board, has arranged to establish in the
colliery districts special courts (which will be known as
colliery recruiting courts) to deal with questions as to
the enlistment of coal miners. As already announced,
it has been decided, in view of the importance to the
national interests of maintaining the output of coal, that
no person employed underground in a coal mine, and no
person employed on the surface of a coal mine as wind-
ing engineman, pumpman, weighman, electrician, fitter,
or mechanic (whether he has been “ starred ” or not) is
to be called up for service with the Forces without the
consent of the Home Office. The colliery recruiting
courts will deal, on behalf of and acting under instruc-
tions, from the Home Office, with questions as to the
possibility of sparing further miners from these classes
for service with the Forces in particular cases, and also
with questions as to whether particular men come within
these classes. Instructions on the procedure to be
followed for this purpose are appended.

All workmen employed at the surface of coal mines
and all officials whose duty it is to superintend such
workmen, who are not, in either case, included in the
above-mentioned classes, will be on the same footing as
the general body of recruits who have enlisted under the
group system, and in their case claims can only be made
for postponement to later groups. It has been arranged,
however, that claims for postponement in the case of
any such workman or official, on the ground that he is
indispensable to the employer’s business, shall be heard
by the colliery recruiting court, instead of by the ordinary
local tribunal. The procedure in those cases will be
the same as in cases before the local tribunals, and the
instructions, and (with any necessary modifications) the

List of Colliery Recruiting Courts—January 3, 1916.

	Name and address of	Assessors.	
Number and District of Court.	divisional inspector of mines constituting the court.	Representing employers.	Representing I	workmen.
1.	Fife and Clackmannan 	  2.	Lothians and Stirling		  3.	Lanark and Dumbarton 	  4.	Ayr and Dumfries 	  5.	Northumberland and N. Durham  6.	South and West Durham 	  7.	Cumberland 		  8.	South Yorkshire 	  9.	West Yorkshire	  10.	Nottinghamshire 	  11.	North Derbyshire	  12.	Lancashire and Cheshire 	  13.	North Wales 	  14.	North Staffs	  15.	Sotith Staffs., Cannock Chase,  Shropshire and Worcestershire  16.	South Derby and Leicester 	  17.	Warwickshire 			  18.	Somersetshire 	  19.	Forest of Dean	  20.	Bristol	  21.	Glamorgan 	  22.	Monmouth and Brecon 	  23 Carmarthen, Pembroke, and anthracite mines of Glamorgan	H-. Walker, Tyne Lodge, Grange Loan, Edinburgh  }J. R. R Wilson, Westfield L  > Drive, Gosforth, New-1  ' ) castle-on-Tyne	(  1 T. H. Mottram, Doncaster  A. D. Nicholson, Elmsley-rd., (  ) Mossley Hill, Liverpool (  1 H. Johnstone, 3, Priory-road,^  ‘ Edgbaston, Birmingham  J  W. N. Atkinson, I.S.O., C  V LL.D., Tintern, Monmouth-<  \ shire	/	C. A. Carlow.  J. Hood.  Robert Baird.  James A. Clarke.  T. E. Forster.  S Hare.  Tom P. Martin.  C. H. Ashwin.  C. B. Crawshaw.  J. T. Todd.  W. B. M. Jackson.  C. Pilkington.  E. Craig, M.P.  Geo. A. Mitcheson  C. Tryon.  E. D. Spencer.  W. G. Phillips.  Geo. E. J. McMurtrie. Sir Francis Brain. Alfred H. Bonnett.  Hugh Bramwell.  W. Stewart.  Evan Williams.	W. Adamson, M.P. Robert Brown.  J. Robertson.  James Brown.  J. Cairns.  ! W. House.  i Thos. Richardson, M.P.  H. Smith.  S. Roebuck.  i J. G. Hancock, M.P. j Barnet Kenyon, M.P.  I  S. Walsh, M.P.  E. Hughes.  S. Finney.  H. Whitehouse.  W. Buckley.  Wm. Johnson, M.P.  S. H. Whitehouse.  G. H. Rowlinson.  W. Whitefield.  Vernon Hartshorn.  Thos. Richards, M.P.  John D. Morgan.

forms, issued by the Local Government Board will
apply. On the other hand, a claim for postponement on
grounds personal to the man himself will go before the
local tribunal.

Each court will consist of the divisional inspector of
mines (or a senior inspector acting as his deputy), with
two assessors, one representing the coal owners, the
other representing the miners.

Twenty-three courts in all have been established, a
list of which, with the names of the assessors, is
appended.

The' Home Office desires to call the attention of coal
owners to the instructions issued by the War Office
(appearing in the Press of December 17), which indicate
the steps to be taken when an attested miner who
belongs to one of the classes mentioned in the first para-
graph above is by inadvertence called up for service
without the consent of the Home Office.

Instructions to Colliery Recruiting Courts.

Note. — These instructions apply only to questions
raised in respect of “ Coal Miners ” (see definition in
instruction 9). In all other cases taken by the colliery
courts, the instructions issued by the Local Government
Board to the ordinary local tribunals apply.

(1)	In the consideration and decision of cases the
court shall be guided by instructions issued from time
to time by the central court.

(2)	The court will hear and decide, in the case of men
employed in the area for which they are appointed, ques-
tions which may be raised by the local recruiting officer
as to

(а)	Whether any person who is alleged to be a coal
miner is, in fact, a coal miner; or

(б)	Whether in the case of any coal miner, it is
no longer necessary in the national interest to
retain him in civil employment.

the question, notice in writing shall be sent by post or
delivered by the court to the local recruiting officer, and
to the man with respect to whom the quesion has been
raised, and to his employer, of the date and place fixed
for • the consideration of the question, and with ihe
notice there shall be sent particulars of the question to
be raised.*

(5)	The man with respect to whom the question has
been raised, and his employer, or a person in the service
of the employer authorised to represent him, shall have
the right to be present at the hearing of the case by
the court, and to be heard as a witness. The court may
also hear such other witnesses as the court think ffi,
but shall not admit any person to be heard as an
advocate.

The local recruiting officer shall also have the right
to appear and to be heard as a party in every case heard
or considered by the court, either in person, or by a
representative of military interests duly authorised in
writing by the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of
the Command.

(6)	The decision of the court upon the question referred
to them shall be forthwith communicated in writing to
the parties.

(7)	A record o^ the decision of the court upon a case
shall be entered on the notice of application, apd a
register of cases shall be kept in the prescribed form.

(8)	If any of the parties concerned is dissatisfied with
the decision of the court, the court may, if application
is made to the court on the prescribed form within five
days after the decision of the court, and the court is of
opinion that a question of principle or any important
•issue is involved, grant leave to appeal to the central
court. If leave to appeal is granted, the court shall
forward forthwith to the central court, the notice of
appeal, and the other documents relating to the case,
and a statement of the question at issue and of the
grounds of their decision.

(3)	Every application by the local recruiting officer
for the consideration of any such question shall be sent
to the divisional inspector, and may be delivered at or
sent by post to his address.

(4)	Where any such application is made, not less than
one week before the day fixed for the consideration of

(9)	These instructions may be added to, varied, or
revoked by any subsequent instructions.

In these instructions “ coal miner ” means any man
working below ground in a coal mine, or any of the
following surface workers at a coal mine, that is to say,
a winding engineman, pumpman, weighman, electrician,
fitter or mechanic.

Gapt. A. V. Agius, whose name is included in the list of
those mentioned in Sir John French’s despatches from the
Western front, represented the interests of Messrs. E. T.
Agius Limited, coal exporters, on Newcastle Quayside.

The Foreign Trade Department of the Foreign Office has
been set up as a new Department in order to carry out
the policy embodied in the Trading with the Enemy
(Extension of Powers) Act, 1915. Questions of contraband
or the hindrance of oversea trade between neutrals and the
enemy, and the licensing of exports from this country, will
continue to be dealt with by the Government Departments
which have hitherto been charged with these questions. In
order to secure the full benefit for British interests of the
policy of the Department, the advice and assistance of
business men will be invited through the Chambers of
Commerce and other trade organisations. Mr. L.
Worthington Evans, M.P., has undertaken the direction of
the new Department, with the title of Controller of the
Foreign Trade Department of the Foreign Office. Offices
have been obtained at Lancaster House, The Mall, S.W.
(above the London Museum), which will be opened on
January 5. It is requested that all communications (includ-
ing those relating to matters previously dealt with by the
Trading with the Enemy Department 'of the Home Office)
should be addressed to the Controller, at Lancaster House.

TRADE AMD THE WAR.

Regarding openings for trade in British India, the Director
of Statistics to the Indian Government, in a review of the
trade of India for the year ending March 31, 1915, states that
in recent years the collieries of India have largely adopted
electrical equipment, and here German goods have found an
opening.

The offices of the Ship Licensing Committee are now at
Adelphi-terrace House, 1, Robert-street, Adelphi, W.C.,
where all communications should be addressed. The com-
mittee wish it to be known that it will facilitate the prompt
dealing with applications for licences to carry cargo from one
foreign port to another foreign port if a copy of the charter
party is forwarded with the application.

Mr. Lloyd George has appointed Mr. Seebohm Rowntree
to assist Lord Murray on problems arising out of the employ-
ment of women as munition workers. Mr. Rowntree will
assist in giving effect to the recommendations of the Com-
mittee on Industrial Fatigue, presided over by Sir George
Newman.

The Board of Trade announce that a white list of regular
and reliable importers of coal in neutral countries has been
prepared, and copies may be consulted at the Baltic, the Cardiff
Coal Exchange, the Royal Exchange (Glasgow), the Pacific
Exchange (Hull), the Atlantic Exchange (Liverpool), the
Exchange (Newcastle), or at the Mercantile Marine Office at
any of the following ports : Ardrossan, Blyth, Burntisland,
Cardiff, Glasgow, Hull, Leith, Liverpool, Manchester,
Methil, Newcastle, Newport, Port Talbot, Swansea, and West
Hartlepool. If the name of a foreign firm, which is regarded
as a regular and reliable importer of coal, docs not appear on
this white list, the firm should be advised to apply at once
to the local British Consul in the country concerned. It will
be understood that licences must be obtained in all cases, and
that the granting of licences is dependent upon the available
supplies of coal and coke in this country, and the other con-
siderations which have to be borne in mind by the licensing
authority.

With reference to the exportation of certain 'articles to
Switzerland during the present war, the Director of the
War Trade Department desires to call the attention of
exporters to the fact that persons who have already lodged
applications for licences which have not yet been granted or
refused, should instruct their consignees to procure the neces-
sary certificate from the Societe Suisse de Surveillance
Economique, at Berne, and should forward it when received
to the War Trade Department. Information in regard to
the Societe Suisse can be obtained at the London Bureau
of the society, 7, Princes-street, Westminster.

The Board of Agriculture has announced that the Home-
Grown Timber Committee have received a very large number
of offers of timber, which are being dealt with as rapidly as
possible. It may be of service to land owners, agents, and
others to know that the classes of growing timber at present
principally required by the Committee are : Scots and Cor-
sican pine, silver fir, Douglas fir, and larch of good dimen-
sions, and in lots of about 20,000 cu. ft. and upwards; plan-
tation ash of fair size, which will be accepted in compara-
tively small lots; other hardwoods of good dimensions are
also required, but, as a rule, these cannot be considered in
small lots. The Committee are also prepared to enter into
arrangements with the owners of estate sawmills for the
conversion of timber. Al] communications should be
addressed to the Secretary, Home-Grown Timber Committee,
Craven House, Nortbumberland-avenue, London, W.C.

The views of the railway companies of the United King-
dom regarding the complaints of delays in goods traffic are
set forth in a general statement which has been issued. It is
pointed out that the companies are considerably handicapped
by the fact that no fewer than 120,000 of their most active
and energetic young men have enlisted, and that it has not
been found possible to replace more than about half that
number. The traffic that the railway companies have been
called upon to deal with during the last 12 months is actually
very much heavier than it was in 1913, which was a record
year. Owing to the shortage of cartage, traders have been
unable to clear their traffic away from terminal points,
causing congestion and preventing other traffic for those points
from being accepted at the forwarding stations. The shortage
of cartage is a very serious factor. A company will often
arrange to have 20 wagons in position for unloading at a
terminal station, and only four of them are unloaded in a
day, owing to the firm to which the goods are consigned being
unable to find carts or carters. This applies to coal consign-
ments for electric and gas plants of cities and towns, as well
as to goods for private firms. The primary duty of a railway
at the present time is to convey naval and military traffic, and
everything else has to stand aside for that. The military
authorities have been compelled to occupy at some stations
as much as 50, 60, or even 70 per cent, of the available
accommodation, but this embarrassment to the railway com-
panies is being gradually overcome by the provision of special
accommodation for dealing with the military traffic. Extra
stagings and storing sheds have been erected, and new roads
have been provided giving access to them. Another obliga-
tion of the railway companies has been, perforce, to keep a
large number of vehicles under load with military traffic, and
to hold at junction points, for the immediate use of the mili-
tary authorities whenever required, 'a great many more. Men,
munitions, and supplies may have to be shifted at any
moment, and the railway companies are expected to be pre-
pared for all emergencies. There is obviously constant
heavy traffic between camps and docks. The companies
claim that they are doing their very utmost in their efforts
to keep things moving. If traders, through the dearth of
cartage, cannot clear wagons waiting for them to do so, other
goods are prevented from coming forward. In a sense, the
companies have to serve two masters now, the Government
and the public, and national interests necessarily come first.
They claim that the parcels traffic, all the goods-they deliver
themselves, does not get into arrears, though they can only
keep abreast of it by continual exertions. It is the station-
to-station traffic that is congested, and that seems mainly a
question of cartage. The amount of coal carried by the rail-
way companies for home supplies, apart from naval and
military needs and exports, will, during 1915, be very nearly
equal to the home supplies of 1914, which is a triumph for
the railway companies. There is less congestion now of all
kinds of goods than there was at this time last year, except
that many warehouses are filled up with merchandise which
cannot immediately be disposed of owing to diminished export
trade. The main remedy for traders’ present difficulties
appears to be, however, the augmentation of transport labour.