868

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

November 3, 1916.

Notes from the Coal Fields.

[Local Correspondence.]

South Wales and Monmouthshire.

New Admiralty Contracts—Tonnage Position Worse—
Colliery Stoppages Feared—Suggestions to Induce
Heavier Output—A Mining School—War Minister
Unveils Lord Rhondda's Gift—Future of South
Wales Coal Trade—Colliery Combination—Baldwins
to Spend Another Half-Million.

A meeting has taken place this week as t a the price for
coal which should be charged the Admiralty after the end
jf the year, the negotiation of which will, of course, have
decisive effect upon other prices and colliery profits over a
substantial period. In this connection, it is important to
note that the owners of the highest quality coal have been
hitherto in a much less favourable position than those whose
interests are in the second-rate collieries. The limitation
price for best Admiralty steam coals has been round about
25s., and it will be recognised that the limitation upon ship-
ments to the Allies, recently fixed at 30s., leaves a very
much greater* margin of profit after all allowances have been
made for any difference of conditions. Until this recent
limitation upon second-class coals, there was a greater profit
upon this than upon the best steam; indeed, it was chiefly
upon this that the extraordinarily high profits were realised.
Obviously, some remedy of this difficulty must be brought
about, in bare justice to the higher-class collieries. The
matter has also its direct bearing upon the wage rate.

The Blaina Anthracite Company, which has two or three
workings in the neighbourhood of Pantyffynon, have installed
a new electrical power station, and also expended about
£10,000 in screening and breaking plant; and it has been
decided that, upon additional mineral area that has been
taken up, a new pit shall be sunk.

Bad weather has operated very seriously against coal ship-
ments in the South Wales ports, delaying tonnage, and this
fact, added to the prevailing shortage, threatened to have
serious consequence for the trade. Swansea and Port
Talbot, in particular, have suffered in regard to shipments.
It is to be pointed out that the ordinary record of sailings is
quite untrustworthy, because Admiralty wrork is not pub-
lished; and this fact makes the ordinary returns entirely
different from those of former days. Trance is receiving the
bulk of the shipments, Italy a large proportion, and very
little goes to neutral Powers.

That there is a waste of tonnage, and that this has serious
consequences, cannot be denied. It arises from several
causes. Delays at the French ports are great, notwithstand-
ing heavy demurrage rates; and in so far as these are due to
lack of labour, it passes comprehension why the abundant
labour of the British West Indies, utilised in construction of
the Panama Canal, or labour from South Africa, is not requi-
sitioned. Delay in the home ports may be due to tardy issue
of licences to export. Another point is that exporters find
themselves, under the new Mediterranean charter, called
upon to accept responsibility for demurrage at the destina-
tion ports as well as at home; and, as they have not agreed
to this, there is delay under this head. The bad weather
caps the list; so that, altogether, the tonnage position has
been very unsatisfactory. Lack of empties threatens to stop
the collieries.

In this district, the remarks by Lord Furness, at the
meetings of the Broomhill Collieries, are much appreciated.
His lordship referred to the refusal of licences, which often
causes an accumulation of stocks-; this, in turn, means
stoppage of work at the collieries, and consequent loss of
earnings to the company. There was, of course, he pointed
out, serious wastage of labour through the men being obliged
to idle when they might be working full time.

Among the suggestions made in order to increase the
output of coal, is one to the effect that miners should be
desired to work an extra hour each day, being paid overtime
for that hour; that a bonus should be paid to all men who
produce a certain quantity of coal above the average weekly
output; and also that there should be a special allowance
made as extra payment to all men who work full time. The
argument in favour is that there will be such an increased
output as will much reduce the cost of production, so that
employers will benefit, as well as an addition be made to
the national requirements.

One of the reports circulating in the coal trade circles of
South Wales as to Lord Milner’s action, is to the effect that
some further measure of Government control is necessary in
regard to colliery outputs. As has been previously stated,
the idea is not to introduce Government management of the
mines, which would only be the setting aside of experienced
men, and perhaps the substitution of bureaucrats who would
create confusion. The course of action will be to practically
take charge of the coal at the pithead, and to regulate prices
and distribution. The underlying principle seems to be that
which has been operating in regard to France and the
M'editeranean, where already there is limitation of price with
the issue of licences for export; and the practicability of
applying some such system to the home trade as well is
being discussed. It sets aside all the risks and the grave
commitments which would arise under full control by the
Government—a control which would be nationalisation in all
but name. How far the owners will be satisfied with fix-
tures of prices, and whether* the men will at all agree to a
fixed wage rate, are questions which evoke great differences
of opinion. It is to be remembered that the men only
recently claimed 12| per cent, increase of the wage rate, and
.are now seeking 15 per cent., basing their claim almost
entirely upon the market price of coal; and they believe that
it is due only to a defect in the Conciliation Board agree-
ment that they do not secure the increase. The independent
chairman can only say “ Yes ” or “ No,” so that if he
thought 10 per cent, increase to be warranted by circum-
stances, he would have to reject the claim entirely, because
the men were asking more. Another alleged defect is that
which has been much discussed of late—the submission to
an independent chairman of statements as to costs of pro-
duction, which are supplied by the employers alone, and not
verified on the men’s behalf through the medium of a joint
audit. These points have direct application to the sugges-
tion of Government control, which entail a fixed price and
an unaltered wage rate.

Swansea is still furthering the effort to establish a mining
school, so that West Glamorgan, with East Carmarthen,
may obtain the benefit of improved instruction; and, although
sanction for the necessary expenditure was withheld at the
outbreak of war, it is hoped that, as part of the great develop-

ment of technical instruction now in progress, a renewed
application may prove more successful. The anthracite dis-
trict is opening up rapidly, the acquisition of the Gwaun-cae-
Gurwen Colliery by Lord Rhondda being only one of the
signa of the times. The Treasury has been approached with
a view of sanction for the necessary loan, for it is felt by
local coal owners and educational authorities that no time
should be lost in providing that technical education, parti-
cularly in regard to mining, which is so urgently needed.
Glamorgan Council propose to act in conjunction with the
Swansea Council, so that the advanced instruction in mining
should be given at the Swansea Technical College. A
scheme was arranged, and as part of the agreement arrived
at by the two authorities, the County Council did not equip
its own mining centres outside the town in the Swansea
district, but undertook to establish a laboratory at Swansea
Technical College, as well as to supply part of the mainten-
ance costs for a period of years. It is now desired to bring
this scheme, or one founded upon it, into practical operation
at the earliest possible date.

The Swansea Chamber of Commerce met last Friday, when
reference was made to the allegation against the France
Exports Committee of that town, the members having been
charged at Cardiff with unfair treatment of would-be shippers
from the latter port. Mr. T. P. Cook mentioned the matter,
and said that the Swansea Committee took up the subject
energetically; that a meeting was held at Cardiff under the
chairmanship of Mr. T. E. Watson, president of the Cardiff
Chamber of Commerce; that the Swansea representatives at
that meeting were in the minority; that the question was
gone into fully, each individual question being separately
considered; and that the meeting came to the conclusion that
the action of the Swansea Committee had been in strict
accordance with the scheme, and was free from any suspicion
of bias against Cardiff exporters.—At the same meeting of
Swansea Chamber of Commerce, a report was submitted upon
the trimmers’ insurance scheme, this showing a very satis-
factory state of affairs.

An automatic safety device for use in connection with
tramways has been invented by Mr. A. Morgan, of the
Bargoed Collieries, and it is claimed that this will facilitate
traffic, and lead to increase of output.

A West Wales colliery company were charged before the
munitions tribunal at Swansea for employing a youth who
had come from a controlled establishment without having
obtained a leaving certificate. In defence, the colliery
manager stated it had been represented to him that the con-
sent of the former employer had been obtained. The case
was regarded as one of considerable importance, the chair-
man emphasising the need for employers to recognise their
obligations; and fines of £5 on the company and £5 on the
manager were imposed.

Exporters and colliery owners were not consulted in regard
to the limitation of coal prices and freights to the Mediter-
ranean ; and Mr. T. E. Watson (president) on Tuesday
directed the attention of Cardiff Chamber of Commerce to
this fact. He said that scheme was very hurriedly prepared
—rushed through; and there was one condition in the charter
designated which neither exporters nor colliery owners had
agreed to, namely—that the charterer should be responsible
for demurrage over which he had no control. On Friday of
this week there would be a meeting in London with repre-
sentatives of the Italian Government, and Cardiff representa-
tives then might meet ship owners. What he complained of
was that the ship owners who had taken in hand these negoti-
ations were not in the Italian trade at all. Why should a
small committee, dealing mainly with ships that go long
voyages, arrogate the right of laying down conditions upon
which Cardiff merchants and ship owners should do business?

There have been heavy storms in South Wales during the
past few days, and one of the consequences is that the
Cwmdu Collieries, Maes teg, had to stop temporarily owing
to a cable supplying electric power having been blown down.

Lieut.-Col. Trump, just promoted to that -rank, and placed
in command in the Staffordshire Regiment, is a son of the
late Mr. H. V. Trump, at one time manager at Rhymney.
He is an ex-inspector of mines.

At Cardiff, last Friday, a very large gathering, fully
representative of the coal trade and South Wales industry,
as well as including public men in every walk of life,
assembled to witness the unveiling by Mr. Lloyd George,
Minister of Wan?, of a group of costly statuary which Lord
Rhondda has presented to the Municipality of Cardiff. There
are 11 statues, representing the Worthies of Wales; and the
War Minister, in his visit, was accompanied by Maj. D.
Davies, M.P. (owner of the Ocean Collieries), Col. H. Webb,
M.P., also holding large colliery interests in South Wales,
being present as well, having travelled from Liverpool for
that purpose. Mr. Lloyd George bore tribute to Lord
Rhondda for the national service which he rendered by his
journey to America when he arranged for supply of muni-
tions from the United States and Canada, saving millions of
money in the cost, his lordship having at the same time
arranged terms for the first load effected through J. P.
Morgan’s financial house. Eulogistic reference was, of
course, made to the liberality of the donor of the statues,
and to his increasing prominence in the coal trade.

The freedom of the city was also conferred upon Lord
Rhondda; and, in the course of one of the speeches which he
•made, his lordship said that the future of the district was
bound up with the coal trade. Its coal was the best in the
world, of a high volatile character. He was not permitted
to disclose the evidence that had been put before the Com-
mittee of which he was chairman, but so far as the future
development of South Wales trade was concerned, he did
not believe that Cardiff had by any means reached the zenith
of its fame. The output had been rather stationary for the
last four or five years, but he wTas very hopeful that, when
the war was over, they would be able to meet the labour
representatives in a different and better spirit than in the
past. He did not mean to suggest that they had secured a
solution to the problem, but he hoped for better relations,
seeing that the interests of capital and labour were identical.
He believed that we were in for a revolution in the coal
trade, in that we should have to follow the Germans and
apply scientific methods. Fortunately, in South Wales they
had a very high quality and percentage of volatile materials.
In the belief that they must apply scientific methods to its
use, he had added to his staff Mr. Evans, of Treforest, to
look into that question, and that question alone. Cardiff
must look out and see that they got a fair share of the many
allied industries that were coming with the carbonisation of
high volatile material at low temperature. Personally, he
was not afraid of Germany in times of peace any more than
in times of war, the British having as much brains, intelli-
gence, and industry as the Germans.

A further hearing of the case of the Powell Duffryn Com-
pany, which involves the question of subsidence in respect of
land at Cwmneol, Aberdare, came again before the Chancery
Court on Friday last and Monday. The owners of the sur-
face had entered action in respect of subsidence, and the
colliery company claimed that under a partition deed . of
1788, they were entitled to let down the surface, alleging
that plaintiffs derived their title from that deed, and had
no right to bring an action. For the plaintiffs, it was
argued that the deed gave no right to let down the surface
until it could be shown that the minerals could not be worked
without doing so. Judgment was reserved, and was delivered
on Monday, his lordship holding that defendants were
entitled to let dowrn the surface.

At a meeting held in Pontypool, reference was made to
South Wales colliers who were called upon to increase their
output, and one speaker said that it was absurd for the
Government to call on the miners to turn out more coal,
seeing that ships were not provided to take it away. He
asserted that some of the colliery managers were unloading
coal from the trucks because they were unable to get it
shifted from Cardiff, Newport, or Barry, owing to the lack
of vessels. A resolution was submitted, and ordered to be
forwarded to the Premier and Chancellor of the Exchequer,
urging them to arrange for additional tonnage, and stating
that unless this were done collieries would be stopped. Upon
another point of importance, one speaker said that at the
colliery where he was engaged, between 200 and 300 trucks
had been lying idle for weeks because there were not men
to repair them.

The trustees of the Crawshay Bailey estate have brought
an action in respect of the Pentre tip slide in the Rhondda
Valley, seeking to compel Messrs. Cory Brothers and Com-
pany, who are concerned, to take steps which will remedy
the difficulty. On behalf of the trustees, it was stated in
court mat the slipping soil had broken into various build-
ings, destroying a skating-rink and injuring the wall'of a
bank, and that the District Council is much concerned as
to the effect upon the locality. Mr. Justice Younger, before
whom the motion was made, said it was obviously not the
case for an interim injunction, as it had been going on for
years, but counsel replied that this was not so; that extra
rubbish had recently been put on. As defendants wished
for time to prepare their answer, an adjournment of the hear-
ing was ordered.

One of the lecturers at the Treforest School of Mining has
been appointed by Lord Rhondda as coal research chemist,
and will work at the laboratory of the Cambrian Combine
situate at the Glamorgan Collieries. Mr. Evans has a very
high reputation as an analytical chemist, and the new
departure is highly approved.

A material addition to the colliery interests of Lord
Rhondda has ‘been made by an agreement to purchase shares
of the International Company at the price of £9 per £5
share. Mr. Mitchelson and Mr. H. Seymour Berry
co-operate with Lord Rhondda in making this offer, which
must be accepted by November 6. The gentlemen named
will form the new directorate of the International Company,
associated with them being Mr. William Thomas; and the
older directors will retain their seats, the present chairman
(Mr. Evan Owen) becoming managing director. His
colleagues are Mr. Lewis Williams, Mr. Daniel Williams,
and Mr. T. S. Jones. The sales agency of this colliery will
be in the hands of Messrs. Lysberg in future. The Inter-
national has a capital of £85,000, and dividends, plus bonus,
have ranged from 5 to 15 per cent, during the past four
years. The pits, are situated at Blaengaiw, and the annual
output is 200,000 tons of good steam coal.

At the meeting of the shareholders in Baldwins Limited,
held on Friday last, Col. J. R. Wright, the chairman, stated
that the erection of blast furnaces, coke ovens, and by-product
plant at Port Talbot had been delayed by complicated and
protracted negotiations; but the work had now commenced,
and progress was being made. It had become necessary to
make sure of a good and constant supply of suitable coal for
getting the best results from the by-products, and therefore
the company had bought the whole of the shares of the
Cribbwr Fawr Colliery wrhich were not already held by them,
and this would supply the necessary coal, relieving the
directors of anxiety. The company would require a large
increase of capital, and the directors had therefore called up
£50,000 outstanding on the partly-paid shares, which would
make them fully-paid. They proposed, before going for a
. further increase of capital, to offer the ordinary shareholders
the unissued ordinary shares—424,996 in number. They
would be issued at 25s. per £1 nominal—one for each two
held. This would bring in a further sum of about £530,000.
The company had kept up to the demand made upon it for
the classes of steel for Government requirements. Over
1,200 of their former employees were serving with the
Colours; 71 had fallen, and 64 had been wounded.

Pontardawe Council has discussed the dust nuisance coming
from the nickel works at Clydach, it having been reported
that the gentlemen appointed to inspect the works on their
behalf were of opinion that the nuisance caused would con-
tinue to a certain extent until a proper system of receivers
was installed to arrest the unconsumed coal dust. The depu-
tation were informed that contracts for the necessary plant
had been entered into, but could not be completed within
four months.

The conference of miners, at Cardiff, dealing with the
subject of increase in prices in food, passed a drastic resolu-
tion. It instructed their executive council to initiate a
movement uniting trades unions and a policy that would
compel the Government to take over the supply of food, and
thus put an end to the unnecessary exploitation of workers.
Trades unions generally were -invited, either through the
triple alliance of miners, railwaymen, and transport workers,
or through the Trades Union Congress, to join in a demand
that the Government would immediately take this matter in
hand, failing which, on a certain day, namely, November 27,
a national stoppage of work for one day should take place as
a protest against further delay, and to consider what further
action should be taken. Every district in South Wales was
(by a resolution passed) to organise massed demonstrations
to take place during the month, “ so that people may have
an opportunity of expressing their determination to proceed
with the policy indicated.”

Formal notices W’ere given on Wednesday under the Con-
ciliation Board agreement ; from the employers’ side, demand-
ing reductions in the wage rate of 10 per cent, on the stan-
dard; and from the workmen, for an increase by 15 per cent.
The employers contend that if the relative positions of
employers and workmen are to be maintained, the two
factors of higher prices and higher costs must be considered
together. The statement concludes : “ The owners have