November 17, 1916.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

967

Notes from the Coal Fields.

[Local Correspondence.]

South Wales and Monmouthshire.

Grave Situation—Conciliation Board Agreement—Fresh
Appeal to the Government—Excess Profits—Pentre Tip
Slide—Important Decision under Compensation Act—
Local Railway Scheme.

The men’s representatives at the Conciliation Board last
week presented their demand for an increase of 15 per cent,
on the standard, whilst the employers seek a reduction of
10 per cent. This claim is based upon the ascertained rise
in the selling price of coal by as much as 2s. 6|d. per ton;
whilst the employers claim reduction upon the ground of
increase in the cost of production. Under ordinary circum-
stances, the difficulties would be referred to the independent
chairman for decision, and this was the course adopted
three months ago, when the men sought 12J per cent,
increase and the employers 15 per cent, decrease, but the
independent chairman then rejected both applications. The
peculiarity of the Conciliation Board arrangement is that the
independent chairman has no power of adjustment. He can
merely accept or reject the definite propositions submitted to
him; so that, even though a middle course be justified by the
figures placed before him, he cannot depart from the actual
text of any specific’demand. Because the men have a strong
conviction that they are entitled to an increase, and because
no equivalent to the selling price has been stated as corre-
sponding to the minimum wage rate or any percentages, the
men are dissatisfied with the position, and therefore refuse
to have the issue in this instance decided by the independent
chairman. They have resolved to make approach to the
Government, with a view to having an equivalent estab-
lished, and will- not abide by the terms of the agreement,
which provides for reference to the independent chairman.

The wage rate now stands at 40-83 per cent, above the
standard of 1915; and at the outset of the meeting Mr. F. L.
Davis asked whether the workmen intended to refer the
matter to the independent chairman if the Board disagreed,
and the workmen’s representatives answered that they did
not intend to adopt that course unless the owners agreed to
the request of a joint audit of the cost of production.

The delegates’ conference held on October 30, had passed
a resolution that “it is impossible for independent chairmen
to equitably adjudicate upon the demand for an alteration in
the wage rate while the owners allege an increase in
the cost of production, which they refuse to submit for exami-
nation, apart from the fact that, notwithstanding any
increase in the cost of production, the profits of the owners
are very much larger than in the pre-war period.’’ It was
this resolution that led Mr. Davis to put his question, and
the answer of the workmen’s representatives was clearly a
departure from the normal procedure and from the terms of
the agreement.

With regard to their condition as to a joint audit of the
cost of production, the employers’ representatives stated that
it was impossible for them to submit their cost books for
examination by an auditor appointed by the workmen’s
representatives. Such a practice did not exist in any other
trade, and they could not admit the necessity for it in the
present case. They pointed out that they had made every
reasonable offer to arrive at a settlement, and wished to con-
tinue those efforts. As proving their willingness to find a
solution to the difficulty, they had suggested to each inde-
pendent chairman of the Board that he should appoint an
independent auditor to check the figures of the owners’
auditor as to the cost of production which had been sub-
mitted to the Conciliation Board; but, so far, no advantage
had been taken of that offer. In order now to meet the con-
tention of the workmen’s representatives that the owners’
figures are not representative because they do not include
the whole of the collieries in the association, they were now
prepared to agree that Messrs. Kirk and Son, or a chartered
accountant appointed by the independent chairman, should
take an audit 'of the cost of standard labour and stores on
large coal for all the associated collieries working on a large
coal basis for specified periods, namely—the year 1909, the
three months ended June 30, 1914, and the three months
ended September 30, 1916—the accountant appointed to report
the increase in costs in the periods named. It was contended
from the employers’ side, that these data would show by
how much the cost had increased during the period of the
last agreement and since; and the owners’ offer of it indi-
cated that they were prepared that any figures as to increase
of cost should be submitted to the Board by an independent
accountant.

The workmen’s representatives submitted a counter-pro-
posal, namely—that joint auditors should be appointed repre-
senting the two parties, so that an audit should be taken of
the owners’ books to ascertain the standard labour cost and
stores cost on large coal, and the 'total output of the large
and small coal for all the associated collieries for the years
1902 to 1915, and also up to and including September 1916.
They also proposed that in deciding future variations of wage
rate, the Board, or independent chairman, should maintain,
as nearly as possible, the average relative financial position
of the owners and workmen that existed under previous
Conciliation Board agreements.

The employers could not accept the alternative proposals
of the workmen, and could not consider the suggestion for
maintaining a relative financial position; and there is
evidently an anticipation, on the workmen’s side, that, in
the present stress of national requirements they may be able
to secure, as they did last year, some decisive intervention
on the part of the Government. Strong protest was made
by the employers’ chairman against the action of the work-
men’s representatives in refusing to adhere to the terms and
procedure of the Conciliation Board agreement.

The demand of the men is that there shall be established
between the selling price of coal and the rate of wages a
definite ratio. Under the old sliding . scale agreement, this
ratio was 8| per cent, to each shilling in -the selling price,
and, until the new agreement in 1915, this had operated;
and the men claim that in their existing demand for increased
wages they are only acting in accordance with this old
practice.

The alteration which the Government has made under the
Finance Act will be of material advantage to some of the
local collieries, the change in the datum line in joint stock
undertakings from 6 to 9 per cent., and from 7 to 10 per
cent, in the case of privately-owned undertakings, making
substantial difference. In certain cases where, owing to
unfavourable conditions, shareholders had very unsatisfactory

experiences just before the war, the new arrangement is
nothing more than an approach to equitable treatment. Tnere
are other cases where heavy expenditure has been made in
developments, and this expenditure has, within the past few
months, become fruitful, so that the former arrangement
operated most unfairly; whereas the fixture of a better datum
line for calculating the excess profits is fully warranted. They
will be entitled to make a far better profit before being called
upon to pass over the excess to the tax collector.

The question of the Pentre tip slide came again before
the Chancery Court last week. Mr. Terrell, jtx.C., who
appeared for the Khondda Council, stated that the movement
of the tip threatened to overwhelm the main road of the
valley, and also to destroy the water and gas mains, the
trainway, and the electric mains. Already several houses
had been destroyed. If the tip were allowed to slip further,
the road would be swept away in the course of a few days,
and the Taff Vale Kailway Company would probably be
blocked.—Counsel representing the landowner’s trustees
stated that they were anxious to do something by way of
remedy; it was also stated that each party had offered to
pay a third of the cost.—Mr. Leslie Scott, for Messrs. Cory
Brothers, the colliery owners, said that they, too, wanted to
have remedial measures taken. One of the most important
steps would be to draw off the water. The mass was nearly
30 acres in extent. The view taken by Cory Brothers was
that their tip had nothing to do with what had happened, and
that the cause of the trouble was entirely on the Crawshay-
Bailey estate. Where Messrs. Cory Brothers tipped, and
where they were told to tip, was not the property of that
estate. Messrs. Cory were unwilling to incur unlimited
expense, for they were greatly doubtful whether it was not
too late to take any remedial measures. They were, how-
ever, willing ito join the other parties in meeting the expenses
of initial steps which ought to be taken immediately to pre-
vent a further slide.—Engineers representing each party
visited the spot on Monday. A report will be made in due
course.

The joint war relief fund established by Messrs. Richard
Thomas and Company at their Llanelly works, has raised
£14,259—one-half of which the employers subscribed, they
having agreed to double the collection of their employees.
The payment to dependants of enlisted employees amounts
to nearly £10,500.

The directors of North’s Colliery have made a grant of
£1,000 towards the reduction of the debt on the Maesieg
coittage hospital; and Mr. Hutchinson, the general manager
of the collieries, expressed the hope that it will be followed
by donations from others who have interests in the districts.

Afi the Blackwood Sessions, Monmouthshire, several
colliers were fined for stealing timber, and another for steal-
ing wagon sprags, from the local collieries.

The Glamorgan Coal Company brought an action at the
Assizes in Swansea against a hay merchant, who had con-
tracted to supply them, but had delivered only 80 out of
400 tons, alleging that the Government embargo had pre-
vented further delivery. Mr. Justice Bray, in delivering
judgment, said the most difficult point was mainly a question
of fact, namely—did the action of the Government make the
further performance of the contract impossible? Undoubtedly
the Government’s requisition left the defendant with an
insufficient quantity to supply all .the contracts, but, at the
same time, enough to supply the plaintiffs. The reasonable
view was that he must divide fairly among them all, and he
(the judge) thought he did act fairly towards all. Judgment
was given for defendant, with coats.

The district county court judge gave an important decision
at Pontypridd last week, on the subject of compensation to
colliery workmen who were on light employment. It dealt
with applications made at Mountain Ash and Bridgend
courts for reduction of compensation on account of the higher
earnings of the men in question. On the other hand, the
workmen’s representative contended that the ordinary fluctu-
ation of the wage rate was not a change of circumstances
within the meaning of the Act; but his Honour held that
such a fluctuation could be taken into account on review as
well as at a first hearing, and he therefore ordered a reduc-
tion in the compensation now payable.

At the installation of the new Mayor of Merthyr, Mr.
Hankey, managing director of Hill’s Plymouth Colliery
Company, that gentleman referred to the fluctuations in the
coal trade which had taken place since he first joined the
Council in 1898. He said there had been many ups and
downs in the coal trade, and it had been stated .that we were
living on our capital. True, they could not replace the coal,
but there was plentv of coal left, and the quality of it was
right enough. As the time went on, we should have to rely
more and more upon the thinner seams, especially in the
upper part of the district. He hoped that means to work
these thinner seams would be devised, so that Merthyr might
long remain one of the principal towns in Wales.

The question of the bonus turn has once more come into
court, Judge Bryn Roberts, at Pontypridd, having to decide
a claim for balance of wages involving this point. Certain
men employed at the Standard Colliery stated that for a
long period before the new agreement of last year they had
been paid seven turns for six, and that in the new agreement
it was arranged that all customs, provisions, and conditions
which existed in December 1910 should be continued and
observed. Under the old practice, men who worked three
days in the week received 3£ days’ pay, but the employers
(the United National Company), who had taken over the
Standard Colliery from previous owners, now paid only for
the actual days worked. Evidence was given by different
men as to the old practice. It was stated that when the
concern passed to the new owners in August 1914, the prac-
tice of paying seven turns for six .to certain men was in
existence, but the new manager had failed to get sufficient
reason for continuing it. When the bonus turn was stopped,
he divided the previous wage rate by 6, and added the
percentage. For the defendant company, it was argued that
the new agreement aimed at establishing a fixed definite
rate, doing away with special allowances, and that where
the standard pay of the men was less than 5s., it had been
increased to that amount. It was shown in evidence that
the men who were now making the claim had previously
had a daily rate of 3s. 2d., and that this had been altered to
5s. In giving judgment, his Honour held that the agree-
ment distinctly provided that the employers were to continue
the existing conditions and customs. He thought the men’s
case had been sustained, and therefore gave judgment for
them.

Prof. Knox, principal of the South Wales School of Mines,
considers that failure in British methods of production is due
as much to lack of organisation as to lack of technical skill.

Lecturing to the Students’ Association, he referred to mining
and to complaints as to paucity of numbers of the under-
officials. This paucity is hardly to be wondered at, he said,
seeing that the wages paid to officials for such work were
less than those paid to the men they supervised. Another
point he made was that, among other qualifications, more
consideration should be given to the officials’ ability to deal
with the men under them.

Mr. 0. E. Evans, of the firm of Evans and Reid, Cardiff,
coal exporters and pitwood merchants, is named as Unionist
candidate for North Somerset at the next election.

To the Ogmore Council, Dr. Peebles, medical officer of
health, has advocated the provision of pithead baths, and
the Council, which has jurisdiction also over the Garw
Valley, has decided to bring the subject more directly before
the colliery owners and the Miners’ Federation.

For three days, the Assize Court at Swansea was occupied
with a claim for damages brought by a pumpman against
the Dulais Anthracite Colliery Company. When plaintiff
was crossing a discharge pipe, his foot slipped, his hand
caught in some cog wheels, and he has entirely lost the use
of it. The defence was that there had been contributory
negligence, and that there was no breach of statutory duty
as to fencing the machinery—that, even if there had been, it
was not the cause of the accident. The whole question, said
Mr. Eilis Griffith, K.C., on behalf of the company, was
whether the machinery was dangerously exposed, a source of
danger to employees going about their duties in a place
where they had a right to be. The judge, who put certain
questions to the jury, said that the onus was upon plaintiff to
prove breach of statutory duty; and, as to contributory
negligence, he believed it had been held that contributory
negligence was no answer to such breach. The jury answered
all questions in favour of defendants, and judgment was
given for .them. Upon application, the judge made an award
of £1 per week to plaintiff under the Workmen’s Compen-
sation Act.

Messrs. Baldwins Limited, who are extending their steel
works at Port Talbot by the erection of further blast fur-
naces, find it necessary to deviate the sewer outfall of the
Margam Urban District Council, and are asking the Council
to contribute one-third of the cost, which would mean about
.£3,000. The Council at first offered £1,000, but at this
week’s meeting .they increased the offer to £2,000.

Capt. Kelly, cf the Northumberland Fusiliers, who died
from wounds on November 12, was well known on the Cardiff
Exchange, he having been a partner in the firm of Vyvyan,
Kelly and Company. He had been at the front about 12
months, and taken part in much heavy fighting. Mr.
Vyvyan’s son has been awarded the Military Cross.

Considerable interest has been aroused by a statement that
a working arrangement is likely to be arrived at between the
Cardiff Railway Company, owners of Bute Docks, the Taff
Vale Railway, and the Rhymney Railway Company, whereby
the management of the three undertakings shall be unified.
It may be recalled that seven years ago a Bill was promoted
in Parliament for the amalgamation of these three concerns,
but after a fortnight’s investigation by the House of Lords
Committee, and nearly a month occupied by the House of
Commons Committee, the measure failed to pass, there being
strong opposition from Barry, Newport, Cardiff Corporation,
certain of the traders, and others.

The difficulty with regard to shortage of shipping becomes
more acute as the days go by, and the result is making itself
seriously felt in the different collieries.

The judge at Tredegar County Court on Tuesday, heard a
claim by a widow for compensation in respect of the death
of her son. The company had offered £187, but the appli-
cant claimed £273, on the ground that the deceased reached
the age of 19 about a fortnight before he was killed, and
that he was then in a new grade, receiving higher wages,
and that the compensation should be based on the higher
wages. For the respondents, it was argued that, although
the lad would get higher wages on attaining the age of 19,
he would be in the same grade as previously, and that the
grade would not be altered dntil he reached the age of 21,
and had a stall of his own. Judgment was reserved.

The coal owners in the western area have contributed
nearly £8,000 towards providing ambulances for the Red
Cross Society, no fewer than 67 colliery companies and
owners having sent cheques to Mr. D. Williams, hon.
secretary of this fund.

Swansea shipped last week nearly 60,000 tons of coal and
25,862 tons of patent fuel.

The Harbour Trustees at Swansea, who propose to increase
their rates, are already charging the maximum upon coal;
and they plead financial stress as their justification for
charges upon other commodities.

In the case of the Cardiff Railway Company against the
Taff Vale Railway Company, where the former wished to
proceed with the construction of the junction between the
two railways at Treforest, and the question had been raised
as to the validity of the notice to treat in respect of a certain
piece of land, the Court of Appeal reserved judgment.

Conferences have been held by joint committees in the
various colliery districts who have in hand the work of
reducing avoidable absenteeism, and at these allegations
have been made as to restrictions and vexatious interference
which cause the loss of a day’s work by the men. It is
stated that reports are being drafted in order to sustain these
allegations, but there is no indication of what evidence will
be brought forward to justify any such charges.

Before Mr. Justice Lush, at the Assizes Court at Swansea,
three colliery boys were indicted for the manslaughter of a
fourth. They entered the yard at a colliery, and started a
stationary engine which worked a line of trams. The
deceased boy and others were riding on the trams, when one
overturned, and the boy was injured, getting his leg jammed.
Gangrene set in, with fatal results. The jury returned a
verdict of “ Guilty,’’ and suggested that the colliery company
should in future make such interference impossible; and his
lordship, agreeing with the jury’s suggestion, bound over
each of the accused lads, and they were then discharged.
The boys had used a fishplate as key to the steam valve.

The workmen’s inspectors in the South Wales collieries
held a meeting on Saturday, and considered a letter which
they had received from the Home Office concerning the issue
of regulations under section 30 of the Coal Mines Act. The
reply was not considered to be satisfactory. The meeting
discussed also the flash point in the approved type of safety
lamp. The secretary was instructed to request the miners’
executive to meet a deputation, so that a proposal might be
laid before them for the appointment of a safety committee,
whose duty it should be from time to time to seek such