74

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

July 12, 1918.

the industry during the war, was settled by an agree-
ment providing for unconditional dismissal of certain
classes of men; retention of others to depend upon
result of medical examination. Underground and
surface workers at Castleford were involved in a dispute
as to alleged grievances in connection with the balloting
of miners for military service, and a number acted in
sympathy with miners on strike at a neighbouring
colliery. Work was resumed. The strike (19 days) in
Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire for recognition of
workmen’s local “combine ’ committee in connection
with a’ colliery dispute at Tredegar was settled by the
management arranging to meet the miners’ agent and
any persons (employed at certain collieries) the miners’
agent may deem necessary for the full discussion of
disputes.

Fatalities.—The fatalities to underground workers
numbered 93 and to surface workers 8—a total of 101,
compared with 123 a year ago.

MINERS* FEDERATION CONFERENCE.

The annual conference of the Miners’ Federation of
Great Britain was opened in the Temperance Hall,
Southport, on Tuesday, July 9. Mr. Robert Smillie
(Scotland), president, was in the chair, and there were
present 179 delegates, including Messrs. Stephen
Walsh, M.P., and J. E. Sutton, M.P. (Lancashire),
Fred Hall, M.P. (Yorkshire), J. G. Hancock, M.P.
(Nottingham), and Barnet Kenyon, M.P. (Derby-
shire.

Presidential Address.

The president, in his inaugural address, said, in
spite of the crisis through which the nation and its
workers was passing, they were glad to be able to
report continued progress in the membership of the
Federation. They had increased in membership by
between 30,000 and 40,000 since they met in Glasgow
twelve months ago.

Increases in Miners’ Wages.

The past year had brought them face to face with
the claim on two occasions for an increase in miners’
wages. That claim in September of last year was made
very reluctantly. It was forced upon them by the cir-
cumstance that the cost of living had gone up to a
point which made it impossible that the miners and
their families could continue to live unless a substan-
tial increase in wages took place. In view of the fact
that the mines were controlled, that the Government
practically had the working of the mines in their
hands, they thought that a claim of that kind should
be* a national claim made on behalf of the whole mining
community to the Coal Controller, and through him
to the Government. They succeeded ultimately in
obtaining an increase of wages. As the months went
on they found that the cost of living had not been to
any great extent arrested, and that the belief expressed
to them on behalf of the Government in September
last that the cost of living had reached its highest
point had not fructified. A few weeks ago they again
decided to ask for a further increase in wages. That
claim was put forward by almost every branch of the
Miners’ Federation. Their executive fully considered
the matter. They decided to call a special conference,
and before that conference they put their own views.
They felt that they ought to fix their claim for an
increase of wages at the lowest possible level that
would meet the needs of the people. In view of the
increase in food, clothing, and many other things, they
advised the conference that they should keep the claim
down to the lowest limit, and let the Coal Controller
know that there was to be no abatement, no bargain-
ing with the demand, but that it would have to be
satisfied. It was not necessary to go into the whole
of the negotiations further than to say that the Govern-
ment were extremely anxious that their claim for the
full amount should not be pressed. They believed that
their people and their homes required it, and they
had no room to negotiate or bargain. “ It has been,
hinted,” said Mr. Smillie, “that the miners are taking
advantage, and have taken advantage, of the great
power of their organisation and the nation’s needs at
the present time to enforce upon the nation and the
Government unjust claims. We have had this com-
plaint, indeed, from a very high authority. Per-
sonally, I have repudiated any such accusation. I
have said that it was absolutely untrue that the
Miners’ Federation has taken advantage of the
nation’s need and their own power to enforce unjust
claims against the nation or against the Government.”

It ought to be remembered that their claim was
put forward to meet as far as possible the increase
in the price of food and other commodities. The
Government had been told that their claim was not
put forward after taking into consideration the value
or importance of the miner to the nation. If they
had calculated the use value of the miner and the
right of miners’ wives and children to live as well
as any other class in the community, it would not
have been eighteenpence a day they would have been
asking for. They had not based their claim on the
laborious nature of the work or the importance of their
employment to the nation. They were not using their
organisation to fix the competitive or use value of
the miners’ work. If they had used their power in
that direction it might be said that it was unfair to
take advantage of the nation’s necessities to force the
real economic value of miners’ wages. Some of them
were of opinion that if the miners claimed £2 or
£2 10s. a day they would not, from the point of
view of their importance to the nation, be claiming
too much. But they were not going to use the power
of that great organisation in the time of the nation’s
trial to place upon the nation the payment of their
real value. It came very bad indeed from people
who were in receipt of incomes of from £1,000 to
£10,000 a year for doing nothing at all, or very use-
less work so far as the nation was concerned, to say
the miners were taking advantage of their power and
the nation’s necessities.

The Reconstituted Labour Party.

During the year they had had a development of the
political side of the Labour movement. They had seen
further progress made from the widening of the con-
stitution of the Labour Party. They had had reports
that at the first General Election under the new
franchise law there was the probability of 350 or 400
candidates running under the banner of Labour. He
was glad to see the further extension of the constitu-
tion of the Labour Party. Personally, he was anxious
to take advantage of the ability and the brains of every
good man and woman in this country, whether work-
ing at the bench, or in the mine, or in the professions,
provided they genuinely sympathised with the workers
in their claims and were willing to go along on the
same lines. He was extremely anxious to welcome
men and women of the educated classes if they came
into their movement honestly and genuinely to help
them forward. But the Labour Party, whatever its
numbers, would only be useful to the Labour move-
ment in so far as it was absolutely independent
of political capitalistic parties. More members in the
House of Commons might mean nothing so far as
Labour was concerned. They might tend to the
destruction of the Labour Party itself. Their Labour
Party would only be strong if it were made up of
strong men independent of the other capitalistic
parties. They need not care so much for numbers
if they got that class of people into the House of
Commons. Personally, he felt there was no need to
doubt the ability of the workers to govern this country
if they got the opportunity to do so. It was their
duty to take up the position that the Labour Party
ought to be sufficiently strong to return a majority
of members to the House of Commons and take
its rightful place in the Government of the country. .

Reconstruction After the War.

There was a good deal of talk about reconstruction
after the war. It would be difficult to know what kind
of reconstruction would be possible until they had some
idea of how long the war was going to last. It might
last sufficiently long to make any kind of reconstruc-
tion impossible for many years to come; but if the
war was going to end in a reasonable period, then
it would still be possible to ‘reconstruct. Nearly all
of what was called the best mind and brain of the
country was engaged at present in considering the
question of reconstruction after the war. There was
a class among the capitalists called the captains of
industry, and many of these men and many of the
great professors of colleges had been appointed on
committees to consider the question of reconstruction.
He was particularly anxious to know on what lines
reconstruction was to come. If they were to recon-
struct in the direction of using the land of the country
fully, and the productive power of the finest work-
shops and machinery, with the great skill and ability
of the workers, for the largest possible output, merely
to hand it over to the capitalist class in the shape
of dividends, then he was not going in for recon-
struction of that kind. If they had really learnt the
lesson of this war, it was that the land of this country
ought to belong to the whole people and not a few
of the people, and that they ought to use the land
up to its fullest productive powers without the black-
mailing of any landed class, and that they ought to
have the production of commodities for the use of
the people, and not for the profit of capitalists. Their
idea of reconstruction ought to be a system where
over-production was impossible and the reduction of
hours was brought down to the lowest point. He did
not think a great movement such as the Miners’
Federation would justify its existence if it merely
stood for bargaining now and again for a 10 per cent,
increase on wages, or for some bit of petty though
useful legislation for smaller hours of labour. His
own personal position would be that he would not
care about spending the remaining years of his life
in it if he felt that their movement stood for that
and that alone. Their movement should have no diffi-
culty in deciding which side it was going to take in
the reconstruction of this country.

Government Control and Ownership.

The coal mines were now under Government con-
trol, but the mining community should make sure that
the mines should come under Government ownership.

He would like to say a word or two as to increases
of wages. When they secured their war wage in
September last, the Government put half-a-crown per
ton on to coal, with the exception of coal exported
to France and Italy. They were informed, to their
astonishment, that it took the whole of that half-
crown increase to give an increase of Is. 6d. and 9d.
per day to the miners. Perhaps they had not taken
into consideration to a sufficient extent the enormous
increase in the cost of materials used at the mines.
Prior to their securing the present advance, a further
half-crown was put on the price of coal, and 5s. per
ton on the coal exported to Italy and France. They
anticipated that advance was put on the price of coal
to meet their claim; but when it was agreed that they
were to have their second advance of Is. 6d. per day,
the price of coal was again increased by Is. 6d.
per ton. Naturally the people outside the mining
industry would have to pay these increases, and they
would say “ This is because of the enormous increases
in wages which the miners have received.” The
miners would require to make serious enquiry why
it required first 2s. 6d., then a second 2s. 6d., and
then a further Is. 6d. per ton of coal for miners to
receive an increase of 3s. per day on their wages.
He thought it might be difficult to convince the miners’
executive that was so. Of course, it was largely a
matter for the general public; but when they were
supposed to bear the blame for forcing up the price
of coal, it ought to be their business to find out where
those increases were going. It did not require any-
thing like the increase in the price of coal to meet
the advance which the miners had received. There
was another direction in which an explanation was
to be found : that was the increased value of many
mining shares since the war began, which proved that

the owners had been making a good deal out of the
control of the mines. That would be for the executive
to consider. There was a considerable amount of talk
among the miners themselves, and there was just a
danger, in spite of the fact that they had recently
received an advance in wages, that if the price of
coal went up beyond the value of the increase in
wages there might be another demand for a further
increase in wages.

Maintaining the Output*

After some remarks on labour sniping and the
cessation of the party truce, Mr. Smillie said that
during the past year nearly 100,000 men had been
taken from the mines for the Army. That had
lessened the power of the mining community to pro-
duce coal. The need for coal was much greater than
it was twelve months ago, as the German advance
had taken a number of mines which had been, worked
by the brave French miners. While the war lasted
this country would require to supply France with a
largely increased amount of coal. In giving the last
increase of wages, the Coal Controller asked them
to do all that was possible to keep up the output.
He (Mr. Smillie) had pledged his word that he would
do all in his power to see that that was done. He was
not, and had not been, in favour of ending this war
merely by laying down the tools of labour and allow-
ing the Germans to overrun us. The executive ap-
pealed to the delegates to tell the men that it was
their duty to produce as much coal as possible in
order that the nation might not be left without coal
for the Army, for munitions, and for the homes of
the people. Drastic rationing of coal was going to
take place, and he feared that would hit the poorest
worst of all. One thing of which the mining’ com-
munity ought to be make sure was that the coal which
was produced, as far as domestic consumption was
concerned, was equally distributed to the poor as well
as to the rich. He wanted to say, in view of all the
circumstances, that there could be no justification for
any man who was strong enough to be at his work,
to be idle two or three days a week. If they had,
as he regretted to say they had, many thousands
of men unnecessarily losing time and refusing to
go to the pit to work when their health was good, it
was not easy for them to prove their contention that
they required an increase of wage to meet the in-
creased cost of living. It was the duty of the men,
in the interest of themselves, their families and their
country, to attend the mine as regularly as they could.
It was also their duty to those of their own class
who were bearing the heat and burden of the day
at the front. He appealed to the conference to back
up the executive in the pledge given to the Coal Con-
troller that they would do everything in their power
to increase the output of coal.

Vote of Thanks.

Mr. Frank Hall (Derbyshire), in moving a vote
of thanks to Mr. Smillie, said he had put the position
right so far as the advance of wages was concerned.
It had been said they had got the nation by the
throat and were thrusting on the Government de-
mands which they ought never to have made. The
last increase of half-a-crown a ton in the price of coal
had annoyed consumers more than anything else.

Mr. J. Winstone (South Wales), who seconded, was
in agreement with the president that Government
control of mines was insufficient. The State ought
to be in entire possession of the coal mines, and they
ought to be managed to a considerable extent by
the workmen themselves.

Mr. W. Whitfield (Bristol) said while he agreed
with much the president had said, there were state-
ments which he did not agree to and would not be
a party to. Much of what Mr. Smillie had done
outside their meetings had been in opposition to the
wishes of the Miners’ Federation. In that way Mr.
Smillie had used the Miners’ Federation for the
furtherance of his own opinions. Mr. Smillie’s action
had been a falsification of the decisions of the majority
there.

Mr. Stephen Walsh, M.P. (Lancashire), said as
one of the eight Labour Ministers who signed the
memorandum to the Labour Party executive, he had
always deprecated sniping. It was their duty to be
united and pull together.

Mr. Herbert Smith (Yorkshire) said he was one of
those who had given the pledge to the Coal Con-
troller as to increased production, and he should use
every endeavour to get the men to work when they
were fit. He was prepared to say if a man of military
age did not go to work when fit, he ought to change
places with a man in the fighting ranks.

The vote of thanks was accorded by acclamation.

Permanent Federation Officials.

At a private sitting in the afternoon it was resolved
that the president and secretary of the Federation
be permanent officials, and the matter was referred to
the executive to consider and report to the conference.

On the resumption of the proceedings on Wednesday,
Mr. J. Winstone (South Wales) moved that “ the
time has arrived when it is clearly in the national
interests to transfer the entire coal mining industry
from private ownership and control to State owner-
ship, with joint control and administration by the
workmen and the State.” The resolution also
instructed the executive to redraft the Nationalisation
of Mines Bill, so as to make provision for joint control
and administration, and asked that a conference be
called to determine the best means of co-operating
with the Labour Party to ensure the passing of the
Bill into law.

Mr. Potts (Yorkshire) said that under private
ownership of the mines the one idea was to speed up
production for private profit and the making of mil-
lionaires. It was only by nationalisation of the mines
and the pooling of the revenue obtained for the sale
of coal that an adequate and a uniform wage could be
paid to the miners.