150

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

July 17, 1914.

the most experienced man with these machines in the dis-
trict. Witness did not know of anyone interfering with
the machine after he left, or that his father or someone else
seeing signs of fire had tried to pull the cables out. In
reply to Mr. Roebuck (Yorkshire Miners’ Association), wit-
ness said the time spent in adjusting the machine was paid
for separately if it entailed any length of time; otherwise
they were merely paid on tonnage.

The part of machine showing depression was produced
in court, and in reply to Mr. Pope, witness said that part
was only taken off when the armature had to be changed.
It was last off, so far as he knew, on the night prior to
the explosion. Witness agreed that there would be a small
opening at the joint, where the exhibited portion was jointed
to the cover of the machine. He had not been shown the
size of the aperture by means of placing a safety lamp
inside the machine. He advanced the opinion that the
depression might have been caused by the armature carriage
falling, and agreed that every time a new’ armature was
put in, the machine should be examined before it was
started running again.

Robert Nevil Oarswell, a student of mining engineering
under Mr. Blake Walker, said he had an authorisation from
the management to examine certain electric appliances. He
examined the machine in question once a week externally,
unless something was reported to him requiring adjustment
internally. The last time he had the cover off was at the
beginning of May. Witness stated that no box could be
absolutely gas tight. From the appearance of the metal,
the depression referred to looked as if it had been done
with a hammer.

In reply to Mr. Pope, witness said he could not say
whether anyone else examined the machine thoroughly once
per week, in accordance with statutory requirements. He
acquiesced in the suggestion that an external examination
only would not be a thorough examination. The regulations
with regard to the use of electrical energy were tantamount
to electricity only being used under naked light conditions.
He understood the importance of the cover of the cutter
being flame proof. It was his duty to examine the machine
once a week and Bailey’s duty to examine it once a day.
Replying to Mr. Neal, witness said that the whole of the
cutting machines came out once every three months, and
then complete overhauling, and agreed that the less tinker-
ing there was with machinery, the more likely was the
machinery to be kept sound and in good condition.

The enquiry was adjourned to Wednesday next.

LABOUR AND WAGES.

South Wales and Monmouthshire.

At their meeting at Cardiff on Monday, the South Wales
miners decided on an immediate levy of Is. a member to
meet the amount necessary to grant strike pay in the dis-
tricts where men are idle. If this sum is not sufficient the
executive have power to increase the levy. The financing
of an additional Parliamentary candidate was referred to
the lodges. Regarding the position of banksmen, it was
reported that 45,000 voted in favour of drastic action on the
ground that the hours were excessive and wages low, but
42,500 voted against. The conference deemed it wiser not to
commit itself to a definite line of action, but urged the
executive to press upon the coal owners the necessity for
bringing the matter to a final issue. The members present
represented 148,000 men, and during discussion very serious
consideration was given to the fact that the existing stop-
pages were causing a considerable depletion of federation
funds. At present there are stoppages at several pits, besides
the Gelli and other old disputes. There are strikes at
Dowlais against non-unionists affecting 3,000 men; at
Ffaldau affecting 1,500 men; and in Monmouthshire, 2,000
men. The Ffaldau stoppage is because the men claim the
right to examine federation cards at the pit head; and the
Monmouthshire stoppage is owing to a demand for new
safety lamps. The strikes during last year over sectional
disputes were probably a record in point of number, and
this year there have been 11 strikes, involving upwards of
20,000 men. The pay from the federation is averaging
between £1,000 and £2,000 per week, and last year the
federation had to pay out £15,780 for strikes and lock-outs,
of which £5,866 was at Llanhilleth, £4,447 to Cynon, and
£1,131 at Risca. At the beginning of the year the federa-
tion had £65,352 in hand. A Is. levy will produce £8,000,
but when it is stated that the income of the federation is
approximately only £2,000 per week, it will be seen that the
cost of strike pay will shortly exceed the income.

At Nantymoel, where non-union notices expired on Mon-
day, it was reported that there would be no stoppage, as
the men had come , into line.

It is stated that the Bristol miners are finding places in
South Wales, some 60 having started at Aberdare, 50 at
Forth, 57 at Mountain Ash, and so on. Employers who
went to Bristol on Monday said that they could find work
for 800 men.

With regard to the dispute at the Arrael Griffin Colliery,
Monmouthshire, where the workmen allege defects in the
safety lamps, it was reported to the federation meeting on
Saturday that the Home Secretary was having a number of
the lamps subjected to tests at the Eskmeals testing station,
Cumberland. The workmen were granted strike pay pending
the result of these tests.

At a meeting of Forth workmen on Saturday, protest was
made against the alleged attitude officials were assuming
towards the committees which deal with claims for the
minimum wage. The men also demanded the abolition of
double and treble shifts, and decided to fight for a six hours
Sunday shift.

The stoppage in the Dowlais and Fochriw districts
assumed a new aspect when on Tuesday between 3,000 and
4,000 idle men toured the district and beset the houses of
non-unionists. At one house a “ deputation ” had a warm
reception from the wife of the man it was sought to con-
vert, whilst at Bedlinog a non-unionist produced a loaded
revolver with which to defend himself.

After stopping on Tuesday owing to a dispute with regard
to a pit top weighing machine, about 1,000 men at the Naval
Collieries, Fenygraig, returned to work on Wednesday.

At Gwauncaegurwen on Wednesday notices expired from
1,000 on the non-unionist question.

On Wednesday the Minimum Wage Committee of the
South Wales Joint Board again considered the question of
averaging. The question has been long under discussion,
and Lord St. Aldwyn decided to fix a fortnight as the period
over which to take the average for deciding as to a mini-
mum wage. The men wanted a week, and the meeting on

Wednesday will discuss proposals from the men as to how
double-pay may be avoided if one week is accepted.

The South Wales Siemens Steel Bar Association are
drawing up a new wage list to be submitted to a joint meet-
ing of the masters and Steel Smelters’ Union.

The marine engineers’ strike continues, and the men’s
committee state that on one day last week 46 boats were
without engineers at Cardiff and Barry. The fact that the
shipyard engineers are joining their colleagues and striking
in sympathy is having a serious effect on the repairing
industry. The owners state that they are having no diffi-
culty in getting boats away.

At the Gethin Mountain and Castle Collys, in the Merthyr
Valley, 2,000 men have tendered notice on the non-union
question.

The 2,500 men at Nine Mile Foint who ceased work on
Tuesday of last week, alleging gas in the mine, returned to
work on Thursday.

North of England.

The 14 days’ notice concluding all engagements at the
Flimby and Broughton Moor Colliery Company’s pit at
Watergate, near Maryport, where the 300 men have been
asked to increase the output or concede a 10 per cent,
reduction, expired on Tuesday, but on Friday morning
another notice was posted to the effect that the men would
be put on day-to-day engagement. The question of con-
ceding a reduction was referred by the men to the
Cumberland Miners’ Association, who advised the men not
to concede the reduction. The threatened closing of the
colliery following so close upon the stopping of the Ellen-
borough and Seaton Moor pits has resulted in an exodus of
coal miners and their families from Maryport to Manchester,
Wigan and other colliery centres.

A singular dispute has arisen at the No. 5 pit, Aspatria,
owned by the Brayton Domain Colliery Company. Two
coal hewers employed at the No. 5 pit have received the
notice to terminate their engagements for sending black
stone up amongst the coal, and the Miners’ Association have
decided to hand in the notices for the whole of the men
employed at both No. 4 and No. 5 pits as a protest against
the action of the management. This will affect about 1,000
hands.

A reduction of 2| per cent, for the underground workers,
and an advance of 8 per cent, for the surface workers, is
the result of the first ascertainment of the accountants
appointed under the new sliding scale agreement for the
regulation of Northumberland miners’ wages. The certifi-
cates of the joint accountants show* that the average selling
price of coal drawn in Northumberland for the three months
ending May last was 9s. 5'37d. per ton. Under the sliding
scale, therefore, the wages will be fixed at 50 per cent, above
the basis of 1879. This is the second advance the surface
workers have had during the past few months.

The annual picnic of the Northumberland Miners’ Associa-
tion, held at Morpeth on Saturday, was very largely
attended, and Morpeth appears to be gradually becoming
the favourite site for the affair. The Rt. Hon. Thomas
Burt, M.P., a venerable figure, was accorded a magnificent
reception, and in speaking of the three shift system, he
expressed the opinion that something might be done to
mitigate its worst effects by an amicable agreement between
the masters and the men. Mr. Robert Smillie devoted much
of his speech to the recent fusion of the miners, transport
workers and railwaymen. He declared that common action
by these three bodies might be taken at a much earlier
date than was generally anticipated. He was not one of
those who favoured giving notice to the employers, or the
public, when they were going to strike, but he believed in
a sudden stoppage. The Rt. Hon. Charles Fenwick, M.F.,
dealt with the two Bills which had been before Parliament,
for the abolition of the three shift system in Northumberland.
He declared that the Bill put forward by Lord Willoughby
de Broke was “ a party move and there let it rest.” Mr.
John Cairns, financial secretary of the Association, declared,
however, that the executive would back up any Bill for the
abolition of the three shifts, whether introduced by a lord
or a commoner. Mr. Joseph English, president of the
Northumberland Miners’ Association, expressed the opinion
that the new sliding scale would materially benefit the
surface workers.

A meeting was held in Middlesbrough on Monday between
the Cleveland mine owners and representatives of the miners
respecting the wages to be paid during the ensuing three
months. Mr. Arthur F. Pease, who presided, reminded the
deputation that the ascertainment price of pig iron for the
past quarter was 51s. 0’70d., and according to the usual
formula, the employers claimed a reduction of 1’20 per cent.
This claim will be put before a further meeting to be held
a fortnight hence.

Federated Area.

Birch Coppice Colliery, near Tamworth, where nearly
2,000 men are employed, was laid idle last week by the
notices put in by the Warwickshire Miners’ Association a
fortnight ago to cease work having expired. The trouble
arose through the men of the association declining to work
with men of the North Warwickshire Association, whose
headquarters are at Tamworth.

The Old Hill Miners’ Association are faced with a posi-
tion similar to that which exists in the North Warwick-
shire coal area. Some years ago the miners at Highley,
Billingsley, and Kinlett, in the Shropshire coalfields, became
affiliated with the Old Hill Association, but immediately
after the national coal strike they seceded and set up an
association in their own area. The new organisation is not
recognised by the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain, and
so far all efforts to persuade the officials to rejoin the Old
Hill Association have failed. The latter are now pressing
for the return of the Highley miners, who number over
1,000, and they have decided to submit the facts to the
Miners’ Federation of Great Britain with the object of com-
pelling them to rejoin.

A further meeting of the men’s section of the Coal Con-
ciliation Board for the federated districts cf England and
North Wales was held in London on Friday, Mr. Stephen
Walsh, M.P., presiding. A small committee was appointed
to formulate the case to be presented by the men’s section
to the owners in support of the proposal to increase the
basis rate by 50 per cent., and so ensure that when an
advance of wages is obtained the nominal percentage will
be as nearly as possible the exact percentage given. The
men’s section also considered the question of surface men’s
wages in Derbyshire. A complaint is now made in that
county that the surface men are not receiving the 65 per
cent, above the standard of 1888, which they ought to be
paid according to their agreements, and have asked the
men’s section of the Conciliation Board to support them in
their appeal to the owners to pay the proper percentages. It

is understood that a meeting of the Derbyshire miners and
owners w’ill take place shortly, in order to consider the
question.

The trouble at the Wrenthorpe Colliery, Wakefield, where
miners and deputies have been idle for nearly six weeks, is
now at an end, and work is being resumed. Latterly the
dispute was prolonged by the deputies’ strike for increased
wages, but they have agreed to go back on the understand-
ing that their demands will be considered by the manage-
ment.

The workmen and lads, numbering between 3,000 and
4,000, employed by the Blackwell Colliery Company at their
Blackwell A and B Winning, Alfreton, and Shirland col-
lieries, tendered their notices on Wednesday to cease work
in a fortnight’s time upon the question of weighing machines
and that of the price for “ ripping ” at Shirland. The men
have demanded automatic weighing machines, and the
question was brought to a head a few weeks ago, when the
men in the Low Main seam of the B Winning Colliery refused
to descend the mine because the management had taken out
an old beam machine and replaced it with one of the same
pattern. The question of “ ripping ” is also outstanding.
The management contend that they are quite within their
right in erecting a beam machine, and have agreed to afford
the men all facility to test its accuracy. Upon the
“ ripping ” prices the management definitely state they are
paying for the work according to agreement. Negotiations
are proceeding in the hope of averting a cessation of work.

Two hundred and six workmen in the employ of the New
Moss Colliery Company were summoned at Ashton-under-
Lyne on Wednesday for alleged breach of contract in leaving
work without notice. It had been the custom at the colliery,
whenever a workman died from injuries received in the pit,
for the men to cease work for the day. On the 17th inst. a
man was taken from the pit unconscious, and removed to
his home. It was rumoured that he had died, and the
following day the colliers stayed away from work. The
injured man, however, recovered. The company therefore
claimed 5s. from each man as damages. The defence was
that the custom of ceasing work for the day when a fatal
accident occurred had always been observed, and twice
before the men had acted on a rumour of death. The
custom was sanctioned by the colliery companies. The men,
it was said, stopped work out of respect and reverence for
the dead. It was also contended that this action had been
brought to set aside this custom. All the cases were dis-
missed.

At Wrexham county police court on Tuesday, an impor-
tant test case was heard, in which the Bersham Colliery
Company Limited were the plaintiffs, and four of their
“ doggies,” or bye-men, named Evans, Lloyd, Steen, and
Williams, were defendants. Plaintiffs claimed 10s. from
each of the men as damages for breach of contract, through
the men having absented themselves from work on May
11 without having given the customary 14 days’ notice. In
defence the men maintained that staying away from work
for one day only could not be construed into a breach of the
terms of their employment, and in evidence they stated that
personally they went with the intention of working, but the
other men compelled them to turn back. After considera-
tion of the evidence, the bench finally decided that a tech-
nical breach of the agreement had been made, but in view
of the circumstances, they suggested to the company that
they might withdraw the summonses, which was agreed to,
and there were no costs given on either side. This ques-
tion has an important issue, as regularly, after a public
holiday or local festivals, collieries are held up, -and unable
to work, because of the number of absentees without notice.
Probably test cases will be taken up in other parts of the
country similarly affected.

Scotland.

Mr. Robert Smillie, president of the Miners’ Federation
of Great Britain, presided at a conference of the Scottish
Miners’ Federation at Glasgow on Wednesday, which had
been called to consider the recommendations of the executive
that the four-days week policy should be started on Monday,
July 27. A resolution was unanimously adopted in favour
of the four-days policy, and it was further decided to make
the date mentioned the first idle day. This means that
July 27 will be observed as the first non-working day, and
Saturday, August 1, as the second day. Thereafter, the
non-working days will be Wednesday and Saturday of each
week while the policy continues.

Mr. Smillie, in reviewing the incidents leading up to the
present position, said the owners claimed reductions not
so much because prices had gone down, but because the cost
of production had gone up, and this claim was successfully
contested by the miners, who held that the wages agree-
ment did not take the cost of production into account. The
miners stated they were willing to discuss the increased
cost of production in connection with a new agreement,
in which a higher minimum would be recognised,
but, so far, no agreement had been reached on this point.
The owners were now asking for another reduction of
25 per cent., which, if granted, would bring wages down to
6s. a day. After careful consideration of the whole situation,
the miners’ executive decided that, if the owners could not
regulate the prices owing to the insane competition, they
would have to attempt it themselves with a view to protect-
ing the 7s. minimum. A strike would upset the whole trade
of the country, and it was to avoid that that they recom-
mended the four-days policy for all their collieries. It
would stiffen prices and kill mad competition. Dealing with
the owners’ statement that shipping prices had gone down
3d. a ton, Mr. Smillie quoted a circular issued by the Fife
Coal Company Limited, stating that, following the advance
intimated on July 6, a further advance of 2s. per ton for
round coal and 7s. on small coal would come into operation
on and after July 13. Scottish employers could afford to
pay a freight of 5s. per ton and send "coal to the Thames
to compete with their English comrades, whose wages would
also be reduced if they allowed their w’ages to be reduced.

The Scottish Coal Trade Conciliation Board met at
Glasgow on Wednesday to consider an application by the
coal owners for a reduction of miners’ wages to the extent
of 25 per cent, on the 1888 basis, or Is. per day. They
make the claim on the ground that the selling price during
recent weeks shows a decline which justifies a corresponding
reduction in wages. The reduction if effected would bring
the wages of the miners below 7s. per day, the standard
which the men are anxious to maintain as a minimum, and
they are therefore opposing the claim to the utmost. The
Board sat for about two hours, and it was intimated at the
close that the parties had failed to agree. The next meet-
ing of the Board was fixed to be held in Glasgow on
Thursday. July 30.