October 22, 1915.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

825

coal is cheap. As long as coal remains dear here, and tonnage
is plentiful, the coal will go from America to the markets we
supply. When prices fall here naturally they become
equalised. Supposing trade either artificially or naturally
was interfered with; you would immediately have the market
flooded with coal.

In regard to reduction of output, witness at this point
submitted a statement based on the returns sent to the Com-
mittee showing the percentage of decrease in output in the
various districts since the outbreak of war, as compared with
the corresponding months in the previous year. He went on
to say : The figures include July of 1913 and of 1914. It
should be noted that the figures for July are not of much value
as a comparison with other months in Scotland, as it is the
holiday month, and collieries are idle from four days to a
week during that month. For the first few months after war
was declared the output in certain districts could not be dis-
posed of, and there was a considerable amount of idle time.
As business settled down, however, the demand improved.
During December the supply and demand probably about
balanced, and from the beginning of January the demand was
in excess of the supply, and the reduction in output as com-
pared with 1913 was due to war conditions. The reduction
in output is chiefly accounted for by the number of men who
have enlisted. According to the statements based on the
returns made to the Committee, the number of men who have
enlisted up to the end of February is 26,286, or approximately
24-49 per cent, of the total number of men employed above
and below ground. From returns which we have made for
February of this year, the estimated reduction of output due
to enlistment for that month is 17-71 per cent., showing that
a number of men and boys have been engaged in place of
those who have enlisted. There has also been some increase
in the number of women employed above ground. Quite a
considerable number of men have entered the pits from other
occupations, and that has helped to reduce the shortage to
some extent. Then there has been a reduction in the output
to a certain extent due to the failure of the railway com-
panies to provide full facilities, which has resulted in a
shortage of wagon supply at the collieries. This was most
felt during the autumn months, especially after the docks at
Bo’ness and Grangemouth were closed towards the end of
November. There has been a considerable improvement since
the beginning of 1915. In February the time lost was not
great, the loss of output being estimated at only 0-91 per
cent. This is taken from figures supplied by companies
representing fully 85 per cent, of the output of Scotland.
During March and April the position has been rather worse
than it was during February. In February there was no
loss of time due to failure of railway facilities in Ayrshire,
and the Glasgow and South-Western Railway Company say
that they can cope there with a larger traffic than thev are
getting at the present time. The situation as regards railway
facilities generally would be greatly improved by the tem-
porary withdrawal of all statutory regulations affecting the
hours of labour of the railwaymen, to permit of them con-
tinuing longer at work where necessary to meet requirements.
All restrictions imposed by the .railwaymen’s amalgamated
societies should also be withdrawn during the war.

Witness next dealt with absenteeism. He said :—
From the figures returned to the Committee for the eight
months from July 1914 to February 1915, the shifts lost for
workers above and below ground are 6-20 per cent, of the
total which could have been worked. In my opinion, it is
understated, owing to the information given in columns 6
and 12 of the schedules that were issued not being made up
on the same basis as columns 7 and 13. In the schedules
which were issued the instructions with regard to columns 6
and 12 were as follow : “ The figures in columns 6 and 12
are to be got by multiplying the number of persons on the
books by the number of days on which the pit wound coal.”
In 7 and 13 it shows the actual shifts worked by persons above
and below ground. It was not altogether before those who
were making up these schedules what the object was. And I
find that in many cases—in most cases I may say—all the
shifts were included; that is to say, if there was an idle day
the shifts on that idle day were taken in as well. A number of
men on on-cost work are always below ground on idle days,
and there are some on Sundays. I do not think the figures
given are of much value. We have had a statement pre-
pared by the coal owners for the four weekly pays in February
1915, showing the possible shifts for face workers during the
period, and the actual number of shifts of such workmen.
The result shows 9-97 per cent, of absenteeism with this
class of workman for the period in question. I think you may
take it that 9-97 per cent, of absenteeism is a much more
likely average all over than 6-20. In Scotland Sunday shifts
are all included in the Monday’s pay. Actually in some
cases they found that column 13 exceeded the number in
column 12, that the actual shifts were greater than the total
shifts that could have been worked. Witness referred to a
statement which had been made up for a colliery from infor-
mation supplied by those intimately acquainted with the indi-
vidual men. This colliery worked 11 days a fortnight very
steadily, and seldom lost a day for want of wagons or any
other cause. There was no day on which all the men
employed turned out. As a rule, there were more men off
on the Monday following the,idle Saturday, and the greatest
turn out was usually at the latter end of each pay, on the
Tuesday or Wednesday. In this colliery there were 421 men
and boys employed underground. Of these 324 were regular
workers, and 97, or 23 per cent, of the whole, were irregular
in their work. The causes of the irregularitv of the 97 were
given as follows : 26 were known to habitually take too much
drink. Nine earned as much as they thought necessary with-
out working regularly. They were included amongst those
oldish men who had large working families, and some who
had saved monev. Thirteen were in indifferent health, some
of these being old men. Seven were men and boys who were
thrown idle because the men with whom they worked were
frequently off work through drink. Five were usually good
workers, but were fond of a day off for sporting purposes,
fishing, football, betting, etc. Thirty-three were careless.
This class included all not under some other heading. Some
lived at a distance from their work, and often did not come
out to their work in bad weather; and some were lazy. He
had from another colliery, employing over 500 workmen,
figures prepared on the same lines, and it was remarkable how
nearly they agreed with the figures quoted. Absenteeism
increased with higher wages. He had no figures to prove it;
but it was a general opinion. In Scotland, in addition to
shifts lost through absenteeism, there were shifts lost through
the working policy of the miners to work only five days a
week in some districts, and 11 days per fortnight in other
districts. In Lanarkshire, with an output of about 17|
million tons, the arrangement to work only five days per
week was nearly universal.

Witness thought the only remedy was to have an appeal

to the patriotism of the men by the Government, and by
the miners’ leaders. Personally he did not think that a
war bonus would do very much good. It might do a certain
amount of good if it was made as a condition to an advance
of wages; but, to give a war bonus in addition to the wages
■that would otherwise be given, would not be of much good.
The effect of a bonus was that the men who got the benefit
of it were the men who were already working regularly.
Probably the men who were working irregularly did not feel
it a sufficient inducement to change their habits to any great
extent.

Mr. Smillie : We have not talked the matter over, but
speaking for Mr. Walsh and myself, I do not think we
want much in the way of a war bonus for regular attend-
ance.

Asked as to what he would put the unavoidable
absenteeism at, witness said he had asked several managers,
and they put it at about 3 per cent. In the statement, the
percentage of the irregular workers who lost time through
delicate health was given as 13’4. It was not necessarily the
same proportion of absenteeism, because the man who was
off for delicate health might be off a longer or a shorter time.
He did not think that the men on compensation would be
included at all. He would not be in the books of the
colliery in the sense of being a person employed. Witness
said that, as in the Midlands, there was a difficulty in
getting a man to go into another man’s place. If a man
was very keen to work, and could not get his own place,
he took another man’s place, but if he was not keen to work
he went home. He did not think those men would be
included as absentees. Every man who turned up at the
colliery in the morning was counted as at work. Witness
said he had confirmed the statement that the absenteeism
among the face men was greater than amongst the daywage-
men. In one colliery amongst the face men the absenteeism
was 11'05 per cent., and for the day wagemen, including
brushers, it was 6'74 per cent. At another colliery for face
men it was 18'26 per cent., and for daywagemen 7*7 per
cent. At another colliery it was 11*92 per cent, for the
face men, and 7’48 per cent, for the daywagemen. In
another case where the absenteeism was very very low
the percentage for the face men was 2*68, and for the day-
wagemen 1-96. One example was taken from Fife, one
from Stirlingshire, and one from Lanarkshire. He would
infer from that that the figure of 6*20 per cent, was still
too low. The proportion of face men to daywagemen, taking
the three collieries together, was as 1*3 is to 1*0. While
9-97 per cent, for the total absenteeism was too high, 6-20
per cent, was too low. He was rather inclined to think
that for the whole of Scotland the proportion of face men
would be higher. Coal getters and transit hands would be
far more than half the underground labour in Scotland.

As to the effect of wages upon absenteeism and output,
witness said he had got the figures from several collieries.
The figures were taken for August and September 1911,
w'hen wages were 6s. a day, and for August and September
1913, when wages were 7s. 6d. a day. When wages were
6s. a day, that is 1911, the percentage of absentees was
5*64. When wages were high in 1913, the percentage was
11*12. That was in a colliery in Fifeshire. At another
colliery there was not the same difference; in August and
September 1911, the percentage of absentees was 7*73, and
for the same months in 1913 it was 8*38. For another
colliery in August and September 1911 it was 4*03, and in
August and September 1913 it was 5’74. There was
another colliery in Fifeshire where there was a remarkable
difference which he could not quite understand. In August
and September 1911 the percentage of absentees was 3*10,
and in 1913 it was 18»56. As regards the output per man
per day during periods of high and low wages, it was a
little more difficult to work it out; but he had figures from
one large colliery in Fifeshire. In 1911, taking the period
from August to December, the output per man employed at
that colliery was 1T22, and in 1913 tor the same period,
when wages were much higher, it was 1*098, showing a
reduction of 2’1 per cent. For a colliery .in Lanarkshire the
difference was greater—it showed a decrease of 4*5 per cent.
For another colliery in Lanarkshire—he thought there must
have been something exceptional there—an actual decrease
of 9 per cent, in output was shown. Those figures were
sufficient to show that the tendency was that when men
worked for high wages they put out rather less coal. Before
each period of high wages there was an advance in output.
The first effect of an improvement in trade was that the men
got more regular work, and they might take it that the
higher point before the advance in wages was what their
ordinary capacity for output would have been in the pre-
vious period if the men had full work.

On the question of the suggested suspension of the Eight
Hours Act, Mr. Mitchell said :—The Scottish coal
owners are of opinion that section 4 of the Coal Mines
Regulation Act, 1908, better known as the “ Eight Hours
Act,” should be put into operation, and the restriction of
work temporarily suspended. As the arrangements at the
collieries have been made in accordance with the Act, it
may be that its suspension would not result in a large
increase of output. Some advantage, however, would
undoubtedly be gained by the withdrawal of the limitation
imposed by the Act, especially where there was co-operation
between employer and employed. Speaking for myself,
personally, and not for my colleagues, I would not think
of increasing the winding hours. I would only allow a
man to work extra at his own place if he wanted to do
so; I would not make it compulsory on the whole of the
men. I do not think it is necessary to pay an extra rate
for overtime, because a man would increase his own
earnings by working a certain amount of overtime. I do
not think the men should, as a class, work nine hours instead
of eight. I think a man should simply be at liberty to work
a certain amount of overtime if he wants to do it. There
are many cases, I think, where a man would prepare his
place at night if he was allowed to work, say, half-an-hour
longer, and consequently would be ready to put out coal
in the morning, instead of preparing his place. It is quite
a common thing for a man to get empty hutches before he
leaves work. And if he could utilise say half-an-hour extra
in preparing his place, or moving dirt, or anything of that
sort, or filling the empty hutches, he could go straight on
with his coal getting in the morning. The danger might
arise from an overtime payment that he would not do the
normal amount of work in the ordinary time, but would
leave something over for the period for which overtime was
paid. At least 90 per cent, of the collieries in Scotland are
single shift pits. There would be an advantage where coal
cutters are in use, as, in some cases, through the cutting or
the filling from the face not being completed in the statutory
period, output is lost. The working of even a very little
overtime in such cases would frequently be of great

advantage. In Scotland a considerable proportion of the
coal is worked by coal cutters.—about 22 per cent, of the
total output. I do not think the increase of output would
be sufficient to make it possible to give any extra payment.
If the Act is only to be suspended temporarily, I cannot
see where any prejudice to the men would come in. There
would not be any compulsion. The suspension of the Eight
Hours Act in Scotland would not have a very marked effect
if there was no arrangement made to work a longer shift.
Personally, I would not favour working a longer shift, but
I think every little should be taken advantage of. I cer-
tainly think, as regards the working after the Act was
suspended, there should be some sort of discussion between
the employers and the employed, but my view personally is
that it would be better for the Government to suspend the
Act, and advise the employers and employed to meet
together to see how far suspension would bring about an
increased output. The general principles could be laid down
by a joint conference, but I do not think joint conferences
as a rule do very much good; or the general principles might
be given by instructions from the Miners’ Federation to
different districts. It would be some advantage to have
the restriction that a workman must be off for 16 hours
after completing a shift before resuming work again with-
drawn where men are scarce. There is another point.
My feeling, and I think the feeling of most colliery people,
is that the older men really prefer to do their work more
slowly, that is to say, to take a little longer time over their
work, and that among the older men especially there might
be some increase in output if the Act was suspended. Then
again, at present when an accident takes place causing a
stoppage of work, it is not possible to make up much of
the loss of output. If there was freedom to work some
overtime when required, such a loss of output might to
some extent be made up. As to remuneration, under the
Conciliation Board everything will be taken into considera-
tion in the regulation of the workmen’s wages, and there
is nothing to prevent the men, when asking for an increase
in wages, urging that they are getting an extra output,
and that therefore should be taken into consideration in any
payment. We have no hard-and-fast agreement with
regard to wages

The extension of the working week is really the most
important method of increasing the output in Scotland. At
present, as stated, the men in Lanarkshire only work five
days per week. The men in other districts of the country
work 11 days per fortnight. There are in Lanarkshire one
or two collieries that work 12 days in the fortnight. If the
men worked six days in every district a large increase in
output would undoubtedly take place. We are of opinion
that that would increase the output by about 10 per cent, in
Scotland, or over 300,000 tons per month. For many years
the custom was to w’ork 12 days a fortnight, and I see no
reason why they should not go back to that in such a time
of stress as this. It is better to work six days a week than
to be shot in the trenches. As to the contention that absen-
teeism might go up in consequence of such an alteration,
there is one colliery that works six days a week for which I
have figures. In February there was steady working for the
whole month, no time being lost for want of wagons, and
only 500 tons being lost through breakdowns. The average
outputs on Saturdays were only 5-8 per cent, less than the
output on other days, and 4-9 per cent, less than the average
daily output for the whole month. The absenteeism of the
face workers at this colliery for that period was 16-7 per
cent., while the average absenteeism for Lanarkshire was
9-62 per cent., showing a difference of 7-08 per cent. I do
not think it is correct to assume that this difference is entirely
due to the Saturday working, because I find that many other
collieries have quite as high a rate of absenteeism as this,
and I also have figures for those same collieries for other
periods showing a much lower rate of absenteeism, but for
the sake of argument, taking it for granted that the 7-08 is
accounted for by the fact of their working on Saturdays, the
gain by working on the Saturdays is 3,500 tons, or 10-4 per
cent. From the experience in the past there is absolutely no
doubt whatever that we would get an increase in output of
something like 10 per cent.

Mr. Rhodes : That is so with lots of collieries in Yorkshire.
Where we work Saturdays and where we play on Saturdays
we know exactly what the difference is; and there we do not
wind after one o’clock on Saturdays.

Witness : The working of the five days a week is part of
the working policy. If the men were told “ work six days ”
in most cases they would work readily enough. It is not a
difficulty of the men not working.

Mr. Nimmo : I suppose in Scotland the position is rather
this. What they have at the back of their minds is that the
shorter working week has a distinct influence on price, which
affects wages. There is no doubt that is the original reason
for the short week. There was one period (I cannot
remember exactly when it was) when by arrangement they
allowed us to work 11 days a fortnight.

Witness then passed to the consideration of the reduction of
absenteeism. He said : It is found roughly on the average
that in a colliery working 11 days per fortnight the output is
about 10 times that of the best day. There is no reason why
the best day’s output should not be nearly the average, and
the output be thereby increased nearly 10 per cent. That is
for districts where they work 11 days a fortnight. Absen-
teeism is less than 10 per cent., but there are certain
variations in output per man on different days. Very often
the best day is the day before pay day, when a man puts
out all that he can. In many collieries the face men could
put out a larger tonnage than they are doing. After the strike
of 1912 it wras natural the men should want to make more
money. I have the figures of output per man per day at a
certain colliery for May, June, and July. The strike ended
about the beginning of April, you will recollect. In May,
with wages at 6s., it was 1-16; in June, with wages at 6s.
and 6s. 6d. from the 19th, it was 1-17; and in July, with
wages at 6s. 6d., it was 1-18; for August to December 1911
it was 1-122; so that during those three months the output
was 4-3 per cent, more per man than it was for the period
from August to December 1911 before the strike. I heard
some of the questions which were put to the South Wales
representative, and he spoke about stint. There is something
of the same kind in Scotland. There is a daily tonnage which
is more or less closely adhered to, though I do not think it
is absolutely adhered to. As a rule, that is well within the
power of the miner. I think there is a universal feeling
abroad that if every man was doing his best for his country
in putting out all the coal he could, there would be some little
increase in the output. The general conclusion is that, in
our opinion, it does not require a very much increased output,
as far at least as Scotland is concerned, to make the supply
reasonably near the demand.