June 8, 1917.

THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

1091

maturely, inflicting serious injury to Coulter. It appears
another man had been firing the shot, which missed fire,
and the firer had gone to re-arrange his battery, while
Coulter went to try and find out the deficiency. Having-
got the cable put in order, he delivered the shot without
being aware of Coulter’s close proximity.

LABOUR AND WAGES.

South Wales and Monmouthshire.

The notices tendered by the men at the Llanerch and
Varteg collieries terminating contracts on account of
alleged employment of non-unionists have been extended,
so that the executive council of the Federation, with Sir
George Askwith, may make an endeavour to arrange the
difficulty.

In Swansea on Tuesday, a/Special meeting of anthracite
miners’ delegates took place, about 14,000 men being
represented, its purpose being to discuss the suggested new
rules of the Federation; and it is understood that the
extremist proposals were discountenanced.

At the Arael Griffin Colliery, Six Bells, on Monday
morning, the men held a pithead meeting, and discussed
the appointment of master hauliers; and because, in their
opinion, appointments were not being made on seniority
according to custom, they ceased work. Between 1,500
and 2,000 men were idle that day. The men returned to
work on Tuesday, the management declining to receive a
deputation so long as they remained idle.

On Saturday, at the monthly meeting of the Avon Valley
miners, Mr. Jenkins (their agent) referred at length to the
proposed new rules of the Federation, and he advised the
lodges to accept the rules drafted by the executive council
through their solicitor. To make any change of govern-
ment, he said, would result disastrously to the interests
of the members, and would have a very bad effect upon
the organisation, especially if they were to withdraw the
executive powers of the council, and give effect to confer-
ence decisions alone.

The coal trimmers of Cardiff, Penarth, and Barry met on
Sunday, and among the subjects of discussion were the
recommendations of the Industrial Triple Alliance as to
powers of taking action in the event of an attempt being
made to* impose industrial conscription. It was resolved
to support the Alliance in any action that it might take.
Another resolution passed was that, should Cardiff be
divided under the Redistribution Bill, a Labour candidate
should contest one of the seats; and a further resolution
was passed to place on the agenda of the Trade Union
Congress a motion favouring State purchase of the liquor
trade.

The employees at Swansea Dock, who are members of
the Dockers’ Union, have now obtained their further war
bonus of 15 per cent., making 40 per cent, in all.

In the Tredegar district it is stated that the question
of sub-contracting remained unsettled; and the district
council of miners has decided that a ballot should be taken
on the question.

The dispute at Nine Mile Point Colliery has been settled;
and also that at Markham Colliery, where summonses have
been withdrawn, so it is reported, upon the condition that
a resolution be passed at a public meeting that no stoppage
shall take place in future until the committee have met the
management.

The Pontypridd and Rhondda miners, at their monthly
meeting, had before them a statement that a deputation
from the Maritime Colliery had gone to London in order
to interview the Coal Controller with reference to the
stoppage of one district.

In the Eastern Valley of Monmouthshire, a dispute
raises a question as between trade unions. For some years
there has been friction between the Miners’ Federation and
the Enginemen’s, Stokers’ and Craftsmen’s Association,
the purpose of the former being to induce members of the
association to join the Federation, and have only one
organisation representing al? the different bodies of work-
men. It is stated that certain members of the Federation
who are Craftsmen have now seceded from that body and
joined the association, one of the reasons alleged being
that the monthly subscription is lower. The Miners’
Federation regard these men as non-unionists, and they
are calling upon the employers to carry out an implied
agreement that only unionists shall be engaged at the
collieries. In reply, the owners regard the association,
which is an old-established body, as a trade union equally
with the Federation; and hence the difficulty, which is
being brought before the Board of Trade so that serious
consequences may be averted.

The dispute at Llanhilleth Colliery, arising out of the
notice to 200 men terminating contracts because their dis-
trict of the workings has reached the boundary, reveals'a
curious set of circumstances. Because of the notice to the
200 men, the remainder of the employees, about 800 in
number, gave notices; and there has been an intervention
by the Coal Controller, whose representative (Sir Richard
Redmayne) has been enquiring into the difficulty. One
element of complication in the matter is that in the parti-
cular district of the colliery which is being stopped there
had been a dispute with the men. This came before the
Conciliation Board in the usual way. A representative
from each side was appointed to deal with it; but these
referees had not “ failed to agree,” and the contention
therefore on the side of the workmen is that the matter is
still before the Conciliation Board, and that the notices, to
the 200 ought not to have been served. Some objection
has been taken to the investigation of matters by the Coal
Controller; but, inasmuch as the financial responsibility,
both for profits and wages, rests now with the Controller’s
Department, there is no matter of surprise that action of
this sort should have been taken. On the other hand, it
has to be borne in mind that the colliery management is
still responsible for observance of statutory requirements,
and necessarily also for such matters as working to the
boundary, which involve due regard to leases and other
fo ‘ms of agreement.—The Federation executive had the
matter before it on Friday of last week, seeing that the
notices terminated on the succeeding day, and it was
resolved to communicate with the secretary of the Coal
Owners’ Association, asking for. an early meeting of the
emergency committee to deal with the matter; and also
that the notices terminating contracts should be extended.

The Llanhilleth dispute was referred to at the monthly
meeting of the Western Valley Miners’ Council, and a
resolution was passed expressing an opinion that the com-
pany’s refusal to withdraw notices to the 200 men for the
duration of the war was sufficient provocation for the
whole of the workers to bring about a stoppage.. It was
further decided that if the notices were, not withdrawn,
a special meeting should be called to consider the question
of a general stoppage throughout the district. A copy of
this resolution has been forwarded to the Coal Controller.
The men held a mass meeting cn Sunday, when they passed

a resolution to support the 200 men who had received notice
because they had worked to the boundary.

An echo of the recent stoppage of work at the Mynydd
Maen Colliery, Pontypool, where a dispute had arisen
between the hauliers and management, was heard at the
monthly meeting of the Monmouthshire Eastern Valley
miners’ district on Monday, when application was made
on behalf of about 50 colliers for one week’s out-of-work
pay. The deputy-agent, Mr. W. L. Cook, J.P., said the
men involved through the dispute had, on his advice,
resumed work, and he was negotiating for a settlement.
After discussion, the application was referred to the execu-
tive committee. Mr. James Winstone, J.P., agent, and
acting-president of the South Wales Miners’ Federation,
referred to reports of speeches in which certain military
officers were stated to have declared they were now able
to take at least 120,000 miners into the Army. It would
be beneficial for the coal field, he thought, if the military
people did not meddle with its affairs, as there was a
strong and divided feeling over the question of “ combing.
out.”

North of England.

Returns received by the Northumberland Miners’ Asso-
ciation show that during last month 43 steam coal collieries
in the county worked an average of 4-83 days per week, as
compared with the average of 4-31 days per week in April,
an improvement of about one half-day weekly. Nineteen
household pits worked an average of 5-14 days per week,
as against 4-93 days per week in April, a perceptible
improvement in employment. The general average of both
classes of collieries was 4*92 days weekly, as against 4*47
days.

Teesside dockers and riverside labourers have been
awarded a wages advance of Id. per ton for unloading iron
ore cargoes, and of 10 per cent, for unloading all other
classes of cargoes, and slingers and tippers have received
an increase of Is. per day, all to date back to April 1.
Stevedores’ wages have been increased from the present
figure of 10s. per day to Ils., and hatch waymen’s wages
from 6s. per day to 7s., as from May 21.

Federated Area.

Mr. Thomas Ashton, who has just been made a Privy
Councillor, has had a long secretarial career. When the
Lancashire and Cheshire Miners’ Federation was formed
in 1881, he became its first secretary, and seven years later
was appointed general secretary to the newly-formed
Miners’ Federation of Great Britain. When the Coal Con-
ciliation Boai;d for the federated mining districts of Eng-
land and North Wales came into existence in 1894, Mr.
Ashton was elected the workmen’s secretary, with
Sir Thos. R. Ratcliffe-Ellis as coal owners’ secretary, and
their joint work has been characterised by a conciliatori-
ness which has considerably helped the Board in avoiding
labour difficulties. Since the outbreak of war, Mr. Ashton
has devoted much time and energy to raising large sums of
money among the miners for motor ambulances.

The dispute of colliery enginemen and firemen affecting
21 pits in South Derbyshire and Leicestershire has been
settled as the outcome of a conference held by invitation of
Sir George Askwith at the Chief Industrial Commissioner’s
Office, London, on Monday afternoon. The terms arrived
at were not stated.

Mr. W. J. French, president, occupied the chair at the
annual general meeting of the North Warwickshire Miners’
Association at Tamworth on Saturday. The report stated
that the saving on the year’s working was greater than
in any previous year, amounting to .£603, bringing the
total accumulated funds to £2,617. Looking back on the
few years the association had been formed and the work
accomplished, the council claimed that it had more than
justified its existence.

Mr. J. G. Hancock, M.P., the agent, reported at the
monthly council meeting of the Notts Miners’ Association,
held on May 30, the result of interviews he had had with
the management of the Brierley Hill (Sutton-in-Ashfield)
Colliery concerning enginemen and firemen. The matter
was left for him to deal with. Mr. C. Bunfield, the secre-
tary, was instructed as to the action he should take regard-
ing the revision of the Top Hard price lists at Teversall
Colliery, with whose management he had for some time
been in negotiation. Details of an interview granted by
the Prime Minister to the executive of the Miners’ Federa-
tion were placed before the council, who were informed
that the deputation urged that food should, if necessary,
be equally distributed.

Scotland.

The difficulty in regard to drawing coal at Drumley pit,
Annbank, Ayrshire, is likely to be amicably adjusted soon..
The management proposed to introduce a new- system for
the district, whereby the workmen were expected to draw
their own coal. The matter was recently before Sir
Richard Redmayne, Chief Inspector of Mines, and he has
asked Mr. R. L. Angus and Mr. James' Brown to try to
come to some arrangement suitable to the circumstances.

Some friction has arisen at one of the collieries in Fife
regarding the employment of female surface workers to
empty wagons of redd. The union are of opinion that
this is too heavy work for women, and they propose to
bring about a stoppage of the practice.

In connection with a tonnage rates dispute at Know-
noblehill Colliery, Cleland, Lanarkshire, the manager and
the local union officials have agreed to an inspection of the
section. The union have appointed Messrs. Kyle and
Sullivan to make the inspection.

At Glespin Colliery, Lanarkshire, work has been very
irregular for some time, but the climax was reached at the
beginning of last week, when intimation was given that
the colliery had been closed down indefinitely.. The
Lanarkshire Miners’ Union have voted £200 to relieve the
existing distress amongst the workmen, who number 150.

At Dalquhandy Colliery, Coalburn, Lanarkshire, a fire-
man was dismissed some time ago on the ground that he
had refused to stay behind and supervise the clearing of
a fall at the termination of his legal shift. A strike at
the colliery is threatened, but to prevent this, if possible,
the union are negotiating with the manager for the rein-
statement of the fireman.

At Hirstrigg Colliery, Salsburgh, some trouble has again
arisen through the manager withdrawing the rails in one
of the sections where the men were seeking an advance on
the tonnage rate.

Efforts by the men and masters to settle the points at
issue at Bedlay Colliery have proved unsuccessful. Some
concession was offered, but it is not regarded by the work-
men as at all satisfactory, and the latest development is
that the Government may intervene in the matter.

The question of contracting for coal getting formed the
subject of a threatened strike at Blairmuckhill Colliery.
The management contend that contracting in the section
is unavoidable.

No settlement has been made in connection with the
claim by the Leadhill miners for an advance of Is. per day.

A notice has been posted at the mines stating that the
manager was willing to meet his own workmen to discuss
any matters in dispute. The workmen have decided they
will not meet the manager unless accompanied by their
agent.

For nearly 47 years the miners of Fife, Kinross, and
Clackmannan have been in the habit of celebrating the
introduction of the eight hours working day in these
counties by holding a demonstration on the first Monday
in June. Since the war began the demonstration has been
dispensed with, and Monday was simply observed as a
holiday at all the mines in the counties.

Iron, Steel and Engineering Trades.

According to the certificate of the accountant to the
Board of Conciliation and Arbitration for the Manufac-
tured Iron and Steel Trade of the North of England, the
average net selling price of iron plates, bars, and angles
for the two months ending April 30 last was £13 9s. per
ton, as compared with £13 7s. 10-61d. per ton for the
previous two months, and under sliding scale arrangements
iron workers’ wages for June and July remain the same as
prevailed during the preceding two months.

A note issued by the Press Bureau states that the award
which began to operate on April 1 was limited in its appli-
cation to the members of the societies included in the Engi-
neering Employers’ Federation, who are engaged in the
federated shops and foundries, and its general effect has
been to increase the wages of men 5s. per week and the
wages of boys and youths 2s. 6d. per week. The Minister
of Munitions has undertaken to extend the award so as to
make it applicable to the employees of all unfederated
firms in the engineering and foundry trades under his
control, and a clause has been inserted in the Munitions
of War Bill to empower this extension.

COAL DEVELOPMENT IN ALASKA.

The Alaska bureau of the Seattle Chamber of Com-
merce has issued a small map showing the progress of
the Government railroad construction work. Much of
the road has been cleared and graded, and regular ser-
vice established from Seward, on Resurrection Bay, to
Kern Creek, on Turnagain Arm; whilst trains run
regularly from Anchorage as far as the Matanuska
coal fields, where large forces of miners are at work.
Anchorage is the nearest tide-water railroad point for
the distribution of coal mined in the interior, and
ships of any size can be accommodated in its harbours.

The mines served by these towns and by the rail-
road are practically inexhaustible, and their product
is of a very high order. It has been officially
announced that within the past six months coal mining
has been started on a commercial scale in these mines,
and a large amount has been contracted for by the
Alaskan Engineering Commission, in charge of the
Government railroad.

Matanuska coal tested recently by the Navy Depart-
ment was found equal to the better grades mined in
the Pennsylvania and West Virginia bituminous fields.
The first mine opened in this district, the Doherty
mine, is at Moose Creek, a point of the Matanuska
branch line, 50 miles by rail from Anchorage. A
150 ft. shaft sunk there has exposed a vein of unusu-
ally fine coal, and 60 tons are turned out every 24
hours, even under the present limited conditions. The
Doherty mine is operated under a special permit issued
primarily for the purpose of obtaining coal needed as
fuel for locomotives, steam shovels, and other engines
used in connection with the Government work. Previ-
ously the Commission had been importing coal from
Puget Sound at a cost of from 16 to 18 dols. per ton,
delivered at Anchorage. Matanuska coal now sells in
Anchorage at 8 dols. per ton.

A second mine has been opened at Moose Creek, and
quite recently a third at Eska Creek, six miles north-
east of Moose Creek. Here the coal is of excellent
quality, and several veins are now being worked. The
branch railway under construction at this point will
enable mine owners to instal heavy machinery, and
will make possible the production and shipment of 100
tons of coal daily.

In addition to these large mines, which are just at
the beginning of their development, small mines are
being worked under lease. The Government will lease
free of charge coal lands of 100 acres or less, and the
opportunity thus offered is attracting numerous small
operators.

Heretofore the best coal used on the Pacific Coast
has been shipped from the east, from Australia, and
from South Africa. With the development of the
Alaskan fields, the Pacific seaboard will no longer have
to depend on foreign countries for its coal supply.

Coal in Argentina.—Coal of good quality is reported to
have been discovered near Lake Espuyen, in the territory
of Chubut, at a place distant about 100 miles from the
Port San Antonio Railway. Coal has also been found in
the territory of Santa Cruz.

Munitions of War Bill.— The Ministry of Munitions
announces that the further stages of the Munitions of War
Bill in the House of Commons will not be taken until cer-
tain negotiations now in progress have been concluded.
Dr. Addison is in consultation with the Amalgamated
Society of Engineers and other trade unions affected by the
Bill, as well as with representatives of employers, with the
object of securing a general understanding of the provi-
sions of the Bill, and of coming to an agreement in regard
to the amendments proposed by various organisations.
These amendments include a proposal that before the prin-
ciple of dilution is applied to private work of any parti-
cular class, public notice shall be given and opportunity
afforded for consultation, if necessary, with the parties
concerned.

The British Trade Corporation. — In the House of
Commons, Mr. G. H. Roberts (Parliamentary Secretary to
the Board of Trade), in answer to a question, said the
objects of the British Trade Corporation might be sum-
marised as the providing of financial facilities for British
traders and manufacturers to enable them to develop their
business, particularly in relation to overseas markets and
undertakings. Naturally, no particular manufacturer or
merchant had a specific right to assistance from the
Corporation, which was, however, bound to give substan-
tial effect to its objects, and failure to do so would expose
it to proceedings to annul the charter.