THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN

AM©

JOURNAL OF THE COAL AND IRON TRADES.

Vol. CXVL	FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1918.	No: 3023

MINING LAW AND ECONOMICS.—1.

By DAVID BOWEN, Capt. R.E.,

With the exception of specialised works of reference
intended for legal practitioners and political econo-
mists, the. author knows of no book containing a
general and elementary account of mining law and
economics, and for this reason he has endeavoured in
this and following articles to sketch the legal and
economic development of mining from the historical
point of view, and to prepare the interested reader for
some of the administrative difficulties incident to the
mining profession.

The importance of comparing English law with
foreign laws, and thus enabling the conditions under
which mining enterprises may be carried on abroad
to be appreciated, has not been fully recognised by
our mining schools and universities. The curriculum
generally includes—as far as mining law is concerned
—only the statutory enactments of this country as
to the working and management of mines and the pro-
visions as to safety of workmen. The student on
completing his course of training is thus, as a rule,
ignorant of mining law in general. It may be con-
tended that legal questions had better be left to legal
advisers; but the author is decidedly of opinion that
even an elementary knowledge of mining law and
economics gives the student and engineer a greater
interest in his work, and develops in him a broader
intelligence in the administration of his duties. It
will be generally admitted, in any case, that this
knowledge is of incalculable value in the higher
branches of the profession.

However, at the present juncture it appears to the
author inadvisable to discuss foreign laws as com-
pared with English law, except in a brief and very
tentative way. Constitutions are in the melting pot
as the result of the present war, and it is impossible
to foretell what may crystallise in the immediate
future. It would be unwise to prophesy, and yet it
is difficult to imagine that in countries like Germany
and Austria, where constitutional systems aye so
thoroughly ingrained in the minds of their people,
any radical change in mining codes will be made.

As regards this country, it is probable that the
economic development of our mining resources will
have derived a great impetus from the present war.
This is foreshadowed by the recommendations of the
Department of Mineral Resources in the United
Kingdom, containing in a report to the Minister of
Munitions, issued as a White Paper (Cd. 9184 of
November 15, 1918). These recommendations are
briefly summarised as follows: —

1.	That the Government should concern itself more
actively than hitherto in the mining and mineral
industry at home and in the Crown Colonies and
Dependencies.

2.	That for this purpose a Mines Department should
be organised on suitable lines for the United
Kingdom.

3.	That at least three advising bodies and com-
mittees should be associated with this Department,
viz. : —

(a)	The Imperial Mineral Resources Bureau, in

liaison with the self-governing Dominions.

(b)	The Mines and Minerals Commission to watch

over and develop the Empire’s output and
trade in mineral and metallic products;

(c)	Commissioners authorised to take action in

cases of improper exploitation of mineral
properties or unreasonable or prohibitive
conditions imposed by land owners for royal-
ties and wayleaves.

4.	That a fund, to be administered by the Mines
Department and rendered as far as possible self-
supporting, should be provided for the purpose of
undertaking experimental work in approved direc-
tions.

5.	That profits spent upon the further development
of the properties from which they were derived should
be exempted from taxation.

6.	That the provisions of the Metalliferous Mines
Regulation Act of 1872 should be amended and ex-
tended, where necessary, in order to give effect to
these recommendations.

As there is a great body of opinion in favour of the
establishment of such a Department of Mines, it is
highly probable that the above recommendations will

F.G.S., M.Inst.M.E., etc.

substantially — possibly in a modified form — be
adopted.

Legislative enactments recently passed or at present
in contemplation are concerned with—

(a)	The economic development of mineral re-

sources ;

(b)	The conditions of labour; and

(c)	The education of the working classes.

Each of these questions will be dealt with in the
course of tj^is series of articles.

HISTORY OF MINING.

The history of mining in this country is remarkably
interesting as illustrating the development of an
industry, the intelligence and ingenuity of people in
different stages of civilisation, the growth of the com-
mercial spirit, the influence of economic conditions,
and the advantage of geographical position. To
deal adequately with each of these historical aspects
would be impossible within the limits of this lecture,
and it is proposed, therefore, to give only a brief
account of mining down to within recent times.

There are numerous indications that England’s
mineral wealth was developed to a certain extent in
very early times. The exploitation of tin in Devon
and Cornwall is generally referred back to the time
of the Phoenician merchants, whilst the Roman work-
ings of lead and iron (but particularly lead) have
been clearly traced in several districts (Derbyshire,
Shropshire, etc.), as has that of salt in Cheshire.
Early in the 13th century considerable quantities
of tin were exported from Europe. At a still later
period tin and lead were regarded as the English
minerals of highest commercial value; whereas just
before the outbreak of the present war both these
minerals, but particularly lead, were comparatively
little worked.

The iron industry first developed in the neighbour-
hood of large supplies of timber, which supplied the
smelting medium, charcoal; so that before the use of
coal for smelting became general in the latter part
of the 18th century, the principal iron districts were
centred in the Weald of Kent and Sussex, the Forest
of Dean in Gloucestershire, and the neighbourhood
of Birmingham. Subsequently the industry followed
the development of the coal fields.

Crown Rights.

Until the year 1688 all mines in England yielding
gold and silver belonged to the Crown, and charters
were frequently granted in the 14th and 15th cen-
turies to adventurers to enter upon private lands to
search for minerals. These included lead, tin and
copper, each of which contained gold or silver in
small quantities. The Court of Exchequer in 1568
affirmed the principle that “ be the quantity of it
(gold or silver) ever so small, yet the King shall
have the whole of the base metal” containing such
small quantities of gold or silver. The rights of the
proprietors of the soil were respected to the extent
that the charters contained clauses forbidding mining
under houses and castles, sometimes also under arable
lands and meadows, without their licence. A double
royalty was imposed—one to be paid to the King, a
second, less in amount, to the landlord. A lease of
copper mines by Edward IV. reserves a royalty of
one-eighth to the King and one-twelfth to the land-
lord ; a lease of lead mines by the same King reserves
one-sixteenth to the landlord and one-twelfth to
the King.

In 1568 an attempt was made to confine the rights
of the Crown to mines worked for the precious metals,
and to exclude them from those mines in which the
precious metals occurred as by-products. But in the
case of The Queen v. Northumberland the ancient
principle was reaffirmed, three justices dissenting.
The decision was, in effect, that only mines containing
gold and silver belonged to the Crown, and that the
baser metals belonged to the proprietor of the land.
This decision carried with it the right of the Crown
to enter upon lands to search for gold and silver
and to carry on operations necessary for exploiting
these minerals. It was also held that a mine worked
for baser metals, if it contained gold or silver,
belonged to the Crown. The uncertainty to which this,
gave rise interfered seriously with the mining indus-
try, and led to the passing of the Act of 1 Will.
& Mary, c. 30, which enacted that “ noe mine of
copper, tin, iron or lead shall hereafter be adjudged
reputed or taken to be a Royall Mine although gold or
silver may be extracted out of the same.” By this
clause an immense property in minerals was trans-
ferred immediately to the landlords. By an Act of
1693 (5 Will. & Mary, c. 6) a modification was intro-
duced in favour of the Crown. While the subject
may under this Act work his base metals at will, the
Crown reserves the right of pre-emption of the ore
at such prices as would represent its fair value in
the absence of royal metals. These prices are fixed

by the Act, which, having now become obsolete, the
Crown’s rights are never, in fact, exercised, although
they were again confirmed by the Act 55 George III.,
c. 134. But, it should be noted, the Royal preroga-
tive in the case of a mine worked for gold or silver,
was affirmed by the Court of Appeal in the now famous
case of Attorney-General v. Morgan, in 1891.

The scarcity of the precious metals in this country
towards the close of the Middle Ages led to constant
efforts by the Kings themselves to discover these
minerals. As the science of mining was at that time
very imperfectly understood in this country, whereas
it was fully developed on the Continent, foreigners
were frequently brought from abroad, as appears from
the mining patents granted by Edward IV. and
Henry VIII. Under Edward VI. endeavours were
made to discover and work mines in Ireland, but
without success. The art of smelting and refining was
so little understood that, under Mary, a Commission
was appointed to learn metallurgy from a German
adventurer. Mining engineers were, in the time of
Elizabeth, still largely German. The rights of the
Crown naturally cheeked mining enterprise until the
Act of 1693, .from which it received a great impetus.

Alum Mines.

Alum mines were occasionally claimed by the Crown
as affording the basis for the manufacture of gun-
powder, and in the reign of James. I. all the judges
held that the Crown could grant licences for working
saltpetre for gunpowder in any lands of the subject
for the defence of the realm, though the owners of
the land were also left at liberty to mine upon their
own account.

Coal Mining.

The chief mineral industry of the country at the
present day—coal mining—was practised in the North
of England and South of Scotland in very early times.
Doubtless this was the case also in all the other coal
fields, but originally working was confined to the
outcrops simply or for only short distances from the
surface. In a charter of 1234 there is an indication
of the Northumberland coal supply, while the York-
shire coal field is first mentioned early in the follow-
ing century. The leasehold system with royalties
appears to have been common in the 14th century.
On account of the fear felt that the supply of coal
might rapidly be exhausted if intensive exploitation
were permitted, it was a frequent practice of the lords
- of the soil to expressly limit the quantity of coal
which might be worked per day. It was the prevalent
opinion that coal could only be worked near the sur-
face. In 1610 Sir George Selby informed Parliament
that the coal supply of Newcastle would be exhausted
in 21 years. This*fear of exhaustion stimulated in-
vention for draining and ventilating mines, and from
this it may be said that the whole art of modern
mining sprang. But it is interesting to note that,
whereas in 1700 it was estimated that the total pro-
duction amounted to only 2,612,000 tons, and in 1800
to 10,080,000 tons, the returned total (for the United
Kingdom) in 1913 amounted to 287,411,869 tons, of the
total value of £145,535,669.

Modern Legislation.

Until the 19th century, except in the case of Royal
mines, there existed no statutory regulations for the
working, management, and inspection of mines, nor
for the security for those employed. Previous enact-
ments were concerned only with the regulation of
possession of property in mines or with the special
remedies open to mine owners against acts of wrong-
doing on the part of employees. The year 1842, in
which the Mines Regulation Act, 5 & 6 Viet., c. 99,
was passed, marks the beginning of mining legislation
in the modern sense. By this Act it was forbidden
to employ females underground after March 1, 1843.
The employment of boys under 10 was also forbidden.
The inspection of coal mines by Government was under-
taken in 1850 under the terms of the Act 13 & 14 Viet.,
e. 100, which authorised the appointment of inspectors.
Similar provisions were enacted in 1872 (35 & 36
Viet., c. 77) in connection with metalliferous mines.
This Act raised the age of boys to 12, following the
precedent set in the Mines Regulation Act of 1860
(23 & 24 Viet., c. 151). Mining legislation in the
case of both classes of mines—coal mines and metal
mines—has developed along parallel lines, that of coal
mines being specially distinguished in character by
special provisions dealing with the precautions to be
observed with a view to the prevention of the peculiar
classes of accidents incidental to coal mining, explo-
sions, etc. Provisions common to both are those pro-
hibiting the paying of wages in public-houses , those
under which notification must be made to inspectors
of accidents explosions, etc. ; rules as to the opening
and working of new shafts ; and codes of offences in
the nature of contravention of the rules for the safe
working of mines approved by the Secretary of State.
The principal Acts now in force will be discussed in
a subsequent lecture.

It should be noted that the statutory regulation of
mines is within the jurisdiction of the Secretary of
State for Home Affairs.