ARBITRATION COURT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11593, 29 November 1899, Page 7

ARBITRATION COURT.

SITTINGS AT KAITANGATA,

Tha adjourned sittings of the Arbitration Court to hear.the Kaitangata miners case was opened in the Athenteum at Kaitangata at 1 o'clock on Monday., The president (Mr-Justice Edwards)' and Mr S. Brown and Mr Slater • wore m attendance. After formally opening the court, the President adjourned the sitting ■till-aiter.the court had visited the mine. An official visit of the court was then paid to the mine; the president and assessors accompanied by Mr Watson and Mt Shore as representatives of the company, and Mr Smith Jttr ideardsmore, Mr Penman, and Mr Donaldson, representatives of the union. The party spent some two hours in examining the workings an all pnr ts of the mine. The court resumed sitting at the Athenscum at 5 o'clock. ■ Mr Smith called the evidence of Wnhara. Martin Shore, mine manager for the company, who stated that he had been in the position for-ljTor 17 years. The tonnage rate at present _p ai d was^s per ton for all classes of work. In regard to the headings, yard rates had always been paid, also for levels; not always for stentons. Yardage had always been paid for narrow stentons, and the last Stir" l* had t te, eU pakl for all "teutons, row wnrl COul4 not "'ways be described as narrow work The yard price for headings was TZ f:rf 9S (f% lineal y^, about SfTwide)! The-rate depended upon the level of the bord. •Formerly the price for levels was 4s a yard but for a long time the price had been Gs Ihe price for stentons had been 6s per yard' Men m narrow work, in his experience made more at those prices than in other work Assuming the rate of pay to be 10s, a man in a< narrow'heading would make 12s. At the rate of 9s , which existed at Kaitangata, he men m headings always made an average of from Is to 2s a day above the rate. Tho average man made extra always for stentons For heading and level work the average rate of w.ges must -have been from 10s ,to°lls a day since the new company took the mine over _ Mr Brown; In regard to the list of earnings by Mr Watson the other day after tL nU T !f er W mS n,mentioned wh° worked after the lope ceased hauling coal? . Witness;. The practice o£ working after the IT + f C6a- 9ed ,runniu& has entirely ceased since the mon has Wen established in KaitZf ft" 7 ely low Shortly a"o l^fc f P?^ °cc«"ed-about 14 months ?l? "tu ?t°Ppeda Eumber of bords-that bemg the season t of tho year he usually did so. They were stopped till a better system «Lp ?M WBS Put in- He mi Sht nave* put oH ot 6 nto o*«P'.work-to fill loose coal at the; ordinary tonnage load. In regard to having given men at that time the privilege of filling loose coal, it was a thing he was a ways domg. Donaldson was filling loose coal at that; time,, which increased his earnings -He could not- say what the actual money vafuo of such a- privilege was. He had not at that' time put • truckers " on to assist the miners bince h? took charge he had always been in the habxt.of making "allcvauces" to a miner who uadl not. made the average wage. Mr. Smith; Would the stoppage of the bords iave a tendency.to increase the average earnings or the men per dv>". _ Witness:,, If they were put to fill loose coal J-fte qusoom of occasionally allowing this miuht possibly not, be continued if the present reference was adopted./ , To Mr Brown: Jt was.occasionally the practice to allow a man concessions, owing to his inability to make the usual wa»es*---To Mr Smith: He had put helpers ion iiV four headings during tho last four rrionths. Jiad recently put a ropa on, which reduced the haulage, and it was anticipated that it would increase the earnings, but it had not done-so. Mr Brown: Then.there must be something Wrong. •.-■-.,.-■■■.-■ . ° ._ Witness: Well, it has not had the effect of increasing the output. th^s? Smith: -Wl y °U gl>e any reasonfor

Witness:. Simply because advantage has not been taken of the case; without a doubt there is a: decided tendency to hold back on the part of,tne-men, who axe not working so diligently as formerly. The witness continued that he could not /from memory state how many men had been discharged. 'He had not m so far as his memory went, employed any outside men. Ho could not say how much falhng^off there-was iii the trade. In regard to the notice that had been posted at the mino mouth inviting men to come to the mine manager's office, he recollected it being put up. In some cases the nieii had come to the office! iie remembered sending s, man down the mine to tell the"men to ca.ll at the officer'it was for the prirpose of asking them to sign a document, if they cnoose to. He thoutrht he had the original document hi the KaiW^aa oluce. .-.here were no threats lued, so-far as he knew ' Mr Smith: Wore they not told that their signature stood before them and their work? Witness- jfot by ajiyo.ne in my presence. Witness. continued that the matter had been ■explained to the men, and it was left entirely optional 1o them to sign or not.- There'were men present in the room now who could 'give evidence to that ■effect. No inducement" waslofiercd, so far as he knew, to induce thenrto ■sign. He .did not know that Mr Watson had ■promised the nien that if they seceded from the union and signed their contributions to the ■union would be; paid for three months He thought about-100 men signed it.1 The amount paid for shift wages was 9s, for which men / had to perform air sorts of work. Special work necessarily requited specially qualified men to perform it. The coal had never been weighed 4t;Kiiitangnta. ' The' company had a weighbridge for weighing, the boxes, but it had never been weighed sinco he had been manager. -There had been a common understanding that' three boxes went to the ton, and the question pf weighing had never cropped up. Independently 01 tlis height to which they were fitted the boxes went three to the ton. At one time boxes had be6h' deducted from men, but not for a; long time previous to the present company ;talang over the mine. As regards safety iwnps, they had got samples of electric lamps. -The men had riot been using them as yet • they had-_never had occasion to do So. ' 'i;tr Smith: .Has there been any effort on the ' part of the company to' provide the men with safety; lamps? ■ -" ' ■

,Tn regard to the dismissal of Penman h°" •had dismissed him on instructions' from the heacl office. He had made no inquiries as to nis oemg. guilty of any offence. Mr Lee explained that he had instructed the mine manager to dismiss the man before the Conciliation Board, sat in order to allow Mr mv I? mg the case Def°re the board • 1 lh& President: Had you any comolaint to make against Penman ? ■ ' *'

_ Witness:. No; I simply dismissed him under instructions.

t c SiT'dent: You had no reason to find fault .with him for his conduct as a miner ? , Witness: No.-

. lo Mr D. Beardsmore: Witness said he could not^ certify from memory as to.the ages of Certain of the boys mentioned in the wages statement that had been put in <J? M t 4?°l^ Ii SOn: Witneas had said he supposed the difference to him in filling loose coal would mean-a difference of Is to 2s a day. The reason he had been suspended one time was because they could not sell that kind of &,i' w eYTu 6tting to° much of same during IS yets 1! 114 n° leaS°n t0 discha^ him

m t m Edmiston stated that he had not S£?+ft *^ manager's office to sign the document thai-had been alluded to. Mr Shore told Mm that lt would decide whether he was to go out to work again of not. Mr Watson, who was in the office, told him if he would retire from the union he would pay up his three months' dues. He had not signed the oW IHSIIt. • ; ■

'To Mr Shore:/ He had been at work at the mine ever since, and had heard no further reference to the document. ' WiUi^Wmiams also gave evidence in regard to the document referred to. On one and Mr Shore told him to go to h . Shortly Vrrwol she was put to work ia a hot place *o th t "ad the followin S statement

«HpW * ■?? and gentlemen,-l would not .S^Vl 0 e3S 70U ia Present weak : Bta+PTr,/ t * -, Wf e i 4 not to correct s°me statements made by Mr Smith and some of court Wl*"er eS; ?*?' not bein? an adePt « S f lO5Bl! 1 tr, ust y°u will ov«look my KT3 I Wlli ? ot traverse the wi^ ran^t Sct SPo c reto bUt ***** "*"« ZPOS^V^ ot'A S the lon S A**y has%nabled Mr Smiths, adherents to gradually reduce their, daily output, with a view to present a better case, by showing a lesser rate of wa-es and thereby influence the court, However notwithstanding the long delay complained of it has not enabled Mr°Smith to present in any sense a strong case, his case being so weak (Mr Smith) should-bring forward more evidence,' Mr Smith complained of my absence, sayin^ he meantime as his principal witness., That goes further to prove the weakness of his case, when he has to rely on the defendant for his strongest evidence. Mr Smith is very fond of making rash statements, and, having done so, evidently does not consider it part qt his case to bring evidence in support of statsrnents made for illustration. Mr Smith stated that the previous company paid 4s per ton all round. This is entirely incorrect, as at no time was there ever more than 3*s per ton paid for head coal.

i-i. t i. Smith would alao lead you to believe that the- size of boxes in use and the mode of nlhng same had a tendency to grow, but brings forward no evidence to bear this out However; I shall return to this matter. Mr bmith would also lead you to believe that by continuing the present system of assuming a measurement ton the company are breaking the law. If your. Honor will, in addition to reading sections 71 and 72 of "The Coal Mines Aof, 1894, also read section 73. This section was specially inserted to meet the ' brown' coal' mines of the colony; therefore,'it is exceedingly unfair to quote half measures, with a view to mislead your board, and make-believe that an infringement of the law was being enacted Mr Smith also said that he believed Mr Shore •was heartily sick of the whole matter. In making that statement Mr Smith was perfectly correct, but from quite a different standpoint to what he would lead the board to

infer. It would be possible, gentlemen, for me to lay before you a statement in detail of the petty, interfering, harassing difficulties vmder which our works have had to be conducted during the past 12 months. But I have no wish to enlarge on the matter. If I did submit such statement I am satisfied you would admit that I had just cause of complaint. However, I will admit that of lato (with the exception of a few individuals) a much more tolerant spirit has prevailed and tho more sensible of the elder men have assisted .in curbing the defiant impetuousness ofthe youthful inembors of the union. • vi P' nithalsc> wants Is per shift extra for »'BW*>ft work but produces no evidence °o show that this rule obtains at any other colliery I have been associated with mining for over 40 years, and never knew of such extra being paid' 1 here is also the question of Is per day extra tion, of winch there is no evidence of its existence c sewhere. This, I may tell-you, gentlemen, i granted/would tell severely against he men themselves, as often a man is supplied with a safety lamp, not because of any real danger but as a- matter.of safety till such"times aa the deputy can call his way to see that all is clear; at otnor times a safety lamp is use ■&™ a.17f dßy\ prior t0 siting a^crosscu through between two pl acc3 . I n all likelihood f the extra Is is granted, the men,.instead of bung supplied with a safety lamp, would be alowed to go idle till such time as the lnm U can be dispensed with. r "As for Mr Smith's application' for extra for opening out bords, that is provided and p,id Inl^iT 6, 1- ' Ori&ina"y 13s 4d was the ll W w "f - fl r ?° me years tn"« allowance has been 20a, which ,s more than Mr Smith asks

'■ Mr Smith also draws a long bow re the dangers of pillar and head coal working and asks an ex-tra 6d per ton on that account. A~s whit T'f' °» oxPf riellce « quite the opposite, inform tl i ra money asked for, I may inform the board there is no better paid work connected with the colliery, there being always plenty of applicants, for such work, nTainly on account of the good money to be made, and the ease with which the coal can be got This is another case in -which Mr Smith brings io cv" denceto support his statement tlin: m^K* dea f1 h US -beeU mads Ui Smi«l °f sons^ V, I,^ °f Shi anng- IWOrk1WOrk cluri "S slack reasons. Much can be said on this question but when I tell you that the'differenceVtween our ™'S *?* Summer trad<» equals more than the output oiloo men, yon will perceive the difficulty 01 the situation; and, besides, for our company to keep the whole place open during summerequal to providing for our winter output-. Stffi *? 'expense, and wore than that: it would mean keeping the whole staff of workmen hanging round Kaitanf!l- for *"Mtter°,,f tw° or thre* days' work per Z i I H™" the questi°«. why. should ™ef f , keP* Wangling idly about .Kaitangata, and plenty of employment to be had elsewhere? A,hy we have already during the past two months reduced nands by over 40 men and boys, the place. This sharing, of work during slack seasons is simply a question that will not stand inquiring into, unless it. be.with the object of nri m!- 11! averase earnings, so as to bolster lip Mi bmith s case. . "Mr Smith complained of Mr Watson not paying a document into court that men 'had v eU t^ i C- t0 aisn: But^ «c (Mr Smith) has also failed m a promise made to the Conciliation ' i.c.ard Hepromised to supply a list of members of the union, along with a copy of th» wi\r m M* is >," never ibeen «»mplied; with Why? Simply because at that time the membership was largely composed of boys and young men, and I verily believe Mr Smith did not hke to "disclose his clients. While on this-question, I may just remark for your information, seeing thai, Mr Smith has not iniorrned you, that to.an outsider it does seem strange that the members of the uiiion should pass a resolution accepting of the Conciliation Board's award that our company should accept the award, but that Mr Smith should of Ins own motion, override everything and.refuse.to accept; If lam wrong in putting tue above matter, the. chairman of the union is my authority and more than that,-the chairmanWid he would not have the decision reversed However,.judging by subsequent events, the chairman was overruled, and many of the men have been sorry since that the award was notaccepted, and so .well they may. If they'will only put their loss since last April into figures. •jW \ ■ al? eve ofiener, and prove what'but--side advice has cost them. j'Re the weighing question, Mr Smith has never given us an interpfetatiou of what he means by gross weight, assuming the meaning to be weight of box as it lands on pit top! Many statements have been made as to whatthe box contains when this question was before the Conciliation Board. We had tests made, which, I suppose/ will be in the evid»^c» b.e^lore y.uu. However, a further i«t was maae oh baturday, when 45 boxes, or 15 tons, was rut over the screen, with the following result- — U -tons Ocwt 2 qr s Cl eened cc-al. and 6 ton 7cwt 2ar .oi nuts, peas, and smut.' So that while the company were paying for 35 ton of screened coal they, only received 11 {„-, Oowf 2'qr.' This' shows .the value of such rambling statements, ■^ uV.SS. n%.mfei,^4eHHe^c- grea-f qjiestio'n- with this weighing business is what to to encourage the production of large-coal." Our coal' 13 of such.a friable nature, and the small' coal' being of no value.it cannot .really be compared' or classed with other' coals/especially bituminous coal, where every particle' is marketable, and why this question of gross weight should tor ever be drummed in our ears with out k complete explanation as fo what it is meant to cover is, one.of those things one can't,understand If jt means gross weight of. screened coal then the above figures will show how',1 the matter will wor^ out very much against the coal heWers. . ■ ■■ . . ■ :•■

TV ™ • f- - S remaAs and efforts to show, i^c A 7 f ;-»«*wiaa-pay **' '«'"!*, head- ™ H t e\ U°nS) X shall ProfJuc(? e'vi^ce to. wal* $•■ at Pr^ cut Ta*es ™c" make good teT\ .S UeStl°? °£ ei§ht Wa fr°m bank, to bank would not .be such a aeriou., question straight to their work, and continue at their lisLZJr)" 1 a Period efficient to.cover The rnni^ wetW?en orking P'^es and mine mouth. However, .if we are to jud^e by past experience we need expoct no such results mJ» K aS Ple^ ed with the remarks that were made by your Honor re approaching this matter in.a coneihatory spirit, and so far as I au i coiicenied your advice will be ?cted upon ' Mi- Shore, m answer to Mr Lee, stated that the boxes were the same in measurement now' as they had always been since the beginnin" of the mine. ■ ' ■ ° The^President said the court had nothin- to guide them as to what rate ought to be paid in wages. There was nothing beiore the court as to what was paid by others.' His individual opinion was that every man who worked was as a rule, underpaid for his work.. That, however, did not mean that it tyas the fault of the individual employer—employers could only pay what their business allowed them to pay He thought the court should know what was paid "in other parts of the colony for the same class of work. ' " ' •■-.-■

At this stage the court adjourned till halfpast a the following morning. ' : '■ '

_On resuming on Tuesday, The President asked Mr Shore to what points in the report of the Conciliation Board he objected?. ' ..-■■. Mr Shore said the company had accepted the report. ... The President: Including the preference clause? Mr Shore: Yes; we agreed to that as a compromise rather than stick the case up. • The -President asked if the company were paying the prices contained in the report in regard to certain classes of work? Mr Shore said no. They were paying the original prices. " Mr Shore called . ' ■ Kobert Henderson, carpenter at the mine, who stated that there had been no alteration in the size of the boxes "during the nine years he had been at the mine, except that, owing deer a mg S inor2asecl their capacity was Before the court adjourned, Mr Smith asked leave to refer to some of the statements that had come out in evidence, which, he said, were misleading. One was in connection with the size of electric lights in the mine; which, it had been stated, had been introduced. This was not the case. Then in regard to the alleged conspiracy on the part of the men to shirk work, his experience was that men on piecework could 'not be induced to shirk work. Then an assertion had been made that the president of tho union would have accepted the board's recommendation, but that he (Mr Smith) would not do so. It was quite new to him that he had so much influence. He would also like to point out that it had been represented to him by the men that the cost to them of the upkeep of tools, 'providing light: and explosives, meant a deduction of about 8d a day from their earnings. The President intimated that the court would reserve its award, and the- court adjourned.