CONCILIATION BOARD.

Otago Witness, Volume 16, Issue 2351, 16 March 1899, Page 55

CONCILIATION BOARD.

JLAJTANGATA COAL MINE DISPUTE. A meeting of the Conciliation Board was Tield at Kaitangata on Saturday morning t» take evidence in the dispute between the coal miners and the Kaitangata Coal Company. The members (of the board present were: Messrs W. A. Sim (chairman), R. Ferguson, J, A.JMillar, M.H.R., G..P. Farquhar, and G. L, Sise. Messrs Lee and Watson were unable to be present, and the owners of the mine were accordingly represented by the waiteng manager, Mr W. M. Shore. The union waa represented by Mr George Smitli, and with him Messrs T. Cumiingham and J. Donaldson. At Mr Shore's request, all witnesses were ■ordered out of court. In opening tho case -for the union, i£r Smith said it would bp necessary -to •go - back over tho history of the' Kaitangata mine for a period of 12 years to show the stages by which tho ■workmen had been brought to the present state. When the workings in the- drive out of which the coal was being drawn at present ■were started the tonnage rate was 4s, and the c company trucked the coal away from the miner. "This state of affairs lasted eight or nine months. Then the -truckers in the employ of the com-pany-were withdrawn, and Hie miner was compelled to truck his own coal, and the roads over which the coal had to be trucked were constantly increasing. In addition to the extra labour of trucking the coal, all material, suc'.i as timber, rails, plates, etc., required by the company had to be taken in by tho persons trucking. The labour of. trucking had become bo great that the coal miners had to employ and pay the wages of a. pereon to truck the coal. Another thing complained of was that shortly after the opening of the works in the dip drive the boxes which carried the coal were mads Sin deeper. The workmen were told that tho increase _in the depth of the boxes would do away with the spilling on the heading roads. Soon afterwards the workmen got to build the coal above the top of the box. If & workman failed to comply with this order all the boxes which were not filled to please the manager were kept off. The company not only kept the coal off the workmen './which did not please the manager, but at the 'same time appropriated all overweight. About seven years ngo a reduction of Is per ton was made in the hewing rate, which took 2s to 3s off the working day's wage for each miner. The reason gifen for the reduction was that the company had failed to secure the Government contract that year, and the market pi ice of coal would have to be reduced to make up ] ■a. trade. The company had since worked up a | large trade, and the Government contracts had "been secured from time to time, but the miners ■were still working at the reduced rate. These changes were not allowed to take place without opposition from the men. They had made eevoral efforts to better their condition by combining, but the watchful officials of the- company did not bslieve in combination, and always promptly " sacked " the leading members, *' Sacking " had been used on many occasions by tho Kaitangata Company to cure discontent amongst tho workmen. Shortly after the union was formed on this last occasion — just after the mine had been taken over by the new owneTB — 35 men were suspended. A noticeable feature of the " sacking " was that the union men had I>een picked upon, and the non-unionists went free. Shortly after tho union was formed, and there was a likelihood of the company having to appear before the Conciliation Board, the ordinary routine of the work in the mines underwent a change. All the solid workings that the management could conveniently stop were utopped, and the workmen were put to fill all the easily-got coil from pillars, tops, and places that had fallen. Under ordinary circumstances thfl easily-got coal would have been, filled by men on <Irv wages. The ruse of the manager was painfully tiansparent. He wished to make it appear that the men had nothing to grumble about. Regarding tho claims generally of the miners, they were not exorbitant. The increase asked would enable the miners to make, roughly epeaking, 10s per day. Ten shillings a day oil ■4J or 5 days a week was not an excessive wage ior coal-mining, with all its attendant dangers. Zndependent of the ordinary accidents met .with in coal mines, there was always lurking at Kaitangata the coal miners' deadliest foe — firedamp. There it was always present, just awaiting certain conditions for the creation of an explosion. _Mr Smith- then proceeded to deal with the claims of the union with regard to the rates of pay for headings, levels, bords. stentons, pillars, head coal, the weighing of coal, night work, length of shifts, and preference of employment for union men. With regard to the length of shifts, Mr Smith said that it was a common impression that bad ventilation in mines was a thing of the past, but every coal miner knew that was not so. He knew that there were places in a mine, no matter how well managed, that workmen would refuse to go into if they paid attention to their health, and if they could refuse with safety. The inspection of coal mines was to a large extent farcical. The inspector could not visit each mine oftener than once in six months, and any state of disorder might exist in the periods between his visits. It was true that there was piovißian in the Coal Mines Act for the insjjec-

tion of. each, mine once every month by two of the workmen, but this had not been taken advantage of in any mine in Otago so far as he knew, simply because the miners had not been in union. Now, ttren though they were organised, ho would like to know where the two men were who would dare to inspect and report unfavourably on the Kaitangata mine. 'With regard to preferential employment for union men, Mr Smith said that every effort that could be made had been made to break up tho union. Shortly after the new owners took charge 35 men and youths were suspended — not all at one time, but just as it became known to the manager? that the men were taking an active part in the affairs of the union. The first committee wore suspended, amongst whom were the local chairman and secretary. Tho second committee had three members suspended as soon as it became known to the management. To save the other members on i the committee they weie asked to resign. These [ men were not dismissed. They were kept hanging about, not knowing when they would be . started asain. A few ot them left, but the ruaI jority were in Kaitangata yet. Slackness of trade was the reason given for the suspensions, but there could be one reason ociy why unionists should be siispendcd, and not ono of the 2P or 30 uon-unioiH&ts in the mine. Inducements were offered by the management to the men if they would secede from the union, and then threats were used. Shortly after the first meeting of the board, Mr Watson came to Kaitaugata and presented a paper to the workin em which they were 'asked to sign, under penalty of losing their work. The paper, so far as the speaker .could find out, was to this effect: "I am not a member of a union. I ' will not bpcome one without giving the company 20 days' notice-." Mr Smith, after aoinei fuither. remarks, proceeded to call evidence, i stating that he would call Mr Shore first. I Win. M. Shore, who protested at giving evidence at that stage, said that he was mine manager for the company. At the present tonnage and present yard rates the average in heading work for a man and two sons who were 16 and 18 years of ago was 25s per day. That was the average wage for the past seven months. They were doing heading and level work. This was the usual tonnage and yardage. The men were paid at the rate of"shift wages for tho last two pays. Another man named Telford earned 123 3d and the boy 6s 6d a day -for Headings during the past seven months." In computing the average witness only took the days that the pit drew coal. One man worked 138 days for the $eren months; tho other was credited with 127 days. To his knowledge, the [ men had not been in the mine on other than ! the working days. It was possible for the men to bo in the mine without his knowledge, but not probable. Heading and level work was considered special work. It was a kind of work | that was catered for. Men who did that kind of work liked to follow it up. Good pitamen were selected, for that class of work, and no doubt they were entitled to a shilling a daymore than the ordinary men. Witness had paid extras all over the mine, and the fact that extras -were paid did not go to prove that the rates for yardage and tonnage were inadequate. A hie shillings under ordinary condition 1 ? was the usual rate. A man made from 10s to 12s ft day in heading work. Witness could not tell what the wages' were in levels seven months ago without consulting {he old company's boo*?, but it was a class of work sought after. Kino to 10s a day were made at bords. The bords were not working now. The company did not require them. Some of them were being started Bgain. Ono man was paid 13s a clay for bord' work. He paid his trucker 4s. This man worked at the extreme end of the mine, and was a weak man, and an allowance was made him. The allowance waa included in the average. Another man on bord work earned 12s Old per day. With regard to stenton work, the usual thickness was 22ft to 24ft. The recognised price for s ten ton was 3s per ton and 6s per yard. There were invariably roads to the stontons, unless in steep places, where the roads could bo put in. The bord was 20ft to 25ft away. He had not tbaeived any more slack than U3ual at these places. He could not say what were the earnings at these places. He , was sure that more than 6s a day was made at them. Generally the men. worked the stentons and bords together. There were no recognised rules with regard to pillars. The tonnage rates on bords were the .same as on pillars, if done by piecework. Taken it all through, men would make 15s a day on pillar work. It was very rare for men on pillar 'work to continue working after the pit knocked off work. He considered that head coal was well paid at 3s per ton. "Men at this work would make on an averago 11s and 12s a day. This was being done without the men going on in idle days. The men go dowu the mine any time before 7 a.m. They could not go to work till the place was declared clear. The present owners, to his knowledge, did not enter into agreement with the men to make three boxes go to the ton. Boxes had not been kept off of a man's earnings because it was not apparently full. He admitted mistakes of that sort had been made, but when witness's attention was called to them the money was refunded. He did not know what the boxes weighed, but he had uo hesitation in saying that the company lost weight on large coal. The coal fork was a new instrument, but the riddle was still in use. He could not say how many riddles were in use at the present. Three shillings per ton was paid for screened coal, or la per box. He did .not. think that there was any reason , why "extra money should be paid for night-work. N9 other colliery could be o.uoted which paid extra for nigiitwork. Since the new company took over the mine 41 men had been discharged, but a great many were re-employed. The reason why they as the girl was nt the time in a dying state — as a matter of fact, she died two days later, though it was "not suggested Unit prisoner's act in any way contributed to her death, — and the prisoner had practically admitted the offence, fince, when stuck up by tho father, he had offered hush money, and then, when that offer was indignantly repelled, he had asked the father to thrash him in preference to handing him over to the police. After evidence had been given for the prosecution, Mr Hnnlon submitted that it had not been proved that there had been any indecency or a?sault of any kind; that the child's story'was consistent with the assumption that the accused, being p. foreigner and at the time under the influence of drink, had unintentionally frightened the child ; that the offer of his bank book was the result of fright on accused's part, arising from his ignorance and his muddled condition ; and that it was fairly open to com-, j ment that no counoel waa brought on behalf of the accused to cross-examine on the dying depositions. The Jury retired at 2.40 p.m., and returned to court, after an absence of 13 minutes, with a verdict of Guilty of common assault, combined with a recommendation to mercy. .Mr Hanlon said the prisoner had been 26 years in the colony, and this was the first offence of which he had ever been guilty. He suggested that the imposition of a fine 'would meet the chcumslancis of the case. His Honor: I do not think it is a case for a fine. Mr Hanlou : nis people are well connected in Chrißtchurch, and have been there for the last 25 years. They are interesting themselves on his behalf, and he has money in his own rignt. His Honor: It seems to me to be a ea°e in which I would not be justified m imposing a fine; but 1 shall give every consideration to the recommendation of the jury. Mr Hanlon : Could your Honor admit him to piobation?

His Honor: No. In addressing the prisoner, his Honors-said: The jury, taking a course in which I heartily concur, have found you not guilty of the more serious offence — that of indecent assault, — but have found you guilty of common assault. I lißvo no reason to suppose you would have acted in the way you have if you had realised the sad state* the child was in. That is, however, no excuse for your having committed an assault. I will take your evidence into consideration, together -with the jury's recommendation to mercy, and impose a. much lighter sentence thau I would if you had been found guilt} r of the more serious offence. The sentence of the court is that you be committed to gaol, with hard labour, for three calendar months.

At 3 o'clock the coiut was adjourned till llcii' day, the 20th iust., at 10.30 a.m.