JOHN FOSTER.]

I.—4a.

372. Mr. W Fraser.] Did I understand you to say that vou expect that this Bill if it becomes law will alter the hours that you are working according to toe awa" There a Sw that miiTh 6 T ar i t0 be , in T and Wh6ther * he "™*d "would be subject t a new law that might be made afterwards I could not say. y 373 Do you expect the award to be altered by the Bill if it becomes law—that is what undeTunto *"* that M ° f * e men ™ d that the to be woTkel nv J]tu D ° 6 ™ r ?. and those working under the award mean to abide loyally by the award or are they asking Parliament to pass a law to alter it?-Oh, no; they are satisfied tckelp to the terms of the award until it expires. ° Kee P ™ m ll 5 ' 88 -] Supposing the crib-time was included in the time to be worked as nro vided by the Bill would the men work under that if the Bill were passed, or would thevsiH keep to the award where the crib-time is excluded ?-I think the majority of the men are under the impression that they must work under the award until it expires 376. Mr R. McKenzie.] You know the Bill that was passed last vear, in which there is a clause ,nd !IL Mr ' Gmn l ms 2i Yo ? said that some of the men hewing coal were working on drift wages 0 " FeCe 6S - lQ S ° me f6W exce P tional cases "5 getting coal wer! employed °on 378. What is the number ?—Sometimes there are none at all. The management if thev can %t?L% tS SJT"" ™ en Be " bs COi " em! " oyea °" ■■*-« tJSS^SSE 379. The manager tries all he can to get the coal out by piecework, but sometimes he has to employ a few men for a few days on day-wages?-Yes, that is right. sometimes he has half aW'h becomes law, and if your evidence is incorrect where you say that by workine l a . hour ° r , an hour less per day the same quantity of coal can be got as if you worked hf extra time, the loss will fall not upon the management, but upon the miners, will £ not ?- that WheQ y ° U W ° rked * uartz - mine was no such thing as a half--382. When you knock off at the end of a week on a Saturday, is there any work done besides the actual bnngmg-out of the quartz or drilling to put in a shot, with regard teTsecuSaces'The pair of miners on the last shift in the week take extra precautions to look af ei theQuartz " l6fC Standlng; they PUt ln tlme in «*» t0 -curetheMte on S vfc w l ' the. twenty-four hours or thirty-six hours, as the case may be ?-Yes 384. Would it be a fair thing to compare a day's work or half-day's work on a Saturdav JF^nftSEXiST oot ' ™ h " ,0 wo,k <,0 " e " - °' iL " - h « John Fostbe examined. (No. 12.) 385. The Chairinan.] What is your name, Mr. Foster?—John Foster. 386. Where did you live?—At Denniston Hill, Westport. 387. What is your occupation?—Check-weighman. 388. Where ?—At the Denniston Coal-mine Uniom 9 ' D ° y ° U bel ° ng t0 any Uni ° n ° f mine rsP-Yes; lam the president of the Denniston Abou 3 t 9 &en[yy^7 m ' ] ° f y6arB ' ex P erience have you had as a coal-mmer?-but tfat isl°S. in ' C ° al ' mine ? ~ YeS - l haVS bßen ° fi f ° r a «** d-ing that period, te n^asjs. wafc in the mine that you are at? - The number ° f 393. What is the total number of workmen ?—From about 475 to 500 394. Out of which 330 are colliers '—330 b,p^„?ritS ? -Yes e Pr ° ViSionS ° f tWS amendmg Bm br ° Ught mby me thls — 396. What is the general opinion with regard to the advisability of passing the Bill or not ? The general opinion is that they require eight hours from bank to bank § qoq xi n ? the crib or meal time should be included in those eight hours'-Yes qoo «7°u excluded from . as the law stands now?—Not excluded. 399. What is a reasonable time to take for crib, in your opinion '—It has alwav« h oo n fho custom since I have been in a mine to take half an hour. ' y been the 400. You think that is reasonable ?—Yes, I think it is. 401. Can you give the Committee any information as to whether, in your opinion the work of a coal-miner is injurious o his health-more so or less so than if he were workingTtoe surface J - 8 m T mjUn T B ■}** WOrkin § on the surface < h a man has to inhale all kinds of polluted a,r underground. In my opinion, it does not matter how well a mine is ventilated the air is not even then the same as it would be on the surface. ventilated, the 402. Do you know of any special cases of illness ?—Not particularly any special cases • hut mostly all our colliers when they get to forty or forty-five complain of astoma 7 and so forth ' We have had men who have been knocked off work at that time, but all miners complain--

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