49

I.—4a.

JOHN FOSTER.

500. They get paid on the screened coal ? —Yes ; that makes a difference. 501. To put it in another way, do you think the colliers about Newcastle earn as good wages as the colliers on the West Coast ?—I do not think so. 502. What do you think is the average wage earned by the miners at Denniston, taking a period of twelve months ?—At the last Arbitration Court case that we had the average was given as 12s. 9d. a day, 15s. 6Jd., and 17s. 2d. 503. That is, per day for the whole year round ?—Yes, the average for the whole year, at ten shifts and a quarter a fortnight. .504. Were the men working full time? —Ten shifts and a quarter a fortnight. 505. For the whole year round ? —Yes. 506. Were there two shifts working there ?—Yes ; but there are not just now. 507. Have there been two at any time? —Yes. They start again on Monday morning next. 508. Where do the men change—at the face ?—No. According to the law, men cannot stop in the face. The deputy goes round every shift, before the men knock off, and examines every face, and if there is anything defective it is reported to the deputy, who immediately goes out and notifies it to the miners going in, and puts the date on the board. Nobody can then go past the stopping-place till he allows them. 509. Where is the board ?—Sometimes it is a few chains in the mine, and sometimes at the mouth of the mine. 510. If the men are prevented from going to their places by the deputy, who loses that time? —The men. 511. Do the men on day-wages get paid if they are prevented in a similar way?—lf their places are not secure they have to go home, it does not matter who they are. 512. Would the truckers and drivers be sent home ? —lf the road was blocked up. 513. I mean, suppose the ventilation is bad, and the air not in a fit condition to work in?—lf they cannot do their work they are sent home. 514. And are their wages stopped for that time?—Certainly. 515. Is that a common occurrence in some of the mines on the West Coast ? —lt is. 516. Have you known of cases where the men have had to be withdrawn from the faces?— Yes. 517. And have had to stop working? —Yes. 518. Have you known of cases where the men have had to leave the mine altogether on account of bad air ?—Yes. 519. I mean all the men—not just a few ? —No. 520. At some of the faces the air may be bad, and at others it may be all right?—Yes. 521. Would this Bill becoming law mean any serious loss to the coal companies on the West Coast ?—I do not think so. I should say No to that. 522. You know the haulage system in all the mines on the Coast ? —Yes. 523. Do you think the haulage system in those mines is capable of keeping up the present output, though the men work half an hour a day less?—l might state, as regards the coal-mines ip the district I come from, what we are doing now to meet things under the old system with the haulage-rope. We are overlapping a shift — i.e., the company start one part of the men at half-past 7in the morning, and the other part at 8 o'clock. The shift overlaps. That means that the rope is going the full eight hours. As regards the Act that has been passed, the company work the men in just the same way. lam speaking of the rope-road men. Half of them go in at 7, and half at 8. You might think that the whole of the rope-road men would go in all at once. If they did, according to the Bill, the employers would have to pay some of them half an hour overtime; but the employers do not do that. They send one lot in at half-past 7 and the other at 8, and the consequence is they work only the eight hours. 524. Does the haulage system have to stop at Denniston when the shifts are going on and off?—No, because there is only one shift on in each mine. 525. But where there are two shifts? —No, it does not stop. 526. Does the haulage stop at Granity ?—I believe it does. 527. Is it a fact, or is it not, that by changing shifts outside instead of at the faces the management would gain time—l mean, the men would work longer than if the haulage had to be stopped for one shift to go in and another to go out ? For instance, one shift being out and the other meeting them outside, they could go in before the haulage started; whereas, if they changed at the face and the haulage had to be stopped till the relief shift came out, it would have to be stopped longer than would be the case if the men changed outside ? —The natural effect would be that the haulage would have to be stopped longer—that is, if they stopped it for the shift to go in and come out. 528. When the haulage was stopped one shift could be going in and another coming out?— Yes. 529. The shift that was on would have to stop at the face till the other got in, and then come out ?—That has never been done in my experience. 530. You have told us that the law would prevent it ? —Yes; if you look at the Coal-mines Act you will see that the miner has no control. It is in Rules 30 to 39, I think. 531. Is this what you refer to: " Miners and other workmen are expressly forbidden to proceed towards or into their working-places at the commencement of any shift until it shall have been intimated to them by the foreman that the travelling-roads and working-places have been examined and are apparently safe to enter."—Rule 31 ?—Yes ; the miner has no say. 532. The shift going off has no responsibility with regard to giving any information as to the state of the face to the shift going on?—None whatsoever. 533. .\re you allowed to take matches into the mine?—Yes, wherever you can use the naked light.