Letters and Papers Concerning the Trans-Persian Railway and Other Railways in Persia [‎180r] (359/442)

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Coal Mines
290
25 May 1914] (Northumberland) Bill.
at night; and a similar demand would
be made on those industries, with the
probable result of a serious dislocation
of trade in many cases Apart from that,
the passage of this Bill would in my opinion
be likely to be followed by economic dis
turbances and labour troubles which neither
His Majesty’s Government nor the Home
Office desire in any way to encourage. The
pits where this system has been adopted
have been laid out to suit the three-shift
system, under which there would not be
so many persons below ground at one time
as formerly under the two-shift system.
It follows, therefore, that there is not so
much pit room as there used to be. It
would be impossible without enlarging the
pit room to compress the present three
shifts into two shifts, so that for some time
at all events and until matters were adjusted
there would be a considerable number of
men thrown out of work ; and, as I said,
this would probably involve considerable
labour troubles.
There is another point. If the three-
shift system were abolished in North
umberland the owners would, or might
probably, make a strong effort to raise
the hewers’ hours from seven to eight,
which is the usual shift in the rest of
the country. At present the miners in
Northumberland and Durham only work
seven hours more or less, at some collieries
rather less ; whereas I think throughout
the rest of the country miners work
nearly the full eight hours. Then as
regards night work. If this Bill were
passed into law night work would be
practically abolished. The men have,
perhaps rather naturally, a distaste for
work at night, but there is no evidence
of which I am aware before the Home
Office that night work has any injurious
effect on the health of the men or boys.
The chief point is that certain incon
venience or discomfort is caused when
members of the same household work in
different shifts and come home at different
hours. This point has already been dealt
with by the noble Lord who moved the
rejection of this Bill, and he has far more
knowledge than I have of these matters.
This grievance, this inconvenience, is, of
course, admitted, but I understand that the
managers have done and are doing their
very best to remedy it as much as possible
by putting men of the same household,
fathers and sons, or brothers, and so on,
who are unmarried, to work in the same
shift. Lord Willoughby de Broke referred
to the alleged increase of accidents, but he
brought forward no figures whatever to
support this contention. Of course if 21
hours, or any larger number, are worked
out of the 24, there is a longer period in
which accidents may take place ; but no
evidence has been adduced to show that
more accidents occur in proportion to the
increased number of hours worked under
the three-shift system.
Then with regard to ventilation. I have
seen it stated sometimes that the ventila
tion of a mine under the thi’ee-shift
system is worse. I may perhaps point
out to your Lordships that there is a
standard prescribed by the Home Office
in respect of ventilation, and there is no
evidence whatever that under the three-
shift system the mines are not kept
properly ventilated. In fact, when a
pit is working nearly continuously with
constant supervision the ventilation is
likely to be better than when the pit is
idle for a considerable time. I think that
applies also to heating. Another point
Lord Willoughby mentioned was with
regard to the education of boys. One
contention is that they cannot attend
continuation classes. I venture to say
that an objection of that sort, and the
other objection that the men are unable
to attend meetings or to serve on public
bodies and so on, would apply equally to
the two-shift system as to the three-shift
system. As a matter of fact, all the
classes that were held previous to the
Eight Hours Act are being continued,
and arrangements were invited by the
managers of many of the three-shift pits
to provide for classes which would fit the
hours of work. Moreover, some of the
principal classes and the best attended are
held on Saturday afternoons in New
castle, and every facility is given for boys
to attend these classes.
There is one other point which I should
like to bring before the House. The pro
visions of the Bill would, lam informed, be
wholly inapplicable to mines all over the
country where the coal cutting is done
by machinery. There a different three-
shift system is worked. First of all there
is the coal cutting shift; secondly, there is
the shot-firing and breaking-down shift;
the third shift being the shift that loads
the tubs, &c. The grounds of objection
against night work, the dislike of the men
for doing this, and so on, would apply